Barcelona underneath Hansi Flick have caught the eye for his or her excessive defensive position and .
However, the group’s offensive technique has additionally been notable for its extra vertical strategy, with a deal with attacking rapidly and straight. Each of those ways are intently linked by one essential component: strain.
Urgent excessive up the pitch can disrupt the opposing group’s rhythm and create alternatives for Barcelona to get well possession in harmful areas, making it simpler to transition into assault.
A typical mistake Barcelona have made
A key subject for Barcelona in current matches, significantly in video games the place they’ve dropped factors, has been the absence of Lamine Yamal within the beginning lineup.
His presence has been important for the group’s urgent sport, and his absence has been felt each in assault and defence.
In La Liga, Barcelona sometimes recovers 31% of the ball within the opponent’s half, however of their defeats to Osasuna, Actual Sociedad, and Celta Vigo, this quantity dropped considerably, with solely 22%, 18%, and 24% of recoveries coming within the opponent’s half, respectively.
This discount in urgent depth has contributed to the group’s struggles in these matches.
Failure to press
When Barcelona fails to press successfully, their defensive position turns into extra uncovered. Opponents can discover more room between the strains, making their passes extra correct and harmful.
The offside entice, which had been a key defensive tactic, turns into much less efficient as opponents can exploit the house with extra precision.
This shift just isn’t essentially attributable to higher attacking ways from the opposition, however somewhat a results of Barcelona’s personal failure to take care of strain and keep compact as a group.
Shedding possession extra usually
Within the sport towards Celta Vigo, for instance, Barcelona misplaced possession 43 occasions, way over their common of 29 per sport, which highlights the connection between poor ball retention and defensive vulnerabilities.
In the end, Barcelona’s urgent sport is the important thing to their success. When they can apply strain, they’ll regain possession in superior areas and create scoring probabilities, whereas additionally defending their defensive position.
With out it, they threat changing into extra weak on the again, because the opposing group finds it simpler to use the house in midfield. The group’s means to take care of high-intensity urgent will probably be essential if they’re to stay aggressive this season.