A Nap, not a Coma
“There is only an unessential cup to lose in this game, but there are lots of things to gain.”
That was one of the last remarks I made in the game Preview. Basically it’s a Copa del Rey game. A competition that doesn’t weigh a lot neither domestically nor on the continental level for a team that will accept nothing but contributing in the Champions’ league each and every year. That’s why, losing this game is not an issue. We will at least gain more playing time for our squad players who had no chance to play on weekly bases. We will give more game experience for JDS or Thiago. More –needed- confidence for Chegrnskiy. And you can keep pointing out the gains and counting the chicken as long as you like.
But we decided to look for one and only one gain over all the rest, surviving in the CDR (Copa Del Rey). So we started ten key players and a clown.
Here let me start by saying I am not emotional a bet toward this loss. That’s why I came straight to the blog writing this post. Or else I would have ruined some pillows and cut some flowers before starting the typing adventure.
The moment I saw the starting lineup, I had that bad feeling that was mix of hunch and disappointment. The hunch was based on the idea that if things turned ugly, it will damage more than it would if we start some youth. And the disappointment because I wanted to see more creativity in managing this game than rolling your lucky dices. I have no problem in losing a game. And obviously I will not have problems to sleep after being knocked out of the CDR. But I admit being concerned regarding the quality of football I’ve seen. Yes there were some glances of beauty, but the systematic approach was not valid. As I always say, every new game is a new lesson to learn.
Our players were so much in a hurry to move the ball to Sevilla box and score. On a wet field like this, you need more effort to keep possession and command midfield. And you suffer more to keep the balance in moving forward and then smoothly switch to defensive transition when you lose the ball. We started like kamikaze. Running forward as if a train is roaring behind us. We lost possession fast and were not able to catch the pace of Sevilla flanks where our two fullbacks were smoked and outrun.
When they set offense, Sevilla had a supportive forward behind Negredo and two players on the flanks stretching the field wide. When they lost possession they switched to 4-2-3-1. The two holding midfielders (Duscher And Romaric) were covering the midfield trio (Navas, Renato, Adriano). This dynamic trio was applying pressure on Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, and Messi.
When we set offense, we were full of Anxiety. Messi and Alves failed to link as they used to. Ibra and Henry were lost in the fog. No wonder we were completely containable.
When we lost the ball, We had no customized plan to delay Sevilla offense. Negredo was so good keeping both Puyol and Pique busy in the center, isolating our fullbacks to deal with Navas and Adriano. That’s where a Holding midfielder who acts like a third Center back with Puyol and Pique during offense and transition would have been a bless. We would have covered Both Abidal and Alves this way, and closed any path for Renato. Yaya could have helped here . Even though it effects our playmaking a bit, but it creates more deep-defensive cover. Keita could have been the perfect solution in the midfield as well with either Busquets or Yaya. But we cant complain that we missed them when we play against Sevilla semi squad.
Yet the main Issue was picking this game to play more direct. During the first half I thought for a moment that I was watching a game in the English premier league. We didn’t calm the ball for a moment in the midfield and exchanged short passes to maintain possession and open spaces in the final third to drive our offense through. Long sloppy passes was the slogan.
Between the two halves I wrote the following in the comment session of the game preview:
1) Our players are so in a hurry to score. In this wet pitch the tempo we played can’t help us to control the playmaking. Next half we need to be more patient. Move the ball to the offense third and it’s there we can accelerate things.
2) In defense set up, Sevilla is playing 4-2-3-1.The 3 midfielders are putting pressure on our midfielders with Duscher and Konko (I meant to say Romaric) creating cover. In such situations there is a need that Henry and ibra dance between the defenders and the two holding mids. Messi need to play in space. Alves and Iniesta have to open the flanks with Busquets and Xavi covering and maintaining ball circulation. They play a lone striker when they defend, so the three defenders must be able to cover behind and assist the holding midfielder.
3) Next half it seems Sevilla will use Capel. Probably to put more pressure on Alves to prevent him from going forward. Pedro will be useful in this case.
4) Again, we need to move the ball to the offense third, then accelerate things crossing the ball to henry and Ibra in the box or -most importantly- shooting from outside the box.
We improved a bit regarding the game tempo and passing in the second half. But not enough to meet expectations. Regarding the second point, If you watch the attempt we made minute 59 you will know exactly what I mean, that was the lone demonstration before the games passed its first hour of age. We scored almost the only shooting attempt we made. And Pedro came in too late to sweat.
Till the sixtieth minute Iniesta and Messi were stepping on each other in the center of the field. Instead of helping in stretching the field. And with Henry crossing the ball to Sevilla Center backs from the left, the flanks were not ticking properly. Ibra was trying too much to be efficient. Pinto was the only player who was taking risks and moving forward. And I thought I will not mention him in this review.
Still, I feel if we would have made the changes 20 minutes earlier we could have changed the game. Woulda…coulda…shoulda…It didn’t happen anyway.
This is a game report that is written at the heat of the moment directly after the game ended. I may have some other issues to address after I watch the game again tomorrow. For now I will dive in bed having only the bright sides in my mind. First, the six titles repetition is something we buried today. Yea, that’s good news for me as now we can have our feet on the ground and have realistic approach to the season. And secondly, we can hope that today we exhausted Sevilla more than they did to us, so the following game at the Camp Nou will be more attainable.
And if you found lot of wrong spelling mistakes, it has nothing to do with the defeat, I wasn’t biting my typing fingers all night. Cheer up. Chins up. Now we are all focused on the serious titles, The big fish!
chris809 Said,
That was a quick one. :)
I hope we exhausted Sevilla more than they did to us too.
I'm also very curious who will play in the weekend against them.
Posted on January 13, 2010 at 4:59 PM
Ramzi Said,
I am fast:P
It worth having a thought about what was the worst thing and the best thing in this game...
Posted on January 13, 2010 at 5:15 PM
Adal Said,
Guardiola must be kicking himself right now. If he used a bit different lineup in the first leg, we probably would've won this round and moved on in the cup. By different lineup, I mean players play in a new position than they used to (Marquez as DM, first big match for Millito etc..). Might be a bit over-confident (or under-estimate of Sevilla).
Although losing in the King's cup is probably not a bad thing, but still I can't help feeling bitter over such a loss.
Posted on January 13, 2010 at 11:43 PM
Ramzi Said,
Payback time in few days. I am not sure if Pep had to change the line up of the first leg or the second. Either you go for it from the start or you take it soft all the way. I was more surprised that we started the best lineup last night than starting the squad players we used in the first leg.
But I am feeling good that we can forget about CDR now. The Liga is the priority. The CL is the ultimate addition.
Posted on January 14, 2010 at 12:52 AM
Adal Said,
Thanks for the link, but its a bit too much for my taste, spec. with thong boy.
I won't mind a second team lineup in the CDR. But the first leg was the third team, a friendly-match kindav lineup.
Posted on January 14, 2010 at 1:58 AM
chris809 Said,
Damn it Ramzi, now I'm blind. :)
About the match:
-the best thing: Iniesta is getting back to his old form
-the worst thing: the miserable non-performance of Henry
-the most memorable moment: when Puyol cleared Capel's pass to Negredo
Posted on January 14, 2010 at 3:00 AM
Ramzi Said,
As long as I am not too sarcastic for your taste, it’s all good Adal:)
Chris, And what about Pinto having a panic attack every time he receives the ball?
Posted on January 14, 2010 at 3:20 AM
chris809 Said,
Well, I think he wasn't so bad, actually I wasn't afraid when Pinto received the ball. Yeah, he's gone solo a few times and it almost backfired but he's way better with his foot than most people think after these two Sevilla matches.
Posted on January 14, 2010 at 3:53 AM
Adal Said,
Sarcasm is my medicine. So no worry, Ramzi. :)
Maybe you should write a piece of 3 doses of Sevilla and see if we made any tactical progress/change during/after..
Posted on January 14, 2010 at 4:06 AM
Adal Said,
Another question: why do you think Pep substituted Ibra instead of Henry in the end? Why Alves? So he was shifting formation to 3-4-3?
Posted on January 14, 2010 at 4:09 AM
Ramzi Said,
Chris, do you know Higuita, the colombian Keeper? He was my favorite once. He made some dumb stuff sometimes (Against Cameron in the world cup?), but I liked his approach to the game as a source of fun rather than taking it too seriously.
But -sadly- times had changed. Players has to be more responsible nowadays. What he did was not only bad because it caused us a goal that was unfairly canceled. It also erritated our backline. If you watch the game again, notice that in the first half our defenders prevented passing the ball back to their keeper regardless of the pressure they had to deal with. Keeper is an important station when your defense is under pressure, as he can ease things up. His moments of clumsinass added a load to the already complicated mission the team had to deal with.
- Adal, may be after the third game we can manage that. It’s hard to compare the three games and evaluate the progress as every game had its own situation. Selections of the first two games reflected how the objectives varied from one game to another. The tactics were decided to meet the objectives (that’s something we can discuss). May be, last night game and the following game are good samples to compare as the objectives are almost the same: Winning.
Regarding the substitutions, if we put the substitutions timing aside, when I saw Ibra leaving I considered that as a master class move by Pep. Ibra is a great player, but we needed a player who can be more loyal to the opponent box than Ibra who roam outside the area a lot. That is something Henry can do. Beside, Ibra still need to improve his headings. The time was too short to see if Henry actually played as a striker or as usual it was Bojan who played there with Henry on his left (Something I never understood why we do).
Regarding Alves sub, between the two halves I said we need Pedro. I thought he will be great instead of Henry because he does the runs behind the back line and Ibra is good in faxing the ball into the box to both Pedro and Messi. In the article you requested I will write more about that as it help against a team that plays this kind of systems as Sevilla. But the sub was delayed and in the last few minutes pep decided to play all the cards introducing Bojan and Pedro. He had to pick either a midfielder to sub (switching to 4-2-4)or a defender (switching to (3-3-4). He chose the reasonable option and pulled out a defender. First because playing 424 against any team is catastrophic as it’s not valid for nowadays football. Playing 4-2-4 against a team that has Midfield superiority like Sevilla make things worse. And knowing that Sevilla have the players with Navas-like pace makes it impossible even to consider opening the midfield wide for them. Besides, if you keep Alves then you have to use him where he is needed most: Offense. When he moves forward will the tactical structure click as 2-3-5 or 3-2-5? I don’t think so, as it will even close any space in the offense third to move through. In this situation the 3-3-4 is the most daring and relatively less risky.
More about that in your requested article ;)
Posted on January 14, 2010 at 4:45 AM
Ramzi Said,
And for unknown reason sometimes the comment doesn’t get published from the first attempt, just press the bottom again and it will work. I think I need a technical manager for the blog :)
And if anyone has problems with the Comment session font or color let me know.
Posted on January 14, 2010 at 4:47 AM
chris809 Said,
It's a fact Pinto made some dumb things last night and he wasn't in his best form. But we can't expect a world class performance from a keeper who played 2 times in the last 4 months. This time he underperformed but he can do a lot better. (What he can't prove until next season.) All I'm saying is you can't expect from Pinto to be as reliable as Valdes.
Posted on January 14, 2010 at 5:34 AM
Eric Said,
What if we lost against Sevilla next game? I know they have a strong team, but after defeating us in the Cup, losing again will damage the team moral. Me worried.
Posted on January 14, 2010 at 5:47 AM
Adal Said,
I don't understand the logic behind using Pinto in last night's match. If you use your best cards, you use them all, including Valdes. Why do you use your A-team in all other positions but with a B-team goalie?
Posted on January 14, 2010 at 5:51 AM
Waleed Said,
I somehow like the sound of it
if I was told to chose a competition to drop off this season it would be definitely CDR and I suppose most of us will chose it, and if I was told to chose a way to get out of it I couldn't come up with a better scenario: early enough, against a tough team and with a win! actually I was so relieved since the moment I knew we'll face Sevella, compare it to getting a knock out against some segunda B side with a 4-1 on agreggate!!
the morals are high as are our heads.. and we'll save some fuel for the Liga and UCL title race, and you know what? people will now realize that Pep and co. are only humans which make the last season achievement more miraculous!!
my only wish was to see a more balanced line up instead of tearing up our golden 11, something like what Ramzi was calling for "although Ramzi's line up would result in hanging Pep in Camp nou for the rest of the season!!"
but after all I cant complain!!
Read more: http://www.footballmood.com/2010/01/sevilla-vs-barcelona-in-copa-del-rey.html#comments#ixzz0cb0RVvez
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution
Posted on January 14, 2010 at 6:24 AM
Waleed Said,
and dont ask me where did last paragraph came from!!
Posted on January 14, 2010 at 6:27 AM
Ramzi Said,
Surprise, surprise Waleed! lol
You copied your comment from another page. Whenever you copy anything from the blog to paste it somewhere else you will get this "Copy rights Signature" and a feedback will automaticaly reported to the CCL server. You know that the previous articles on Pep blog were published on many forums referring to other writers. Sure they can still delete this Paragraph, but we can only spread the awareness ;) Added to the fact that CCLA can close any site that doesn’t respect copyrights by referring to the original source, if it’s in the agreement (most Blogging platforms are). But we will not reach there.
Chris, Pinto was the best keeper in the liga once. And he was one of the reasons that we won 6 titles last season (Mallorca?), so his quality is beyond any doubt. Now regarding next season, I am not sure if I prefer to keep a 35 years old keeper or promote/buy a young one.
Eric, dont have such bad thoughts, it may curse the team:)
Adal, Because Pep need Pinto ready whenever needed. This is the only position where you can’t compromise.
Posted on January 14, 2010 at 6:45 AM
Waleed Said,
Ramzi!! I've been looking for you since the last season!
actually I wrote this comment in the preview, only when I realized that you had came up with this review so I copied it over here, thats all.
by the way I left you a comment on the Kaka, madrid, milan article, and I'm still waiting for answers! actually a ramble will be more welcomed ;)
Posted on January 14, 2010 at 7:22 AM
Ramzi Said,
Waleed, welcome on board.
My bad, I just read your comment there. I have a training session today and I'm leaving soon. But I will make sure to reply properly later. And that Series will continue with Ibra and C.Ronaldo. May be next week. I need to finish the Barcelona elections series first, beside the follow up for the games.
Stay Alert!
Posted on January 14, 2010 at 7:58 AM
Romyan Said,
Best news: We are out , angry , searching for revenge, and have a relaxing shcedule
Bad news: It was a challenge that we lost , with all of our starting line-up , against a semi-squad, and the referee was on OUR side regarding their 2 goals, and probably our goal ?!
I was too worried about Sevilla seeking revenge on Saturday, or if we manage to win .. in the 37th round .. that would deliver La liga to our rivals .. much worse than losing CDR
Now Sevilla players are exhausted - hopefully, our players will beat them .. unless Pep has another opinion !!
Pep did learn a painful lesson from last year , when we played against Villareal and drew 3-3 . Mixing fresh squad and tired starting players is much more safe and successful than choosing the best players; on papers only !
He either start a soft line-up .. or starting eleven ! I believe that there is something in between , but he didn't learn that yet
+ I wonder , what is the use of substitution at min 83+ ? I saw it many times , the home game against Chelsea , away game against Rubin Kazan , and in that match .. do Pep really think that any player could make any change in 5 or even 10 min ?!
Posted on January 14, 2010 at 8:52 AM
Romyan Said,
* Pep did (NOT) learn that lesson from Villareal game, sorry about mistake
Posted on January 14, 2010 at 8:54 AM