In the past three La Liga games, Barca have had 76%, 65% and 65% of the ball respectively, while the team has only 10, 13 and 13 shots on goal.
Harvey's Red and Blues mainly play possession and attack, doubling or even tripled the ball possession, but facing alaves, Granada and Mallorca, three teams near the relegation zone, they have only shot three more shots than their opponents in 3 games.
Although the result of 2 wins and 1 draw in 3 away games is gratifying, the team still played too the offensive end, and today De Jong's unremitting efforts to insert the front plug finally paid off, and the next time I don't know if Barca can be rewarded.
Pedri and De Jong have a clear division of labor: the former is more organized, the latter is more charged
Because the current strikers have a weak ability to carry the ball, the Barca midfielder needs to take on heavier tasks. Aboud and Ferran Torres had more substitutions in this game, but no matter who took the ball on the wing, the effect of the strong burst was average.
Relatively speaking, Abd is mainly responsible for vertical breakthroughs, and Ferran Torres is looking for opportunities for no-ball counter-insertion and transposition after doing the ball on his back.
In midfield, Pedri advanced more with the ball and organized the attack in the core area at the front position, while De Jong attacked more without the ball in the box.
Under Harvey's tactical system, the width of the two wings must be pulled open, and then the rib position has the effect of interspersing space with advances and retreats. This time Ferran Torres returned the pass, and Pedri's wonderful pass found Luke De Jong.
Pedri's passing was good, but Luke De Jong's shot didn't hit the frame. Frankie De Jong's forward thrusts were fierce, but this time he nearly blocked his teammate's shot.
Barca had a total of 10 shots on goal, six of which came from Pedri's last pass. After his comeback, the golden boy was entrusted with a heavy responsibility by Harvey and became the team's quasi-forward role. Although the number of goals conceded has increased significantly, Pedri has created many opportunities.
Taking this wave of attack as an example, Pedri turned around as soon as he took the ball, and then sent a wonderful pass to Aboud in the large space on the flank. In the middle of the road, Luke De Jong and Frankie De Jong stepped forward into the box together.
Aboud's problem is that his cross is a bit of a poor idea, if this is Alves, he will definitely send a high arc cross to find the back point, allowing Luke De Jong to release the high advantage.
As a result, Aboud was still a habitual half-high cross, blocked by the opponent's easy forward point, and lost the excellent opportunity to find Luke De Jong's head.
Looking at this wave of counter-attacks, Pedri's advance was good, and after he came to the core area to attract the defense, he split the ball to Felan Torres on the flank.
If the latter can continue to score de Jong in time, then the latter's cross to find Luke De Jong or Aboud at the back point is a chance. Unfortunately, Ferran Torres chose to shoot himself, only to be kicked away.
Weak ability to pick up the ball from the front: the core area is a problem to advance
Barca currently have a big problem, which is that there are too few players with the ability to take the ball in the core area. If you expect Pedri to come to the 30-meter area to control the ball, it is difficult to play a counter-attack acceleration effect. After all, only if the striker can hold the ball, the overall formation can move forward faster.
Barca had 76% of the ball in this game, three times that of the opponent, but the number of shots on goal was only 10-6, and Xavi was very helpless.
When Alaves pressed Barca to take the ball, there were fewer players with the ability to turn around and change direction after the team entered the 30-meter zone. Ferran Torres could barely break through, and Franki De Jong had a good sense of the ball and moved smartly, but he was also not good at turning to get rid of and split the ball after being pasted.
It is clear from the GIF that this time Alba got the ball and handed it to Ferran Torres, who could not turn his body and passed the ball incorrectly. Alba snapped back the ball for the first time, but both Ferran Torres and De Jong had to choose to pass back, and the ball eventually came to barca's backfield.
A few seconds later, Barca launched another wave of attacks, Alba passed to Ferran Torres, who still could not turn around after taking the ball, and returned to Alba for a mistake, and the ball was once again returned to barca's backfield. Therefore, it is not an accident that Barça has a high ball control rate and a small number of shots on goal, and the problem that the front line cannot hold the ball and cannot pressure the core area of the opponent is obvious.
After Ferran Torres came to Barca, his personal goals and assists statistics are beautiful, which is also his characteristic. But he doesn't have much to do to drive the overall formation and orchestrate the offense. He's a good team attacker, and once the team is at a disadvantage, he can only go with the flow.
Hard work pays off! De Jong's front plug finally paid off
In this game, De Jong's mental outlook is particularly good, he plays very hard, constantly looking for opportunities. He also had a very high success rate in one-on-one confrontations (5 one-on-one successes), making him the best player in the game.
Because Barca's forward ability to hold the ball is average, it is even more important to suddenly insert it vertically forward.
De Jong's starting speed in this game was very determined, and several no-ball attacks were very threatening. Unfortunately, this time De Jong took the ball and crossed to Find Luke De Jong, but because it was the left foot directly outside the bottom line.
Looking at the attack again, the cross from the right was sent into the box, and it was De Jong who was inserted in front of Luke De Jong and Therain Torres at the back post. Unfortunately, he was a little bit worse and couldn't top the ball.
Barca's final goal is actually between success and failure. At that time, the Red and Blues pressed forward with all their might, and all 10 players except the goalkeeper overpowered their own half, and if Busquets failed to break the ball, the opponent was likely to play a deadly counterattack.
Fortunately, Busquets succeeded in several key tackles and tackles in this game, which also allowed Barca to hold up the moment of life and death.
Alba, who was verbally abused by the fans after the last Copa del Rey, sent a high-quality top ball with his right foot. Although Messi has left, Barca are still capable of delivering high-quality passes, and the key is how the team can suppress the overall 30-meter area.
Ferran Torres's strength lies in the lack of ball reception and keen capture of space, this time he did not greedily, receiving Alba Miao's pass to the unguarded De Jong. De Jong, who had already inserted himself into the penalty area in this wave of attacks, pushed and shot in front of the goal to complete the kill.
De Jong's diligence paid off, and Harvey's all-out offense scored three points. It was a victory that wasn't pretty, but it was a victory that stuck to the culture of red and blue football.
Conclusion:
As a team that plays mainly offensively, as a manager who insists on attacking, whether it is Barca or Xavi, it needs to be a better attacker.
Luke De Jong and Abd are not enough to shoulder barca's offensive burden after all, and Ferran Torres has good passing statistics, but he will not be the link to break the ice.
Barca should still grasp the last week of the winter window and try to find a new ace in the front line, which is the basis for the team to ensure that they reach the top four this season.