Barca need coaches who understand offense, coaches who understand offense need commandos who can create space, and when Xavi meets Adama, he quickly forgets that there is another person called Dembele. With a hearty 4-2 victory at camp Nou, the long-lost and beautiful attack once again returned to the eyes of red and blue fans. Whether it's Adama or Dembele, Xavi's philosophy of football has to have a breaking point!
01. Harvey's Asymmetrical Offensive and Defensive Formations: Araujo is somewhat overwhelmed
a． Araujo has to move sideways to make up for it: that's not his advantage
Harvey is very thoughtful when it comes to platooning, but it is still slightly lacking in how to balance attack and defense. In this game, he hopes that Alves will go to the midfield to play with Busquets and let Adama alone hold up a right side of the road.
Such a line of thinking is fine on the offensive end, but defensively, because Alves and Pique both have the problem of slow turning and slow return, which requires Araujo to frequently move in the complement. Uruguayan centre-backs have to make up for 2 directions and are somewhat overwhelmed.
The reason for Barca's first concede was obvious, and when Pique went out in front of him, Alba switched sides for the first time. However, the opponent's second attack returned to Barca's left side, Pique turned too slowly to return, and Alba went back to defend Suarez.
At that time, Alves followed Felix at the back point, and all that was needed was for Araujo to move sideways to protect Pique and follow Carrasco. The problem is that Uruguayan centre-backs are not good at lateral defence and, like Van Dijk, have defensive blind spots for the no-ball men on the flanks.
It is clear from the GIF that after the distance between barca's midfield and the defensive line is widened, the center-back must come out. But Pique's turn was too slow, and he needed Alauho's protection behind him as he stood forward.
The combination of two tall centre-backs exposed the problem, and Suarez cleverly stepped forward to assist Carrasco's goal.
Looking at the defense this time, when Felix Neche shoots, we can't blame Alves too much. As a right-back, his outside line with atletico players without the ball ready to be put on, it is impossible to fully focus on Felix.
At that time, Araujo had no defensive object, and there were no Atletico players around him without the ball, and at this moment Araujo was a little hesitant, and releasing space was a big problem.
What's worse is that when Alves goes to the back position, the attack and defense switch under Araujo needs to protect the right back point. But this time Atletico transferred the ball to Felix, and it was Araujo who leaked. If it weren't for Felix's poor shot, Barca would have been in trouble in the first half.
b． Harvey's on-the-spot adjustment was clever: Adama stepped up his defense
Xavi made effective adjustments after the first goal conceded. He asked Adama to fall deeper into the defensive position and play a role in protecting Alves. This time, at the moment when Carrasco took the ball and turned around, Adama had already fallen into place, causing Atletico to finally have to choose to pass back.
In the follow-up game, there was even Adama directly on the right side of the defense, and Alves came out in front of the intimidating. Because Alves's foot precision is very good, and the technique is delicate, once there is someone behind him to protect, he can let go of the hands and feet to fight, making the Atletico players very uncomfortable.
Alves failed all six head-to-head one-on-one confrontations in this game, and the effective data on the defensive end was not as many as the number of fouls. However, he scored 1 goal and 1 assist on the offensive end, as well as 2 key passes that brought shots on goal.
If Xavi had let Alves play before replacing Adama, perhaps the Brazilian veteran would have been more perfect.
02. Adama is a spacemaker: Barca's beautiful attack begins with him
If you just look at the data, Adama, who only received 1 assist, is not so amazing, and even the efficiency of one-on-one confrontation and the success rate of superiority are not so high.
But in fact, as long as Adama successfully breaks the game, it will bring a surge in Barca's offensive rhythm and a great chance to score.
Barca's first goal was Adama pulling away on the right and suddenly sped past the ball, and although he was released, he quickly launched a second attack and crossed the box again.
Giving Alves such a large space to fully adjust the cross, Alba also calmly swung his legs and shot at the goal in a huge space, and the goal was a natural result.
The biggest feature of Atletico's defensive line is the rapid tightening of the line, so that when they encounter a commando, they will form an "excessive stress response". By having Alves follow Adama, the veteran took full advantage of the space his little brother rushed out of, using a clever pass to allow Barca to equalize in an instant.
Alves scored with Alba that year because Messi's presence created space. Today Adama also did the job, although the process is not as delicate as Messi, but the result is the same.
Shortly after the equaliser, Adama burst into a wave of positional battles, breaking through tore open Atletico's flank and cross, and Lu Garvey's header in the middle of the penalty area broke the goal and allowed Barca to complete the reversal.
03. Keep a commando in the backhand: Harvey needs to polish the details further
Statistically, Atletico's expected goals and shooting statistics are ahead of Barca. The Red and Blues win at home, on the one hand, the tactical arrangements on the offensive end of Harvey are well done, on the other hand, the young people are playing hi, how to shoot.
The biggest problem with Atletico is that, like the inability to restrict Messi's speed forward, they cannot interrupt Adama's pace of starting during the offensive and defensive transitions.
As a result, Atletico could not continue to suppress Barca's backcourt, but Barca could find counter-attack opportunities from time to time, leaving the Atletico defense exhausted.
From the GIF, it can be seen very clearly that Adama took the ball on his back this time and turned around to attack, instantly breaking the opponent's defense line. He is also very sharp in time to split the ball on the side, but unfortunately there is no high point in the middle of the road to compete for the top, otherwise the effect would be better.
Because of Adama's starting speed, the Atletico defense was completely split, and the midfield line and the defender line could not work together. Barca's no-ball follow-up on the flanks is quick, Alba's crosses are of high quality, but Ferran Torres is not good at grabbing points in the crowd.
However, this shot may be a demonstration for Haaland. I don't know if the Norwegian centre-forward will be thrilled and eager to come to Barca this summer.
Xavi's decision to replace Adama is somewhat questionable, as he needs to arrange for wingers or shockers to play, which Aubameyang obviously cannot do.
As soon as Adama came off the pitch, Suarez almost scored Atletico's third goal, which was a very dangerous signal.
Eight minutes after Adama came off, was Alves' red card an accident? Barca should have replaced Destin sooner. After all, Atletico are not a team that is good at attacking, and after the appearance of Durst and Nico, Barca, based on defense, still held the victory.
Conclusion:
Xavi is an offensive genius, and after his return, Barca's return to find a beautiful attack is not questionable. Guardiola's luck that year was that the defensive line had successive defensive weapons such as Pu, Abidal and Mascherano.
Xavi wants the young Araujo to take on more responsibility as he is currently Barca's most promising defender. However, in the short term, there may still be some seedlings that have been promoted.