What doesnt Kill me, Makes me Stronger
Finally, Barcelona fans are out of the routine of approaching a new Liga game after enjoying a win in the previous one. Supernatural powers, Madrid spells, and football will, all united together creating a mix of selective injury crisis, rarely off performance, and exceptional inspiring show from the opponent, all so the universe hail the achievement of taking three points out of the reach of the Catalan Knights.
A new week has come. Barcelona will be out seeking a comeback. As I used to do recently, I will try to extremely brief the preview as we all discussed all the game aspects from many angles throughout the week. So let’s try to make it smooth and simple, suggesting –Not predicting- the starting lineup:
I believe Alves will not start this game, no matter what. One of the reasons of his most recent injury was rushing him back to the game too early. In that case, my starting lineup goes as following:
Valdes, Puyol, Pique, Milito, Maxwell, Yaya, Messi, Iniesta, Pedro, Ibra, and Henry.
I see the boring part of it, no youth players. Barcelona need to secure the game first, then we can do the substitutions.
Puyol as a right fullback means more opportunities for Maxwell to go for the offense. With Maxwell stretching the field from the left and Pedro doing so from the right, Henry and Ibra can play more in the box.
Why Yaya and not Busquets? Because after his last interview where he said all the right things, it’s the right time to give Yaya the chance to do the talking on the field. The same as I demanded starting both Iniesta and Henry more often when they were not in the right form so they recover, Yaya deserves the same at the moment. Adding to the fact that Yaya can work better than Busquets covering behind Messi and Iniesta rather than contributing in the playmaking. That may prove vital with Messi being more daring to move forward than the conservative Xavi.
Messi and Iniesta can no doubt run the show in the midfield. Messi is not as good as Xavi commanding the possession game, but he can add a lethal offense edge coming from the midfield. His tendency to attack the box match Ibra habit to move to the midfield. The triangle Iniesta-Messi-Ibra can click perfectly in the center both in the midfield and in the offense.For Ibra movement to the midfield to be more useful, Henry and Pedro roles demanding the ball in the space has to be efficient. If Henry plays in this game he will be looking for a goal. He needs it, and this game is a good chance. Pedro role on the flank will be as vital stretching the field and covering the absence of Alves in that matter, besides making his usual runs into the box, just at the right time.
If Alves will play, then the selection may change a bit:
Valdes, Alves, Puyol, Pique, Maxwell, Yaya, Busquets, Iniesta, Messi, Ibra, and Henry.
Simply put, having both Alves and Maxwell as fullbacks dictates having two holding midfielders. Racing with all the players they will miss in this game might not be a big threat. But the team need to adapt to this tactical modification as early as this week. We may need to use it in the following game in the Champions’ league.
I picked Henry over Pedro basically because with Maxwell on the left, it’s better to have Henry. While Pedro is already a proven goal scorer doing the well-timed runs into the box, Henry is better operating in the box in a static manner. With Ibra movement outside and Messi operating as a ten, and with Maxwell stretching the field on the left we are more in need for a second striker in the box than a flanked left forward to do what Maxwell will be doing anyway.
The game on the road was a show. We won 1-4. Messi scored twice, Ibra scored once and assisted another for Pique and the team in general was in the right mood. We miss some players for this game, so as Racing. I can go as far as saying that the loss of Munitis, Colsa and Tchite is –relatively- more damaging for Racing than the unavailable players for Barcelona. The loss of the three racing players will make them more containable. Yet they still have enough manpower to cause concerns in Canales and Xisco.
Me here hoping that we will have a chance to see some of the JDS, Thiago and the rest of the youth. The champions’ league game will be in Pep’s mind while approaching this game. I don’t expect him to rotate though. The team proved already that they perform better when they play more, as they pick the right momentum.
Hm…Let’s hope this week exceed our most optimistic expectations…
Read More:
My weekly column on Total Barca: The unsung Heroes of Barcelona: Fullbacks
Previous Articles on Football Mood:
Shopping tour, Cesc, Silva or Villa: Who will join Barcelona?
Advocatus Diaboli: Barcelona youth academy, Overrated.
Scoup Group: Our Football Mood News Agency
Barcelona 2010, Tactical Ramble.
Who score goals for Barcelona?
From Ronaldinho to Ibra, Txiki in numbers
chris809 Said,
I hope Alves won't play this time, it doesn't worth it to rush him and lose him again for weeks.
About your first lineup:
A midfield with Toure, Messi and Iniesta sounds like russian roulette to me. There was a match -maybe the end of the cwc semi-final- when Messi had to play in midfield, and altough it was very effective when he dribbled through two players in that position, but when he lost the ball then the other team went through us like a knife through butter.
If Messi will start in midfield, then two holding midfielders are a must to cover him, altough one of them would function as an attacking midfielder.
So if Messi would be in midfield then Toure and Busquets should be next to him and Iniesta in the left or right wing would step back to midfield to help in possession. At this point the obvious question is why don't they(Iniesta and Messi) start in their usual positions? So this Messi in midfield is an absolute last choice for me.
My starting lineup:
Valdes - Puyol, Pique, Marquez/Milito, Maxwell - Toure, Busquets, Iniesta - Messi, Ibra, Henry
-So Toure or Busquets would act as an attacking midfielder.
-Ibrahimovic and Messi would help in the playmaking.
-And Henry could show whether or not we can count on him in Suttgart. (Or we could give him to Regal Barça, maybe they can use him. :D)
Posted on February 19, 2010 at 11:09 AM
Waleed Said,
I agree with chris on playing Toure+Buquets with Toure playing as a holding mid and Busi as a playmaker with the option of switching positions between the two of them!
Busi will help more in the possession game while Toure is the absolute stopper "if he was on"
starting Henry will be a better option, But with the absence of Alves, Messi will need to play more often on the right flank to stretch the field rather than playing as a 10, in the 2nd half Pep can do what he did against Depor by pushing in Pedro on the RIGHT and setting Messi Free to Play as a 10 or a 9.5 leaving Maxwell alone on the left!
I'd pick Milito over Marquez for obvious reasons, and benching Pique would be a punishment and it's not unlikely! but we could pay for it.
p.s. I have a feeling that after the weekend we'll be at least 4 points clear on the top! cross fingers ;)
Posted on February 20, 2010 at 2:57 AM
Ramzi Said,
I agree on that point. But with Puyol, Milito and Pique, it will be over conservative to have more than one holding midfielder in front. Sure Busquets is a great option to play beside Iniesta. But Messi+Iniesta is meaner offense wise. And I want us to be mean.
Racing will most probably have one striker upfront. I prefer to have Abidal+Puyol to mark him with Pique moving forward to assist Yaya so that Messi-Iniesta-Maxwell-Henry-Pedro-Ibra do the offense, over having two holdings with Puyol moving forward on the flank and benching Henry or Pedro. The first option sounds better for me, offense wise and defense wise.
Messi performs better when he dont have to take the responsibility of stretching the field on the right. Less tactical discipline = better Messi. With Pedro infront of him, he will not miss Alves as he does when he plays with Puyol behind him. I like to learn from the games archive.
Messi will end up playing that play making role one day. The earlier he start learning to customize his style based on the position he plays. The better.
But I will be more tempted to bet my money on your selection than mine. Not for being better or worse, but for being more likely happening.
Noting that I am not predicting lineups, just listing my preferred ones, feeding the thoughts.
And Waleed, My hopes were on us beating Atletico ond RM beating Lyon. I would have bet that RM will lose points against Villarreal. Now things are different. Yet, the post includes a magic spell. We will see how it will go...
Posted on February 20, 2010 at 3:51 AM
Waleed Said,
the reason why I prefer Busi+Toure mid is to eliminate the possible gap in in our MF when Messi makes his runs into the box and connect our lines in a better way, Busi won't be a second holding mid, he'll play as an attacking mid with the usual defensive duties,
your formation would be total brilliance if Toure' was 100% fit to cover the spaces left by Messi and Iniesta and contributing in the playmaking while Pique playing as a second holding mid in front of Milito/Puyol
and you are right, also Villareal played an away game on Thursday, and that won't help them in Madrid, but I still see them embarrassing their ex-boss!!
Posted on February 20, 2010 at 6:23 AM