Tactical analysis: How Xavi Hernandez rebuild the effective attacking part in Barcelona
Since Xavi Hernandez received the training of the Barcelona team, succeeding Dutchman Ronald Koeman, he has been under the watchful eye of all fans and followers of the Catalan team, even those interested in football in general.
The young Spanish coach showed some good things during his time at Qatar's Al Sadd club over the past years, and the question that arises is, will Xavi restore Barcelona's team as before, and return the enjoyable performance before the results.
We did not wait long until the fingerprints of the new coach appeared, the beginning last November, and during 23 games he led the team in various competitions, we were able to notice the development in all matters, but we are here to focus on the aspect that was troubling the lovers, which is the offensive weakness, the absence of solutions, as well as After the departure of Lionel Messi.
Lineup
Xavi Hernandez kept his usual form with a 4-3-3 formation, incorporating young players along with experiences in various lines, as well as new deals.
In the defense line, Gerard Pique with Jordi Alba, Daniel Alves returned on the right side, giving full confidence to Ronald Araujo in the central of the defense, by moving to the midfield and keeping Sergio Busquets, the young duo Pedri and Gavi, where the duo forms a long-term plan for the team.
As for the attack, a complete offensive line was signed by the trio, Ferran Torres, Adama Traore, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Alves’s crucial role
Let's start with the stage of rotating the ball and building play, and how Xavi found some solutions to get the ball out of the first third and move forward, and Daniel Alves had a clear role in that, let's see how the Brazilian contributes to that.
In this example, we will notice that Luis Suarez, the Atletico Madrid striker, stands in front of Sergio Busquets to prevent a vertical pass, and Joao Felix, goes a little left, to prevent a horizontal pass towards Ronald Araujo, so what happened?
Daniel went horizontally inside and became like a second central player, confusing Suarez's calculations, who became confused as to where to go to block the pass - continue with Busquets or go to Dani?
Here we note what happened later, as Alves' entry into the depth made him an available solution to pass, and put pressure a few meters away to allow the team to progress and complete the stage of building the play, and Alves played an important role in his first stage.
Rondo exercises are visible, creating oversized positions in specific spaces, 3 vs 2 for example, and Alves' experience and ability to control the ball made it incredibly easy.
It did not stop here, as Dani Alves enjoyed progressing to the last third, and since he entered the depth as an additional midfielder in the event of an acquisition, he moves in a distinctive vertical manner towards the last third.
The issue here is about individual abilities in favour of the playing system, where Daniel enjoys great awareness, making him be in the right place and time, and make himself an available solution to pass, or sometimes he provides decisive passes.
Here we note the concentration inside the penalty area and his ability to pass the other side's spending towards Jordi Alba, who was able to score.
Alves has the experience that makes him a multi-tasking player, midfielder, playmaker, and a solid right defender in the defensive situation, which gives the coach many solutions.
Here, we note his penetration into the penalty area in the goal he scored against Atletico Madrid, and he shot perfectly.
He also provides continuous line-breaking passes in light of his presence inside the field, and this was a clear example against Osasuna.
And that was not the only trick for Xavi, but there are other things, which is to adopt an idea of a third man running.
Third-man run tricky
The ideas of the defending team have always been to put pressure on the ball carrier, and to a lesser extent block the passing angles and watch the player who is expected to go to him, but what about a third player entering the scene?
Players must be stationed in different areas and not overlap each other so as not to make it easier for the opponent to defend in front of them.
The decision of the first player is very important, as he must call for pressure on him by advancing the ball towards the opponent until he comes out to pressure him, then a space is emptied behind him through which the third man can be found.
The second player, receiving the first pass, prefers to be between two opponent lines and to be in a space between two opponent players, to receive the ball and pass it better.
Here is an example illustrating the idea of the third man applied by Ferran Torres who goes into the space created with the defender coming out of the right position.
In the Valencia match, we notice the same thing repeated, De Jong moves in the space behind the full-back who came out to press.
It is always noted that there is a dependence on the formation of a numerical increase on the left side, and the emptying of the right side of the wing in the position of a player on a player, whether it is Dembele or Traore.
Emptying the right-flank
Relying on the left part of the field in the stadium after the beginning of the attack in the depth, loading that party with a large number of players, and making numerical superiority in front of the opponent, emptying the right side, specifically after entering Daniel inside.
The presence of players with the characteristics of Adama Traore and Ousmane Dembele, who are technically quick and technically skilled, in a player-on-player situation, makes a necessary one-on-one solution, which gives a new solution.
The idea of diverting towards the field quickly, from the centre of the left defense, mostly Pique, towards the right side, is an idea that the team makes frequently, to put the wing in a state of penetration of the space behind the back.
Adama's presence widens the field casually, which is why installing a defender with him is essential.
Here we note the danger of Dembele being on the side freely, which makes the defender ask another player to return to go to press, with Alves grabbing the ball deep in the field.
Here is the change of pitch from Eric Garcia from the far left side to the far right side towards Othman, and he is in good condition to go into the space behind the left-back.
Since we are talking about the offensive roles of the players, and after all this, we must highlight the role of Gavi, who is constantly present as a second striker, the current trend has always been to build playing in wide areas, but what next?
Crossings, for example, have become a powerful weapon for the team, with Luke de Jong present, as well as the sequel to young Gavi.
His ability to rise in the right timing, besides, his intelligence to move without the ball as that goal for example, in the space left by defenders to go out to press, as we talked about previously
Here is another example of this feature for a player who turns into a second attacker.
Conclusion
Xavi Hernandez has been developing all aspects of the Barcelona team since he took over, and perhaps the offensive side was the main concern to build a team that is highly effective in terms of attack.