From becoming Barca manager in November, Xavi has spent less than five months proving that the Rosso and Rasa are still the top teams. Not only because of six consecutive league wins and 14 unbeaten games, but also because the team has won four goals over Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, this time at home to Sevilla, and won the other 3 teams in the top 4 of La Liga.
The team was 9th in the league when he took over, not even in the European zone, and is now 2nd in the league. On the way to reviving Barcelona, what kind of magic did Harvey cast?
01. The basics of Harvey's tactics: the strength of the wingers brings room for overall transposition
Why does Harvey like Dembele? The advantage is great after the double smooth foot start speed
Harvey's fondness for Dembele can almost be said to be written on the first page of his tactical board. Of course, this is not to say how strong Dembele really is, no one can replace, but his presence has released many of Harvey's tactical ideas.
Under Xavi, what Dembele has to do is to prop up a wing more strongly, so that the full-backs can close to the middle and the center forwards can go to the front of the box.
Taking Barca's only goal in this game as an example, Pedri's micro-exercise is comparable to Messi's, and the arc top space in the front of the penalty area is the advantage brought by Dembele.
Because Dembele can cross with both feet, he can slam the ball and change an angle and cross with the other foot, so the opponent cannot effectively predict dembele's pass landing point when standing, and can only concentrate on 8 people in the penalty area.
The reason why Sevilla reacted in the second half was because Dembele's passing advantage in the first half was too great.
When Barca's overall formation presses into the opposition penalty area, it is often the wingers who pull away the width on both sides, Dembele is the strong side with the ball, and the value of Ferran Torres is that he can quickly close the back point from the weak side and enter the box to attack.
Meanwhile, in midfield, centre-backs De Jong and Pedri will attack in the penalty area, while full-backs receive the middle to fill the gap left by the centre-backs.
It is clear from the GIF that Dembele attacked the inside with the ball on the side, and the Barca midfielder continuously shifted laterally to Alba, who was in the middle of the incognito.
The latter failed to give the ball to his teammates, but Dembele took the ball beautifully and the cross was more accurate, but de Jong missed the goal in front of the goal.
Unknowingly, Dembele has come to second place in La Liga assists, and he is also the first place in the number of assists and the creation of absolute scoring opportunities in the five major European leagues in 2022.
B. Ferran Torres missed a lot of opportunities: but he was tactically valuable
Dembele's two-legged value is not available to Adama, which is why the "MeiXi", who originally performed very strongly, has not had many opportunities recently. It's not that he's not good, it's that Harvey has a better option for the time being.
On the left, although Phelan Torres missed a lot of opportunities, he was tactically valuable, so it was no accident that he was loved by Harvey.
Ferran Torres' ball-holding breakthrough is not good, but he also has his own way to success.
Even though it seems a bit funny to carry the ball all the way back, then Ferran Torres made a wide-ranging move, and then he almost completed the goal at a high speed without the ball.
Dembele's passing opponent is too difficult to defend because he doesn't need to change his feet and catch up with whichever foot he wants.
However, the problem with Dembele's passing is that he can't find someone, what he has to do is find space, which may be a problem with the habit of passing from childhood.
Therefore, after Dembele came to Barca, his most assisted suarez, Brycevert, Griezmann, Aubameyang, the characteristics are that they are very good at running, very good at receiving points.
This wave of attack is similar, Ferran Torres's no-ball movement is very good, dembele did is to send a good pass to the vacant position, and then Ferran is in place, but unfortunately he did not grasp it.
02. The Golden Boy Transforms to the Core: Happiness is around Harvey
Pedri has always felt the core potential: Passing has improved a lot this year
Statistics show that at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Pedri was the player who successfully passed the ball to the attacking three zones (83 times), and also the player who successfully passed the ball to the attacking three zones at the European Championship (177 times).
However, at that time, Pedri, many of the balls were still conservative, and the number of real direct threats to attack the three zones was not very high. His biggest improvement in 2022 is precisely the threat of passing.
Pedri's series of goals in this game is not only like Messi,this foot over the top ball is also wonderful.
Dembele, who learned to insert without the ball under Xavi, this time gave Ferran Torres a pass similar to valencia's assist, but it is a pity that Felan Torres failed Dembele 3 times in this game, otherwise he would have surpassed Benzema in the assist list.
To say that Pedri's pass has improved greatly is not only to say that the ball is over the top of the ball when it is relatively static, but also the straight plug in the process of advancing with the ball. Such a pass, in fact, will be more difficult.
Unfortunately, Dembele cut inside after taking the ball, and seemed to lack some confidence in shooting, or chose to cross a little too rigidly, and was blocked by the other side.
b. Create threats in the core area: like Iniesta and like Messi
At Barca, the team is never short of good passes (Dembele's advantage is that it is difficult for the opponent to limit the line with two feet, otherwise it is only the assist king, and it is not so commendable), and what is missing is that the core area can directly threaten the goal.
Pedri's progress is not only to pass the ball, but also to be able to directly create a killing machine in the core area of the opponent. This wave of continuous foot speed is superior, looking unpleasant but no one can stop it, but unfortunately the last cross did not succeed.
The most crucial thing was the only goal of the game, Pedri took advantage of dembele's position and space advantage brought by his feet, and then faced the Sevy player who threw out of the center of gravity, completed the continuous escape, and finally scored with a world wave to help Barca win the game.
The little boy who once loved Barcelona was given the opportunity to wear a red and blue shirt at the age of 16. Although he is not from the La Masia academy, he is full of red and blue DNA.
03. Harvey's team has a high fault tolerance rate: because the whole team is trying to defend
A. Pedri's most rare thing is not talent: hard work and simplicity
Another key to Harvey's success is the active participation of the whole team in defense. The two most prominent players on the offensive end of the game are Pedri and Dembele, who are equally striking on the defensive end.
Pedri, in particular, completed the team's highest 4 steals and 2 interceptions.
Harvey's team can allow players to make mistakes, and Pedri has conceded 13 times in this game, but does it matter? You look at this shot, Pedrey after conceding the ball, and then he has continuously grabbed back the ball, and that's the most important thing.
Looking at the defense this time, Pedri counter-attacked the pressure in the front, then went to the wing to participate in the chase, and finally played against the second attacking player, running half the pitch to help Barca retrieve the ball.
Such a Pedri, how can you not go deeply in love! He's only 19 years old, but his playing temperament seems to have become like a leader.
b. Why did Camp Nou applause give Dembele? Not just because of assists
On the offensive end of the game, Dembele contributed 7 key passes to bring shots and 3 successful passes, all of which are the highest in the team.
But Camp Nou fans applauded him when he was replaced, and it wasn't just about his good offensive performance.
In this wave of defense, Dembele chased back at high speed in an instant when the team pressed high, and then destroyed the opponent's counterattack with a tackle.
Against this scene, when he was replaced, a large group of fans at camp Nou stood up and applauded.
Conclusion:
The changes that Xavi has brought to Barcelona are not only at the tactical end, but also the overall mental outlook and morale.
In the victories over Atletico, Real Madrid and Sevilla, the players are also getting more and more motivated. Although Barca missed the Champions League knockout round this season, a year of missing out is not terrible, and it is the fans who are most happy to see the hope of many years to come.