There have been surprisingly few articles circulating the web which detail just why Barcelona are so good this season, given that they almost have the same group of players which performed so terribly last season. At least I haven't come across many. Consistent excellence is hard to write about without sounding redundant, exaggerative, or gaining a reaction something along the lines of "Duh". Sid Lowe of Football Weekly fame wrote a good piece in December which I'd recommend, but apart from that generally all you will read about is that Barcelona were bloody good once again, hammering X [X = any team in La Liga] and basically looking unbeatable. To be honest, that's probably all anyone really needs to know when it comes to reading about Barca. To really gain an appreciation for "Pep's Dream Boys" (as they have been rather embarrassingly called) you have to see them in the flesh, or at least on an illegal stream of GolTV. If you're a fan of beautiful football -- and this blog certainly is -- then I cannot recommend the experience enough.
Now, having said all of that, I'm going to concentrate on an aspect of Barcelona which is even less publicized than the reasons for their success - their weaknesses. There is of course a good reason for this: They haven't shown many. However, there are still some to be found if you look beyond the slick interplay and devastating creativity and guile. Perhaps some of them are dormant, awaiting the arrival of a crunch game before errupting. Perhaps some of them are my own hunches with no grounding in truth. Still, even the great Achilles had a dodgy heel, whilst Superman still wretches at the sight of kryptonite. No matter how good you are, there can be cause for defeat if your opposition plays his cards right. In Barcelona's case it seems the Champions League poses the only real threat to their global domination, so where exactly can Lyon (or whoever else might end up pitted against Barca in subsequent rounds) exploit in order to gain unlikely victory?
We start in between the sticks with Victor Valdes. He's not a bad goalkeeper, but he's not exactly top tier either. Like most goalkeepers in the modern game he's a very good shot stopper, but when it comes to command of his domain he doesn't always inspire confidence. He is only just north of 6ft after all, so he's certainly not the tallest in his profession. Pump some decent corners, crosses and free-kicks into his box and you may find some joy, not only because of his deficiencies but also because...
Barcelona's team is incredibly small as a whole. People like Messi, Xavi, and Iniesta are not the most intimidating figures in an aerial battle, while even a defender like Carlos Puyol -- good as he is in the air -- will struggle against someone with height. Gerard Pique is also liable to lose more than his fair share of mid-air collisions, so there is a definite case to be made for throwing on your tallest players, lumping high balls into Barcelona's box and just going nuts.
As a defensive unit, the back four can also be a little disjointed. They play a very high line, which in Dani Alves's case lies somewhere between the oppositions box and the half way line. I've seen Barcelona look very susceptible to a simple through ball, so with an average creative talent in midfield and a striker who can make half decent runs (something along the lines of a Michael Carrick/Carlos Tevez combo) there are chances to be had. Of course you have to get the ball first which is easier said than done, but once you have it and use it economically, you may find yourself getting in on goal rather easily. Villarreal proved this true before Christmas, losing that game only because of wasteful finishing. Barcelona may find Karim Benzema or Nicholas Anelka to be not so wasteful.
In midfield Barcelona have no major weak points. Toure is reasonably good both on the ball and off it, Xavi is in the form of his life, Iniesta is beginning to prove himself one of the best players around, and Keita is finally settling down after a couple of ropey months. Along with the forward players who track back this Barca midfield doesn't give you much time on the ball. There is no escaping the fact that the Catalans win their games in the centre of the field first, and then go on to win games by scoring goals.
The only way to combat this therefore is to press them from the wings. Allow Messi and Alves to attack you and you're asking for trouble. Xavi will link up with them all day and eventually you will crack. However, put someone with good dribbling skills on the wing and you may just either force Dani Alves to defend, or find yourself with ample opportunities to swing balls into the box. This is a risky strategy of course, but by trying to contain Barcelona you are playing into their hands. They have the ability to break you down, and if you let them there is a good chance they will do it. However, attack them with pace and flair on the flanks and while you may risk conceding a few more goals, you heftily increase your chances of scoring a few.
This may not always be possible. Heroic defending coupled with clinical finishing might just be most teams' best way of winning. And of course there is no escaping the reality that every player on your team will have to run his socks off chasing the ball to have a hope of killing the giant. However, according to Paul Doyle of the Guardian Lyon have resigned to the fact that Barcelona are going to score a hat full of goals, so they are bolstering their attack in order to try and score more. Will their strategy work? It just might, but even if it doesn''t we're still in for a cracking game.
Up front is where Barcelona appear the most devastating, but as I've said I think it's midfield where they are the superior specimens and it is from there that they win their games. The statistics will tell otherwise though, with Messi, Henry and Eto'o having something like 45 league goals between them. Messi is just Messi. You simply have to put about 3 guys on him and repeatedly kick him to have any chance of taming the Argentine. However, for me, Eto'o and Henry are not as good as their stats make them out to be.
While Henry has undoubtedly improved since last season, that blistering pace of his -- you know, the thing that made him so effective -- has all but gone. He still has something to offer, but against a good defense I think he could be shown up and shut up. His goals this season have masked some poor performance, but they are still goals nonetheless. For now he looks the Thierry of old, but me and my gut instinct are not convinced.
Neither are we convinced about Samuel Eto'o. The Cameroon hitman with the genocidal look in his eyes is on course for the Pichichi, but when it matters most I think he could possibly prove to be a weak link. He missed a crucial penalty against Madrid earlier in the season, and for me he just isn't clinical enough in front of goal. He does score a lot of course, but if you look at the chances he gets he could probably score twice as much. It's a similar story to Adebayor of Arsenal last season. He got a lot of goals, but when it mattered he didn't quite deliver.
Against Man United last season it was Eto'o who cost Barca the game. Almost every chance they had fell to him, and he wasted them all. In such tight games you need a striker you can rely on, and I don't believe Eto'o to be that striker.
Barcelona have been accused of "Messi dependency", which I think is an accusation with an element of truth to it. Of course when you have a player of Messi's calibre in your squad you are always going to depend on him to some extent, but when he doesn't play it should be a cause for worry that neither Eto'o nor Henry appear capable of stepping up to the plate. In my opinion Messi isn't necessarily carrying Barcelona per se, but he is carrying his two forward partners. While the pocket-sized wizard remains fit this is not a problem, but should he be forced out through injury Barcelona could find themselves having lots of the ball but little to show for it.
So therein lie some of the weaknesses I perceive in the Barcelona team. Are they the best football team right now? Unquestionably. Are they beatable? Absolutely.
Now, having said all of that, I'm going to concentrate on an aspect of Barcelona which is even less publicized than the reasons for their success - their weaknesses. There is of course a good reason for this: They haven't shown many. However, there are still some to be found if you look beyond the slick interplay and devastating creativity and guile. Perhaps some of them are dormant, awaiting the arrival of a crunch game before errupting. Perhaps some of them are my own hunches with no grounding in truth. Still, even the great Achilles had a dodgy heel, whilst Superman still wretches at the sight of kryptonite. No matter how good you are, there can be cause for defeat if your opposition plays his cards right. In Barcelona's case it seems the Champions League poses the only real threat to their global domination, so where exactly can Lyon (or whoever else might end up pitted against Barca in subsequent rounds) exploit in order to gain unlikely victory?
We start in between the sticks with Victor Valdes. He's not a bad goalkeeper, but he's not exactly top tier either. Like most goalkeepers in the modern game he's a very good shot stopper, but when it comes to command of his domain he doesn't always inspire confidence. He is only just north of 6ft after all, so he's certainly not the tallest in his profession. Pump some decent corners, crosses and free-kicks into his box and you may find some joy, not only because of his deficiencies but also because...
Barcelona's team is incredibly small as a whole. People like Messi, Xavi, and Iniesta are not the most intimidating figures in an aerial battle, while even a defender like Carlos Puyol -- good as he is in the air -- will struggle against someone with height. Gerard Pique is also liable to lose more than his fair share of mid-air collisions, so there is a definite case to be made for throwing on your tallest players, lumping high balls into Barcelona's box and just going nuts.
As a defensive unit, the back four can also be a little disjointed. They play a very high line, which in Dani Alves's case lies somewhere between the oppositions box and the half way line. I've seen Barcelona look very susceptible to a simple through ball, so with an average creative talent in midfield and a striker who can make half decent runs (something along the lines of a Michael Carrick/Carlos Tevez combo) there are chances to be had. Of course you have to get the ball first which is easier said than done, but once you have it and use it economically, you may find yourself getting in on goal rather easily. Villarreal proved this true before Christmas, losing that game only because of wasteful finishing. Barcelona may find Karim Benzema or Nicholas Anelka to be not so wasteful.
In midfield Barcelona have no major weak points. Toure is reasonably good both on the ball and off it, Xavi is in the form of his life, Iniesta is beginning to prove himself one of the best players around, and Keita is finally settling down after a couple of ropey months. Along with the forward players who track back this Barca midfield doesn't give you much time on the ball. There is no escaping the fact that the Catalans win their games in the centre of the field first, and then go on to win games by scoring goals.
The only way to combat this therefore is to press them from the wings. Allow Messi and Alves to attack you and you're asking for trouble. Xavi will link up with them all day and eventually you will crack. However, put someone with good dribbling skills on the wing and you may just either force Dani Alves to defend, or find yourself with ample opportunities to swing balls into the box. This is a risky strategy of course, but by trying to contain Barcelona you are playing into their hands. They have the ability to break you down, and if you let them there is a good chance they will do it. However, attack them with pace and flair on the flanks and while you may risk conceding a few more goals, you heftily increase your chances of scoring a few.
This may not always be possible. Heroic defending coupled with clinical finishing might just be most teams' best way of winning. And of course there is no escaping the reality that every player on your team will have to run his socks off chasing the ball to have a hope of killing the giant. However, according to Paul Doyle of the Guardian Lyon have resigned to the fact that Barcelona are going to score a hat full of goals, so they are bolstering their attack in order to try and score more. Will their strategy work? It just might, but even if it doesn''t we're still in for a cracking game.
Up front is where Barcelona appear the most devastating, but as I've said I think it's midfield where they are the superior specimens and it is from there that they win their games. The statistics will tell otherwise though, with Messi, Henry and Eto'o having something like 45 league goals between them. Messi is just Messi. You simply have to put about 3 guys on him and repeatedly kick him to have any chance of taming the Argentine. However, for me, Eto'o and Henry are not as good as their stats make them out to be.
While Henry has undoubtedly improved since last season, that blistering pace of his -- you know, the thing that made him so effective -- has all but gone. He still has something to offer, but against a good defense I think he could be shown up and shut up. His goals this season have masked some poor performance, but they are still goals nonetheless. For now he looks the Thierry of old, but me and my gut instinct are not convinced.
Neither are we convinced about Samuel Eto'o. The Cameroon hitman with the genocidal look in his eyes is on course for the Pichichi, but when it matters most I think he could possibly prove to be a weak link. He missed a crucial penalty against Madrid earlier in the season, and for me he just isn't clinical enough in front of goal. He does score a lot of course, but if you look at the chances he gets he could probably score twice as much. It's a similar story to Adebayor of Arsenal last season. He got a lot of goals, but when it mattered he didn't quite deliver.
Against Man United last season it was Eto'o who cost Barca the game. Almost every chance they had fell to him, and he wasted them all. In such tight games you need a striker you can rely on, and I don't believe Eto'o to be that striker.
Barcelona have been accused of "Messi dependency", which I think is an accusation with an element of truth to it. Of course when you have a player of Messi's calibre in your squad you are always going to depend on him to some extent, but when he doesn't play it should be a cause for worry that neither Eto'o nor Henry appear capable of stepping up to the plate. In my opinion Messi isn't necessarily carrying Barcelona per se, but he is carrying his two forward partners. While the pocket-sized wizard remains fit this is not a problem, but should he be forced out through injury Barcelona could find themselves having lots of the ball but little to show for it.
So therein lie some of the weaknesses I perceive in the Barcelona team. Are they the best football team right now? Unquestionably. Are they beatable? Absolutely.
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