The Official Barcelona FC Thread
Discussion
maisoumenos said:
A common belief among UK coaches is that by possession football you can work the oppostion and let the ball do the work. Yes this is correct but does not translate into effective possession football. Barcelona are masters of effective possession football because they DON'T let the ball do the work but instead bust a gut and cover huge distances during the course of a match. For example the 2009 Champions League Final which Barcelona won Xavi covered a distance of 11.95km; in comparison the furthest distance covered by a Man Utd player was 11.16km by Ryan Giggs. And yet Barcelona had 69% of overall possession and Xavi made 148 passes only misplacing 7. This is the main difference between Arsenal (non effective) and Barcelona (effective).
People also often say the only reason Barcelona are so quick to regain possession is because of the myth as described above that not having the ball is more exhausting. This again is wrong. Barcelona press intensely when without the ball because their offside trap is vulnerable. If the oppostion has a speedster like a Walcott then he can break the trap with his pace. However, by intense pressing it reduces the accuracy of the opponents passing and therefore reduces the likelihood of a well weighted throughball. On the rare occasions when a throughball does break the trap then Barcelona have their sweeper keeper to reach the ball first. In fact Valdes made 18 passes in the 2009 final which was two more than Man Utd striker Hernandez!
Barcelona also employ the the concept of compactness as pioneered by former Milan coach Arrigo Sacchi; ensuring the front line and back line of the team is no more than x metres apart. This reduces the space for the oppostion when they have the ball and therefore also aids Barcelona's pursuit of the ball back.
The debate over whether Guardiola is overrated is similar to that of Rinus Michels at Ajax; both laid the foundations for success and enjoyed success but their successors continued this success. However, Michels proved he wasn't overrated by also enjoying success at Barcelona. Just like Michels lured Cruyff over could we see Guardiola lure Messi over to Man City?
And if Mourinho returns to the Premier League next season then what a contest!
wow!People also often say the only reason Barcelona are so quick to regain possession is because of the myth as described above that not having the ball is more exhausting. This again is wrong. Barcelona press intensely when without the ball because their offside trap is vulnerable. If the oppostion has a speedster like a Walcott then he can break the trap with his pace. However, by intense pressing it reduces the accuracy of the opponents passing and therefore reduces the likelihood of a well weighted throughball. On the rare occasions when a throughball does break the trap then Barcelona have their sweeper keeper to reach the ball first. In fact Valdes made 18 passes in the 2009 final which was two more than Man Utd striker Hernandez!
Barcelona also employ the the concept of compactness as pioneered by former Milan coach Arrigo Sacchi; ensuring the front line and back line of the team is no more than x metres apart. This reduces the space for the oppostion when they have the ball and therefore also aids Barcelona's pursuit of the ball back.
The debate over whether Guardiola is overrated is similar to that of Rinus Michels at Ajax; both laid the foundations for success and enjoyed success but their successors continued this success. However, Michels proved he wasn't overrated by also enjoying success at Barcelona. Just like Michels lured Cruyff over could we see Guardiola lure Messi over to Man City?
And if Mourinho returns to the Premier League next season then what a contest!
im said:
BJG1 said:
The quality of the Spanish league is just fine. Remind me who Man Utd got their ass handed to them by in the Waffa Cup last year?
Kinda missing the C-H-E-L-S-E-A ingredient aint we?Our 5th placed team saw off both Spain & Germans best offerings. In the case of Barcelona - this is supposedly the greatest team the world has ever seen. And lets not forget the Germans, beaten in their own back yard in the ECL final.
BJG1 said:
im said:
BJG1 said:
The quality of the Spanish league is just fine. Remind me who Man Utd got their ass handed to them by in the Waffa Cup last year?
Kinda missing the C-H-E-L-S-E-A ingredient aint we?Our 5th placed team saw off both Spain & Germans best offerings. In the case of Barcelona - this is supposedly the greatest team the world has ever seen. And lets not forget the Germans, beaten in their own back yard in the ECL final.
Chelsea'd win 1 in 5 (at home) I said.
But frankly they beat Barca over 2 legs - not 1. They've also knocked them out previously during Mourinho's time and should have won the 2nd leg at Stamford Bridge a few years back at the time of the Drogba incident.
They appear to have the tools to deal with Barca.
BJG1 said:
Barca were nowhere near the team they are now when Jose was at Chelsea and Chelsea were arguably the best team in the world. I don't see what we're arguing here. Barca are comfortably the world's best footballl team and they'd breeze the Premier League.
Isn't it great proclaiming 'facts' that can never be disproved 
BJG1 said:
Barca were nowhere near the team they are now when Jose was at Chelsea and Chelsea were arguably the best team in the world. I don't see what we're arguing here. Barca are comfortably the world's best footballl team and they'd breeze the Premier League.
Highly debatable ,they won the treble in09 and had eto as well who gave them a goal scoring option aside from messi ,and their defence was better .
968 said:
Brilliant counter attacking performance. Defies all the predictions. As much as everyone fawns over Barca they're not unbeatable, indeed they are flawed in that they only play one way.
Yep. I agree with this:Gary Lineker @GaryLineker
To be classed as the best ever, this Barca side need to find a way of defeating these tactics. #InterChelseaCelticMilan
steve_bmw said:
I had £2 on ac Milan to win, get in.
Somebody entered a Coral competition online to predict 8 correct scores. He got 7 correct, he had Barcelona to win 2-0 but it was the other way around. Poor lad. 
But Coral are taking him out to Barcelona for the return leg as a consolation prize.CIE560 said:
968 said:
Brilliant counter attacking performance. Defies all the predictions. As much as everyone fawns over Barca they're not unbeatable, indeed they are flawed in that they only play one way.
Yep. I agree with this:Gary Lineker @GaryLineker
To be classed as the best ever, this Barca side need to find a way of defeating these tactics. #InterChelseaCelticMilan
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