Barcelona. The fluidity of their football and dominance of the football world have left many wondering whether they are first among equals in a hall of fame that consists of Real Madrid’s 1960 team, Holland’s 1974 team, Brazil’s 1970 team, Liverpool’s 1984 team and many others.
As we look at the top teams in the Premier League today we are left wondering what happened to the archetypal British, 4-4-2, long ball, physical football? Steve Barron’s brilliant satire of British football ‘Mike Bassett: England manager’ perfectly summed up everything that was farcical yet familiar about our island’s style of play. But does it ring true any more? Ever more our clubs have shifted away from the two-wingers-two-strikers to a system that allows greater movement between roles for the midfield and striking positions. So effective has Barcelona’s style of play been that it would seem only natural for clubs around the world to try and emulate it. So is this what we’ve been doing too?
The Formation
The 4-3-3 seems to have taken over English football recently. Adopted at times by Arsenal, Chelsea, Man City, Liverpool, Blackpool, Swansea, Aston Villa, QPR and others the formation is fast becoming first choice for many clubs. The advantages as demonstrated by Barcelona not only lie the fluidity of forwards (Messi, Villa and Pedro are constantly switching position) but also in the dominance of three central midfielders over two.
If the recent Barcelona vs. Man Utd encounters in the Champions League have taught us anything is that attempting to play two midfielders against Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta is an optimistic approach. Especially if one of those midfielders is Carrick. The fact is that Barcelona has demonstrated that when your players are playing well there is nothing you can do to stop it a midfield trio. Man Utd fans will have recognized Ferguson often playing five in midfield in Europe last season in an attempt to combat just that.
Defence without defenders
Possession football is a luxurious way to defend that only the best teams can afford to do. Barcelona has become so good at it that they are regularly playing their midfielders in defence. Granted it is through necessity and not choice but they are faring pretty well. I’m not saying that similar tactics will be employed here by choice but the option to have ‘ball-playing’ defenders over ‘defensive’ defenders is definitely on the up in our game. Players like Vermaelen, David Luiz, Sebastian Coates and others are the beginning of a new generation of defenders.