As a hand-picked reinforcement from Koeman, Luke De Jong first arrived at Barca as an assistant to Griezmann, Fati and Braiswirt and as a substitute for Depay. Did not think about the former transfer, the back 2 people were injured, barca, which was seriously lacking in the front, needed a positive forward.
Having scored just one goal in the previous six starts, Luke De Jong became the first target of purges for Barca's winter window. However, in this round of La Liga, he contributed 1 goal, 2 shots on goal, and another 13 one-on-one confrontations to win 8 times, I don't know if it will change his fate in one battle.
01. The 17-year-old played a tactical role: the team rushed into the penalty area, and Harvey's thinking was successful
After the game started, we could see that Xavi was playing with 17-year-old B youngster Ilias Akhomach on the right side, and then through his possession of the ball inside to create a threat, giving up the outside corridor to right-back Mingosa to send a cross.
The centre-forward Luke De Jong is the axis, combined with Nico, De Jong and Araujo in front of the line, forming a high point concentration in the penalty area.
Because of the billboard in the broadcast shot, it was not possible to choose the shot of Akhomach's two successful incision shots. However, the youngster still showed a certain foot advantage in the game, creating fouls against his opponents many times.
As can also be seen from the heat map, Akhomać has a large number of ball-holding cuts, squeezing the opponent's defense from barca's right side to the inside line.
Although he has few successes, creating fouls can also bring some tactical value.
Because of this tactical arrangement, Barca's right outside line has gained a certain amount of space. The overall quality of Mingosa's crosses is not high, but barca's height advantage in the middle of the penalty area is too great.
When Nico, Luke De Jong and Araujo attack together, opponents are really difficult to defend. In this game, Araujo played a left-back position and repeatedly entered the box to find opportunities to grab some points, which was a clever move for Harvey.
Barca's only goal in this game was a cross from the right from Mingoza. The arc and landing point of the ball were not too good (the ball speed was slow, the arc was too high), but Araujo and Luke De Jong attacked the back post together, and the Dutch center sent the ball into the goal.
02. Luke De Jong's running position is underrated: he is very good at swimming in the box
Luke De Jong's confrontation is weaker, and he is more likely to play an auxiliary role in the advance and swim to grab points in the penalty area. Barca were successful in their tactics in the first half, with a 73% advantage in possession, so Luke De Jong was able to play his swimming edge in the core area.
Barca scored 1 goal and 2 shots into the frame of the goal in the first half, all from Luke De Jong's performance.
As you can see from the picture below, Barca attacked, leaving Jutegra and Akhomach to move more, the right corridor was handed over to Mingosa for an outside cross, and the left Araujo was ready to storm the penalty area.
The advantage of Luke De Jong is that he is ready to turn over and insert the ball at any time when he receives the ball on his back.
This time Luke De Jong shot at the goalpost was a pity, but his movement and turn before receiving the ball was very successful. The problem is that his strength and explosiveness are biased, so the final treatment is often relatively soft.
Looking at this wave of attacks, Mingosa's cross from the outside was inside the box, nico at the front and Araujo at the back, and Luke De Jong completed the barb shot in the middle of the road, but unfortunately the ball was blocked by the crossbar.
Including the one when Barca scored their only goal, Araujo and Luke De Jong had too much of a height advantage at the back post. Mingosa's starting arc was high, but after they both took off, the opposing goalkeeper was helpless.
In the six games of the Champions League group stage this season, Luke De Jong, who has only played three games, is actually barca with the most shots on goal (6 times) and the most shots on target (2 times), which is really ironic.
Depay has shot 6 shots on goal in 6 games, and now he seems to have been put on the shelf by Barca, from the core of the establishment of the team half a year ago to the imminent departure of the team, which is also a lament.
03. Can Luke De Jong still stay in the team? Or is Harvey giving Morata a demonstration?
In addition to contributing 1 goal and 2 shots to the goal frame, Luke De Jong also won 2 one-on-one encounters at the foot and 6 one-on-one high balls, while creating 2 fouls, 2 clearances and 1 steal.
Luke De Jong's value lies in the fact that he can compete for a part of the high ball, and this time the header ferry to find a teammate is still quite successful.
However, Luke De Jong does not have the ability to push on his own, he needs his teammates to take the ball and move forward, Barca is at a disadvantage in the second half, and the forward and other midfielders are also average, so they cannot play an effective counterattack.
If his teammates can receive Luke De Jong in time, he still has a certain ability to do the ball on the front, but his strength is deviant and he cannot complete effective ball holding and protection.
This time the chest was back to Akhomach, who made a foul and counted as an effective advance.
Perhaps Barca boss Xavi is demonstrating the correct use of centre-forwards, and he would like Morata to do better than Luke De Jong when he joins the team. After all, Morata also has a good head ability, and also has a stronger ability to hold the ball forward.
Conclusion:
Being able to win in a badly disorganized lineup, Harvey deserves the top credit. Barca's goal scoring in this game is the result of Xavi's tactical thinking deployment.
This is a coach who really knows how to play well in attack, and if Barca can prepare a good hand in the future, maybe we can really see the strongest side of Xavi.