This is a guest post written by reader SiempreBarça07 (twitter here). The BFB staff would like to them him/her for this lovely post and for giving us all a break from the action. Please note that this was written prior to the Getafe loss. Any mistakes are almost assuredly the editor’s. -BFB staff

Our #7 has been under constant attack since he has joined the blaugrana side because the goals have not been flowing for him as with his previous teams. With arguably the world’s best midfield behind him, everyone expected Spain’s top hit man to be even more prolific. Following the World Cup, the media, fans, his ex-teammates, his friends and family all placed bets that Villa would achieve one of his lifelong goals to be Pichichi of the league he didn’t dare leave, the league he loves so much – La Liga.

Before he joined Barça, Villa equated himself with the goal. And if you watched or read any interviews asking others such as Xavi, Casillas, Pique, and Iniesta how they would describe Villa, they all answered with one word: goals. Few knew - and few know - that for Barça, the job Villa was signed to do was not so simple. It seems that only two men really knew what el Guaje was in for: Pep Guardiola and Johan Cruyff.

Cruyff knew with Barça’s system already set to revolve around the world’s best player in Messi, Pep would assign Villa to the left. In his weekly column for El Periodico published on March 28 2011, Cruyff wrote in defense of Villa:

Just as Xavi is not in the field only to give assists, Villa plays not only to score. As they are two of Barça. Xavi was needed to be champions of Europe and the World, and reached 100 to receive the praise of all. With him, the selection is a bit of Barça. And a bit of Barcelona is a lot. Xavi brings style, balance and ball control; Villa, depth. His problem, not yours, is the burden up front, is that of a forward. And for that there is no field, there is no coach – the striker stands alone on goal. The error of appreciation is enormous.

Villa is no less dangerous at five games without scoring for Barcelona. Or does any less of a good job for taking three caps to overcome Raúl for the record. The strikers are selfish. The team can win, but they will not sleep easy if they do not meet with a goal.

But if he is already the top scorer in the history of selection, if the percentage of goals per match is high, it is because he does much more than wait for the ball and push it. Villa is synonymous with depth. It means being always ready to open passing lanes, to draw defenders and thus freeing space for others.

Will he always score? No. This failure is part of football. For me, whether a forward plays badly or not has nothing to do with the goal. Or just by moving near the penalty area and marking more numbers than any other. Playing good or bad depends on whether he does or does not do a number of details that mean just as much as a goal. In his case, we are talking about depth.

Cruyff emphasizes that Villa is used to allow Barça to play with its signature philosophy and style. Furthermore, time and time again, Guardiola has also defended Villa and reiterated his confidence in el Guaje, saying that he is “indisputable.” More tellingly, in his October 24th press conference, Pep said: ”Thanks to Villa, we can play as well as we do. We do not find many like him. I would like to have more players like Villa by my side in my career. He has adapted and has the humility to do it… few would have the modesty to sacrifice themselves like that.”

And that’s what Villa is for at Barça: sacrifice. Guardiola knows well that he is not using Villa optimally – but Villa is being used to help Barça in the best way possible.  In a team sport, sacrifice is a necessity and in this team, Villa is a necessity.

Wasted

Guardiola doesn’t fully utilize Villa’s excellent control with long balls and his searing directness in counterattacks. Longs balls are not Barça’s style – though some variability now and then really can’t hurt. However on the second point, the counterattacks, the team really needs to work on. When space is cleared for once, Barça’s counterattacks are miserably slow. Too many players pass sideways even when there is space ahead, throwing the advantage of counterattacking in the bin. But returning to the main point, it is clear that unlike with Messi, the team does not play to Villa’s strengths – Villa is made to play to make the team stronger.

Football Without the Ball

David Villa is one of the world’s best players with his off-the-ball movement and with his ability to desmarque  – to lose his markers, draw defenders, and wreak havoc in the back line with his tireless and intelligent runs.  Especially against teams that park the bus, Villa creates space so that the team, so that Messi and Cesc – or whoever is allowed to play centrally – can score.  Maintaining the width of the pitch like he does requires strict discipline and patience – the latter of which, many have failed reciprocate with Villa.

Taking on a lot more defensive duty and constantly pressuring, Villa became a more complete player but ceded his role as being the focal point through which goals are scored. And nominally known as a striker (and I say nominally, because at Barça he is really a winger), the primary thing people expect of him is goals, and lots of them. Failing to realize that his off-the-ball movement and link-up play up front is what helps create Barça’s goals, many continue to question Villa’s place on this team.

Moreover, Villa always expects himself to score more because that is what he truly loves to do. He achieves this mainly by cutting in from the left, connecting with his teammates, and playing clever one-twos. He also by making runs across the backline waiting for thru-balls. The second strategy has drawn criticism due to the number of offsides he has accumulated – last season. This season, he is in fact onsides a lot more, but the reputation has stuck so that for any 50/50 situation, the linesmen would now raise the flag.

Not Only Barça’s Rivals Are Denied Possession…

Perhaps compelled to fit into the Barça way of passing and eager to prove he’s compatible with Messi, Villa sometimes hesitates, overthinks, and is less bold than his former self. However this is a psychological matter – maybe one of confidence – rather than a matter of ability. He needs to feel that he won’t be reprimanded for not passing and for taking shots. In this team known for possession, he is afraid of losing balls. But look at Messi and you’ll see that he loses plenty – it’s only natural with forwards because they are the ones responsible for taking those risks. Villa needs to know that he is allowed to take those chances too. David Villa has shown and he is continuing to show with Spain, that he has plenty of technique and ability with the ball. With his national side, he still plays on the left but he is given much much more freedom to float between lines and move around. As a result, he receives the ball a lot more and scores at a much higher rate. It’s simple in this respect: in order to put the ball in the back of the net – you need the ball.

1-on-1s is not one of his strengths, but he rarely gets the opportunity to make those individual on-the-ball plays on a team of players who all love to play with the ball – Messi, Iniesta, Thiago, and especially now Fabregas. Often flailing his arms and screaming in frustration in attempt to receive the ball, the amount of ball this footballer sees is minimal. Even Guardiola has recognized that Villa’s runs too often go ignored. Why is this though?

Ignoring any biases players may have with each other and strictly tactically – the space in the middle has now opened up because of Villa and Pedro on the flanks; Messi is free to face the goal. And since it is obviously easier to score right in front of the goal rather than having to come in from an angle, the midfielder would opt to pass to the centrally located false-nine. Also, it must be noted that because Dani Alves is so much better at pushing up and playing the ball in from the right than any left-back at Barça is capable of replicating on the left (with absolutely no disrespect to Abidal), there is simply more action and goal scoring opportunities on that other band.

Behind the Numbers

Any player in Villa’s position, with his job and on this team, will have difficulty scoring as regularly as they may have on other teams.  Too often is the work behind the goals ignored.  Too often are people blinded by the score-line and statistics – the number of goals, assists, shots, etc. The work Villa does (and Pedro too) is immeasurable – often unnoticed and off the screen because it is accomplished without the football. However that work has a very tangible effect on the game and on the success that Barça has achieved.

Not many players of Villa’s quality – top scorer of a Euro and World Cup winning national team – will be able to fulfill that job description with as much grace and professionalism as he has. In addition to what he adds in the locker room (I hear from Pep that he’s a real joker), let’s not forget all the goals he has scored for Barça. David Villa is already a part of Barça history and I say he has done and is doing enough to merit a place in its future. El Guaje is here because more than he loves goals, he loves the team and he loves the game.

This piece was not written as an excuse for any lack of goals; on the contrary, this piece was written in condemnation of people who mistake goals as the sole means to victory and the end to the game. This piece was written to remind spectators, especially culés, that football is més que the numbers, and that there is much more to see behind those statistics. It was written with the hope that they will see the game… and the most beautiful game there is: Barça’s game.

Sources:

The original El Periodico column is no longer available but the quotes can be found on these other news sites:

(1) http://www.lne.es/deportes/2011/03/29/cruyff-dice-villa-goleador/1052716.html
(2) http://www.goal.com/en/news/12/spain/2011/03/28/2414742/johan-cruyff-barcelonas-david-villa-is-more-than-just-a
(3) http://futbol.azumare.com/pep-guardiola-elogio-al-asturiano-david-villa
(4) http://www.fcbarcelona.com/football/first-team/detail/article/guardiola-eager-to-see-how-his-squad-will-react-in-granada

When you play a match, it is statistically proven that players actually have the ball 3 minutes on average. The best players – the Zidanes, Ronaldinhos, Gerrards – will have the ball maybe 4 minutes. Lesser players – defenders – probably 2 minutes. So, the most important thing is: what do you do those 87 minutes when you do not have the ball…. That is what determines whether you’re a good player or not.

-Johan Cruyff

One of the qualities that makes great artists great, is their ability to see and render the spaces between objects. In a still life of a bowl of fruit, a glass of water, a table cloth and wall paper, they not only see each individual entity but also see the relationship between them.

Great artists not only draw or paint what’s physically present, but what’s not there. The geometry between edges. The background. In art these are known as negative spaces.

One of the qualities that makes football so beautiful, that can give it an aesthetic dimension that far surpasses its rudiments of eleven players, a ball and the pitch is that it is a game of negative space. If the ball is the point of reference and the focus of attention it is the parts of the game taking place in more distant regions of activity that sculpt a match. It is not only the players that matter, but how they interrelate on the pitch. So much joy comes from what happens in those spaces that aren’t dictated by the ball, that aren’t occupied by anyone at all.

In their last match Barcelona comfortably beat Zaragoza 4-0 at Camp Nou. Though the victory was far from a surprise and Zaragoza is far from a formidable side (particularly defensively), the Blaugrana played very well. In fact it was one of their better recent performances.

What the team did very well this match that it hasn’t done well over the past few matches was to use space to make the pitch functionally “large.” Much of this was due to the role that Barça’s two advanced flank players assumed.

Both Sanchez and Cuenca had interesting matches. Neither notably altered the match through their direct play on the ball or their individual quality. Sanchez was clearly off form. He’s played little football this season overall due to injury. And he’s particularly played limited minutes within the Barcelona system. And that was clearly apparent in the Zaragoza match. Cuenca individually played well – but he wasn’t incorporated into the match as much as he could have been by his teammates.

Nonetheless, together, they exerted significant influence over the outcome through their tactical play. In this regard, the Zaragoza match was a stark example of how a player can be decisive, even in attack, without touching the ball. It shed’s light on Cruyff’s maxim about what makes a player “good” in any particular match.

Tactical Analysis:

The image below typifies much of Zaragoza’s approach to the match.

Zaragoza is playing very narrow and compact – much as Sevilla, Viktoria Plzen (Camp Nou leg), and L’Hospitalet have done this season to thwart Barcelona from translating dominance in possession into scoring.

All ten of the Zaragoza outfield players are stationed between the width of the eighteen yard box. Zaragoza are particularly concerned about defending “positive space” – that is the player with the ball and the immediate space around him.

For much of the match Zaragoza sought to defend the ball with two to three players (one man on the ball and the nearby defenders forming a “wall” to the goal or cutting off passing angles to disrupt the short passing game).

Zaragoza have formed a cluster of four players around the ball. Behind them there are four more Zaragoa defenders. There are seeking to form a dense column of defense between the ball and the goal to prevent Barça from playing the ball through the middle.

They’ve accomplished this objective effectively – Zaragoza have numerical superiority in this region of danger 8 vs. 4. In the central space their ten defenders occupy they outnumber Barça 10 vs. 5 – they can literally double mark every Barça player stationed towards the middle of the pitch.

The key to this sequence is what’s happening in the space Zaragoza is choosing not to defend. Notice how Isaac Cuenca is stationed extremely wide at the touchline. Zaragoza is pressuring Xavi who has the ball. They have Xavi and Alves outnumbered 4 vs. 2. A wall of three players cuts off Fabrgas from Xavi – there is no pathway for a pass. Towards the middle Messi is triple marked.

Rather than running to the ball Cuenca stays wide however. He doesn’t creep into towards the ball. Critically, he remains positioned to in a way that ensures that Xavi has a strong passing angle. If he edges forward or moves backwards – that passing angle deteriorates. Cuenca appears to be just standing there – but what he is doing is orchestrating negative space perfectly.

Watch how radical a simple ball from Xavi to Cuenca impacts Zaragoza’s defensive shape:

There is no ideal way to play the game. In seeking to overplay the center to take away Barça’s greatest strength, Zaragoza has had to leave the flanks relatively open. Once the ball is circulated wide they have to completely reconfigure their shape. Notice how disorganized they’ve become. Xavi and Alves – once facing a 2 vs. 4 situation are now each single marked. Messi once triple marked is now 1 vs. 1 with his defender as the Zaragoza backline is forced to drop a few steps deeper. Most importantly, notice what’s happened with Fabregas. Before he was stationed in space that was cut off from the other players. Now he is free, finding a center space between the Zaragoza defenders.

Comparing the two images above demonstrates why spacing the pitch wide is so critical. It makes the pitch large and forces the defense to zone more area. This in turn opens up more space in the interior. And it’s this interior space Fabregas has so deftly moved into, putting himself into a very dangerous position.

All of this came from one simple ball from Xavi to a completely wide open Cuenca.

Cuenca then easily splits the two defenders seeking to close him down with a short pass to the now wide open Fabregas.

Commentators often make remarks about Barcelona’s “useless” passing. Indirect play, short passes, etc. Many of these remarks are made because too much attention is paid to the positive space around the ball.

This sequence started with Xavi under pressure and completely cut off from Fabregas – he had no passing angle to get Cesc the ball. With one short pass what Barcelona has done is to sculpt a passing angle to Fabregas. By staying wide Cuenca is able to make the pass that Xavi could not.

This sequence ends with Barcelona generating a dangerous scoring opportunity. Fabregas shortly goes on to play the ball back to Alves and link up with him for an incisive 1-2 towards goal.

Overall, Cuenca had a better game than Sanchez as the Barcelona left wing looked significantly off game form due to lack of minutes. Nonetheless, Sanchez’s tactical impact was similarly significant as demonstrated by the sequence below which demonstrates how dynamic Barcelona’s play was along both flanks.

Staying wide, Cuenca receives a long pass from played quickly by Keita from the Barcelona half.

Rather than immediately pass the ball, Cuenca takes a few dribbles to run at the defense. While again this appears to be a simple action, what it does is to draw Messi’s defender away from him. For much of the match Zaragoza attempted to defend Messi with three defenders. Through use of width and direct play, Barcelona have created a situation where Messi is unmarked.

Messi receives the ball open in space from Cuenca, who continues his run centrally.

Notice how the Zaragoza defense reacts to Messi have the ball free in space. The entire defense collapses centrally. Zaragoza becomes extremely narrow with their entire backline and holding midfielders attempting to clot the middle and prevent Barcelona from playing in this space.

Over the past month or so we’ve seen this kind of situation develop again and again for Barcelona. Messi makes a run, the defense narrows and collapses to the middle. The Barcelona attackers gather to the middle to link up and play the ball short and fast (likely back to Messi on a 1-2). Messi then has to thread a pass through a high density of defenders – a pass which has to be made perfectly or the play is broken up.

What made the game against Zaragoz different is Sanchez’s positioning. The left defensive back has pinched in to the middle. However, Sanchez, maintaining tactical discipline, stays very wide. He’s hardly moved in at all despite all of the action and movement to the middle. Sanchez instead is orchestrating space that’s being ignored and where no visible activity is taking place.

Rather than being forced to play a low probability pass through tight space Messi has another option – an outlet in Sanchez.

The ball played to the open wide player again causes the Zaragoza defense to lose shape and become more disorganized. Zaragoza throughout looked to defend the ball with at least two players – one to pressure and one to cover. With Sanchez free to move onto the simple ball from Messi two defenders have to move towards him. This in turn takes two defenders who were in the middle away from that vital space. Additionally, the entire backline starts to drop deeper.

Notice how Messi initially passes the ball and delays his run. He knows that this pass will force the defense deeper. As the defenders speed up to retreat, Messi slows down momentarily to develop the space around him. This is a perfect example of why he is so effective as a false 9.

Sanchez, then takes a few quick dribbles to run at the defenders. His goal isn’t to beat them per se. Instead, it is to further draw the two defenders towards him.

Through the wide player receiving the ball in space and running at the defenders Xavi is now open in space. It wasn’t even much of a run – but it’s often the subtle factors which define how space is used.

Also – notice what’s happened with Messi. He is now single marked. That is one of the major outcomes of this sequence for Barça. All match Zaragoza attempted to mark Messi with multiple defenders – and here he is at running into the 18 yard box single marked. This is a significant tactical “victory” for Barcelona.

In the image above, once he’s drawn the defender away from Xavi, Sanchez passes the ball the now open playmaker. Seeing this, Messi accelerates his run and Xavi is now able to make a relatively simple pass for Messi to run onto inside of the 18 yard box.

Zaragoza outnumber Barça 6 vs. 3 around the ball. But by shaping negative space Barcelona has created a situation where Messi is 1 vs. 1 with the defender inside of the box. Barça have forced the opposition into the exact situation their entire defensive tactical system was designed to stop.

If Messi had initially tried to play the ball through the middle rather than having the option to go wide to Sanchez it is unlikely this would have happened. There was such a density of defenders that a perfect pass would have been required to play the ball through the middle. But by opening up space Barcelona has achieved exactly what is hopes to – Messi in the box with the ball single marked.

Ultimately Xavi’s pass was slightly wide and Messi lost his footing. Nonetheless the sequence created twp dangerous opportunities. First it gave Messi a chance in a dangerous space. Second, the defender had to play the ball out to dispossess Messi setting up a corner. It was that corner which Puyol made a great run from deep and got a free header on goal – a chance he usually buries for a score.

Conclusion

The team that controls the ball largely controls the game. But controlling the ball involves much more than possessing it. Barcelona is at its best when it’s able to use the ball to control space on the pitch.

Doing so however requires Barça to not only arrange space around the ball but to enlarge the pitch, to force the defense to play in spaces where it doesn’t want to. To execute in this fashion requires Barça to sculpt space across the pitch by using the flanks dynamically. As we’ve seen, this kind of play doesn’t need to be complicated – often simple balls can creates dramatic impacts, particularly because so much of the defensive focus of the opposition has to be central.

Over the past month or so when Barcelona struggled somewhat they didn’t use space across the pitch effectively. They became too focused on the positive space around the ball. It was good to see them getting back to a more tactically balanced way of playing against Zaragoza.

So, Milan, we meet again.

Last year, we played them in the Gamper, beating them on penalties, in what was a strange sequence of events which cumulated in record signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic leaving with the Milanese club. Just over a year later and we’re squaring up again.

It’d be easy to make this whole preview about Ibra, Mino Raiola, mental institutions, philosophers and that whole transfer snafu, but it’s always more productive to talk about the actual football (and I just told a story the last time I did a preview).

So, uh, the tactical attempt makes a comeback. I know Milan a bit because I’ve always liked them since the Shevchenko days, mostly because my sister was a Juve supporter, but Pirlo (#dathair)-Kaka-Seedorf-Maldini was too hard to resist. (SHEVA!!!!). Though, Udinese’s been my team since last year, and I’m bandwagoning hard on Roma this year for obvious reasons.

My allegiances aside, I’ll be looking to give you guys some sort of idea of how they’ll play. I’m no expert, so apologies for the people who know this already and were hoping for Euler-esque insight.

Players To Watch

Besides the obvious players in Pato, Ibra, Robinho (if he’s fit), and Cassano, here are some players to keep an eye on:

Alberto Aquilani: Liverpool and Roma fans will recognize this man. (Well, maybe not the Liverpool fans…) The main source of creatively in the midfield, Aquilani will be looking to pull the strings. He’s not quick, but makes up for his lack of pace with his vision.

 

 

 

 

Kevin Prince Boateng: Jnice’s homeboy, the Ghana international is very fast and a decent dribbler, though his technical skills aren’t anything to write home about. Very hardworking, so he’ll be running for 90 minutes. Is a bit selfish, though, so if a good scoring lane opens itself to him, he’ll go for it rather than pass the ball. But his main attributes are his dynamism and working rate.

 

 

 

 

 

Mark van Bommel: A former player of ours, signed for Milan from Bayern this summer. I say watch out for him, but really I mean beware. I don’t want to say he’s dirty — okay, he’s dirty — but he gets the job done. A pure destroyer, look for him to be on Xavi especially. (*says a quick prayer for Xavi’s tendons*)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thiago Silva: Strong defender, good in the air, with a great positional sense. He’s like Puyol/Mascherano type of defender in that they come, they see, and they conquer. Technically ability is above average, and is very good on the ball. Long balls to Ibra is something to look out for. Is usually the first to put out the fire. Didn’t have a great game against Lazio on Friday, but there is no doubt he’s a world class defender, the best in Serie A last season IMO.

Basic Overview

As we all know, formations are arbitrary and don’t really stay that way. But for simplicity sake, we assign numbers to positions and formations to explain things better.

Milan play a 4-3-1-2. Boateng is the ’1′ behind the ’2′ of Pato and Ibrahimovic. van Bommel, Ambrosini, and Aquilani form the ’3′, with Antonini*, Thiago Silva, Nesta and Abate at the back. Boeteng, Aquilani, Ambrosini, and van Bommel form something like a diamond shape in the midfield, while Pato plays just off Ibrahimovic on the right. For a visual representation:

Gennaro Gattuso and Philippe Mexes are suspended and won’t feature. *We could see Taiwo or Zambrotta there instead. Both were injured, it seems, and were unavailable for Milan against Lazio.  Also, I’m too lazy go and change the formations just for one player. Sub in Taiwo for Antonini and you get the same idea.

[Update] Robinho and Ibrahimovic are both injured for this game and are unavailable. As the only forwards available, Pato and Cassano will start.

Full Milan Squad:

GOALKEEPERS – Abbiati, Amelia, Rome.

DEFENDERS – Abate, Antonini, Bonera, Nesta, Taiwo, Thiago Silva, Zambrotta, Yepes.

Midfield – Ambrosini, Aquilani, Boateng, Emanuelson, Nocerino, Seedorf, Van Bommel.

FORWARDS – Cassano, Pato.

Milan in attack

When in possession of the ball, Milan primarily attack through the right. Pato has the freedom to either cut inside, or take on the defender. Abate pushes up from the right back position, like Alves, to overlap/support. Boateng also stays near the center-right position.

Milan heavily rely on their forwards for creativity, but have added Aquilani to help take the load of them and have some creativity in the midfield. Expect Aquilani to see the ball quite a bit, looking to either spread play, or play balls into space.

Ambrosini comes over to cover for Abate pushing up. van Bommel also plays a bit deeper, just in front the CB pairing (think Busi in front of our CBs). Antonini is the ‘stay-at-home’ left back, but does move further forward to support Aquilani. Thiago Silva and Nesta stay behind. In the end it looks something like so:

Though it doesn’t look like it in the picture above (I tried to show it as best I could while also staying true to reality), there is actually a lot of space behind Ambrosini. Why is this relevant? I’ll get to that in a bit.

Milan in defense

The above is all well and good if Milan have the ball, but it’s safe to say we’ll be having it most of the time.

Milan are a 4-4-1-1 in defense. Aquilani and Boateng move back, and Pato plays just behind Ibrahimovic, forming the ’1′s. See below:

In both defense and attack, Milan are very, very narrow. What does that mean? It means that there are a lot of players squeezed close to each other. They aren’t spread out wide, and there is not a lot of space between them.

Why is this relevant? Ambrosini, Aquilani and van Bommel don’t have much pace. Neither does Nesta, for that matter. If Ambrosini loses the ball while Milan are in attack, or the ball is played over to whoever we have on the left, both Ambrosini and van Bommel will struggle to keep up with that player, even moreso when we have additional players supporting the one on the ball.

This is where the loss of Alexis really, really hurts. He’s the perfect player to play this Milan as he exploits almost all their vulnerabilities to a tee. In a scenerio where Abate loses the ball, just for an example, if the ball is played to Alexis, he has Ambrosini to beat and then is in acres of space to take on Nesta and go for goal, or cross the ball. van Bommel could come over, but will probably have Iniesta and Messi to track as well. What Ambrosini could do is just tactical foul: block Alexis completely, but then he runs the risk of getting yellows and being sent off.

We don’t have Alexis though, and that, well, sucks. But the great thing about this Barca team is that we have other options.

To Summarize:

Milan’s main two vulnerabilities are:

- Lack of pace in midfield: once they lose the ball, they struggle to make up distance. Good tacklers of the ball, but with the quick feet of our players, they may be forced to tactical foul.

- Very narrow formation: makes them susceptible to width. Combined with the above means wingers with great ball control and pace are terrible for them.

Now to the Barcelona side of things

Considering only our midfield and Messi can score goals (last 9 goals have been scored by Messi, Fabregas, Thiago and Xavi), it seems like all our forward line (read: Pedro and Villa) will be doing is flailing their arms around and being offside.

To some people, Villa in particular will be the place where attacks go to die. Xavi plays a ball over the top for Villa from deep? In the minds of cules (read: mine) it’ll go something like so:

A wild GOALSCORING CHANCE has appeared!

What will DAVID VILLA do?

–> SLOT THE BALL PAST THE GOALKEEPER
–> DRIFT INTO AN OFFSIDE POSITION
–> HIT THE POST
–> ROUND THE GOALKEEPER AND SLOT THE BALL INTO OPEN NET

DAVID VILLA used DRIFT INTO AN OFFSIDE POSITION!

It’s super effective! DAVID VILLA is flagged offside. GOALSCORING CHANCE took 99% damage!

GOALSCORING CHANCE has disappeared!

Flawless Victory!

…Except it won’t really go that way.

All jokes and sarcasm aside, Villa does represent a real danger to defenses; it’s just not on the wing. He can maintain decent width, but he’s a passable dribbler at most. Taking on defenders isn’t his strong suit, and he doesn’t have much pace either, so running with the ball is not really an option either.

What Villa is, is a finisher, so getting the ball into space and having a clear shot at goal is where he really excels. Which is why his skill set is great for a team that’s not Milan, and why I think he shouldn’t start.

Who do I propose to start?

- Afellay. I know, I know. He’s just coming back from injury, didn’t really have a preseason, and is not match fit. But this is a game Ibi will really excel in. Got oodles of pace, good 1v1 dribbler, and his crossing ability is probably the best on the team IMO.

- Abidal at CB. I know, I know. We’ll miss him at left-back. But we really need pace in the center of our defense. Pato is quick, very quick. With Adriano, who is no slouch in the speed department himself, also there to double up, we can neutralize Pato quite well.

- Mascherano at CB. No duh, right? Ideally, I would have wanted Pique here, but Mascherano is a very good alternate to mark Ibra. Close marking plus strong tackling prowess is a good combo to have.

Proposed XI

VV
Alves – Mascherano – Abidal – Adriano
Xavi – Busi – Iniesta
Pedro – Messi – Afellay

We have all the tools to cause Milan some serious, serious problems. One large advantage we have is Camp Nou. It is a very very big pitch, and with Milan staying narrow, we’ll have a lot of space on the flanks to exploit. This space coupled with the lack of pace of key defenders, means things could get very ugly for them if we play our cards right.

With Afellay’s lack of match fitness, we’ll most likely see him start on the bench to come on in the second half (hopefully). I don’t want to see Iniesta at LW, as it makes us more narrow which plays into Milan’s hands, but the Villa complexity is an interesting one. I’d bank on Villa regardless of the trade-offs he brings.

Puyol has also gotten the green light and could get some minutes. Puyi for Adriano, pushing Abidal to left-back, could happen, though we’d miss Abidal’s pace in the middle. Besides, I like complementing pairs at the center of defense (Puyol-Masche is too similar).

3 Things that journalists (read: me) wish would happen during the match:

- Ibra and Villa have a b*tchfight offside. ‘You’re only here because I left!’ screams the Swede. Inzaghi tries to join in from the stands, but is held back by security.

- Gattuso makes a surprise reappearance and somehow gets into an actual fight with Mascherano. Afterwards, they express their mutual respect for each other while snarling.

- Fabregas stays on the bench the whole game. Still manages to score.

Official prediction: Hard to say. Depends on how we are on the day. I’m gonna say we will be on like Tron, so Barcelona 3-0 Milan.

Englishman Martin Atkinson will be the referee for CL match (*van Bommel does a happy dance*).

Game is on Sportsnet in Canada, FSC and ESPN3 in US (I think. I check around, but it’s not on ESPN or ESPN2).

(For those who didn’t get the reference in the first image’s caption, I give you this. Language warning!

I’ve never made any qualms about my belief that Pep Guardiola knows a hell of a lot more about this game than I do, and specifically about this team. So when Mr. Guardiola (see, we’re classy like the NY Times) creates his squad I tend to defer to his judgment, possibly to a fault, but that’s just me. This offseason has been no different for me, but for others it has provided no shortage of acrimony, second-guessing, hand-wringing, and general malcontentedness. Calls for more defenders, or less spending, or taller players have largely fallen on deaf ears whilst Pep has promoted 2 and brought in another short winger and the long lost midfielder. Some of these complaints have merit (however little), others however, are your basic fan complaints that ring of a spoiled adult in need of a solid soap-in-a-pillowcase beating. By looking at the components the team has and the different lineups that may be used, I intend to show that not only does the team have much greater depth this year, but is also far more skilled than last year’s Double-winning side.

A few points need to be made before we dig in. First, I am not possessed by the tactical expertise of say a Euler, so this will not be quite as in depth as one of his posts, and it may also contain some minor issues, and for those I apologize. Second, and more importantly, there is one man in charge of the squad for this team, and that is Pep Guardiola. The moves to focus on promoting new players (Thiago and Fontas), add wing depth up front (Sanchez), and bringing Fabregas back as a backup for Xavi, Iniesta, and even at DM, are his moves. Admittedly, we also have to assume that the Angel deal fell apart or never occurred because of Pep’s hand, not Rosell’s. This should also be of some great comfort to fans who fear that Pep is always going to leave next year. Either Pep is the great benevolent one, building his dream team as one of the most talented club football sides in history and leaving it for Luis Enrique in a few months, or he’s here to stay barring unforeseen circumstances. You may decide how the team-building bodes for his future with the club for yourselves.

Since the beginning of Mr. Guardiola’s reign he has reshaped the squad in his image of what it should be, one that is free flowing in attack, carries all the possession, and makes onslaughts look easy (incidentally, I see Villa-Boas making this exact same transition at Chelsea so long as he’s given enough time). And looking back the evolution is stunning.

Essentially, this is Pep’s survival of the fittest. Regardless of whether he knew all these pieces were necessary at the beginning or if it dawned on him at some point in between, he’s doing a good job of cobbling it and his tenure is rife with examples. I’m personally unsure if he ever really wanted a true 9 in the lineup, but it now appears to be done for the rest of his coaching career here. Even with Eto’o and Ibrahimovic, they were asked to also take up more outside positions over time, and the Eto’o/Ibrahimovic transfer sagas proved to be a worthless distraction for the club, but it may have finally pushed the 9 out in favor of the false 9 of Messi (and I hardly doubt anyone can complain with those results). The closest thing to a 9 on the team now is Villa and I am sure it will stay that way for the foreseeable future.

The signing of Alves is another example, though the player hasn’t changed, his role has, moving higher up every season, until 2010-11 when he was 3rd in La Liga in assists. Pep wanted that roving RB and he got the best one available, who is now the best one in the world. Additionally, he has used the DM position, specifically with Busquets, to turn into a third centerback or sweeper during matches, allowing both wing backs to move forward, turning the formation into an adjusted 3-4-3.

The youth movement has also become part of Guardiola’s MO managing the club. Pep of course managed Barça B before he came to the A side, and this has informed his promotion and transfer policies ever since. When a B player has become ready and an opening happens at the top, the team has opted for going within the organization instead of without. Gone were the older players in favor of Pedro, Busquets, Jeffren, and Pique, who were all deemed ready to contribute depth. Obviously, not every transfer has followed this trend (read: Alves, Keita, Villa, Ibrahimovic, and Adirano), but viable youth options did not exist for those positions either. Thiago’s and Fontas’s promotions this summer only serve to reinforce this idea. With possible big name targets available elsewhere, the club went with proven youth to provide depth and coverage in two areas where it was needed.

Even when a transfer has been necessary, the most recent ones have been for youngsters like Cesc Fabregas (who like Pique grew up in La Masia, left, and was brought back), Alexis Sanchez, Ibrahim Afellay, and even an ancient-seeming Mascherano who is somehow only 27 now. This does not include the obviously large number of youth players who have appeared in non-promoted backup roles such as Sergi Roberto, Bartra, Muniesa, dos Santos the younger, etc. Should Pep stick around, expect more promotions in the offing in lieu of purchases.

These examples all inform our idea of the current squad, and here we come to the formations and tactics we might see this year. The current first-team players first year players are: Valdes, Pinto, Pique, Puyol, Fontas, Alves, Abidal, Adriano, Maxwell, Busquets, Mascherano, Keita, Fabregas, Thiago, Xavi, Iniesta, Sanchez, Afellay, Messi, Villa, and Pedro. Outside of GK, only Alves, Maxwell, and maybe Messi play one static position, whereas the others are versatile, playing in multiple positions and areas. This is the key to the smaller squad that Pep carried last year (though this is up 1 players from the primary 20 he started with last August) and the reason the team has avoided adding another defender. Viewing the squad as a series of evolutionary steps to true versatility is the better way to look at it, instead of one-off moves meant to fill a hole or two for the interim.

Starting with what is typically thought of as the “strongest” formation for the squad, or what it would have been last year. I use the scare quotes because I feel this year’s strongest squad will be vastly different with the addition of Sanchez and the injury history of Puyol, but we’ll get there eventually.

Now, the most routine complaint this offseason has been the lack of another defender after Milito left, but it’s one I feel that would be a luxury, not a necessity. Quite simply, the 5 “defensive” outfield positions are occupied by 10 or 11 players (depending on how you view Fabregas as a DM), almost all of whom play multiple positions well. Abidal has served admirably as both a roving LB and a CB, Masch as a CB and DM, Adriano as LB and RB, Fontas as a CB and LB for the B side, Puyol as a RB and either CB, Busquets as a DM or CB, and Pique at either CB position. The following formation represents one where Puyol, Pique, Abidal, and Xavi are all injured, and while it’s not perfect, it’s also not leaving super gaping holes either that some are claiming (seeing as something similar gave up 2 goals to one of the best offensive sides in the world a few days ago).

A similarly bad scenario was lived out on Sunday during the first leg of the Supercopa. The starting backline included Alves, Mascherano, Abidal, and Adriano, with Keita at the DM. Though Keita was abysmal in his position (and awfully out of play there), the others filled in admirably. And while I saw some complaints of “centerback-sized holes” being covered by last second stops (namely by Mascherano), I don’t see these same comments when Pique or Puyol are doing the last second stopping, which is nothing if not routine in Barça’s system. Other more nuanced considerations have to be made when looking at the CB as well, such as finding a cheap, experienced CB who would be willing to play very few games during a season as anything more than a last gasp option. I don’t see one and honestly believe that Bartra will be the next defender the team gets, by promoting him from the B side.

Then of course we have Fabregas. So much has been made about this transfer, both tactically, philosophically, monetarily, and the like, but in simple football terms it is about midfield versatility. Cesc has traditionally occupied the attacking/playmaking midfield roles at Arsenal, meaning he may fill in for either Xavi or Iniesta if need be, and I believe we would see little in the way of a drop in productivity. He has shown a proclivity to do this before, if you’ll remember back to his play during the 2010 World Cup final. He combined with Iniesta magnificently, eventually doing so for the winner (on the same side of this coin, Thiago provides the same versatility for the club, it’s hard to overstate the value these two provide in this regard). A few will wonder about the necessity here, what with Thiago coming on recently and all that, but Xavi’s continuing achilles issues scare me, as does his age, and not long ago we knew Iniesta as “Mr. Glass,” so… It also behooves us to look to the bridge Fabregas provides between Xavi, Iniesta, and Thiago, a sort of “midfield continuum” as Sid Lowe words it.

Those ideas however, are somewhat obvious. The more nuanced approach is that Cesc can play as a deep mid in defense. As Kevin recently noted, Fabregas started out as a DM in the youth system, and while he’s not the large (Busquets) or hulking (Mascherano) type we are accustomed too, he could still work well back there in my opinion. The midfield would be more compacted to be sure, and Abidal would have to be cutoff from coming forward so as to provide backline support, but I don’t see this as too far-fetched, or even that bad of an option against certain sides that are not great on counter attacks.

Even a lineup without Messi, an almost unthinkable proposition, is still formidable. Villa would likely slot into the middle of the forward trident, and play a more forward-looking role, instead of Messi who tracks back and takes the ball in midfield, he would play higher up and allow the wings and the attacking mid to provide the offensive link up. Villa played a similar role for the Spanish National Team during the 2010 World Cup when Torres wasn’t on the field. As I recall, he did so to some level of success. This formation would also see the wings push out a little wider and the midfield spread out slightly more. In all, missing Messi would hurt badly, but this lineup and alignment shows a lot of strength.

These aren’t even the most interesting lineups that could be brought out. And the intrigue isn’t what matters the most, though I’m sure Mr. Guardiola will test that theory during some random Copa game. What matters is that the team has options in each third, a number of them. And even options at each separate position present themselves. Though they aren’t perfect and you wouldn’t want some of them as your first choice, they are versatile and they work in a pinch. During Pep’s tenure, the team has suffered injuries large and small and has found a plug in every instance, even when you might not have liked it very much. It has happened for 3 straight years, and I don’t doubt it will happen again during this season.

Image: Miguel Ruiz – FCB

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