Barcelona's 3-4-3 Attacking Mind

I don’t want to turn this blog into Barcelona blog, however, we are witnessing one of the greatest teams in the history of football, if not the best of all of them, and I don’t think I am exaggerating.

We should not make big deal of a 5-0 victory vs. Villarreal, Real Madrid just won 6-0 vs. another team (Zaragoza). However, the big deal is in the way Barca won. Barcelona went into the game with long list of injuries: Carles Puyol, Gerard Piqué, Dani Alves, Maxwell and Adriano. In other words, no defense. Xavi didn’t play till the second half.

What’s new that Guardiola decided to pull Busquets to the defense next to Mascherano and Abidal, and play a 3-4-3 formation, with Keita as a defending midfielder, so it was more of a 3-1-3-3 formation.

The 3-4-3 formation is not widely used today in the world of the game as it leaves the defense vulnerable. It was used during the old time of football as it was called “WM” as it shows in the image below, and is said that Uruguay used it in 1930 World Cup.

In the modern times, Johan Cruyff used it during his coaching time in the early 90s with Barcelona and Guardiola was a player at that time. Ajax also used it for sometimes. It is a tactic that needs a lot of discipline and exceptional quality of players.What is amazing is not just the formation, but the quality of five goals that were scored with impressive team work combined with exceptional simplicity.

allasFCB2 YouTube channel released a wonderful videos of a tactical analysis for Barcelona 3-4-3 formation, and how it is performed on the field

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyDx8SH81rc&feature=player_embedded

Also, the same channel released two videos show the amazing fluidity, dynamic and tactical structure of Barcelona. Alexis Sanchez goal with 28 passes, and Messi goal with 38 passes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWin5aax4Xk&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnJy4qYFGmw&feature=player_embedded

In the past, when a team scores a goal with 28 or 30 passes, they would remember it for years and years as an exceptional peak at a special moment. Now, it is a routine for Barca, twice vs. a team and still in the start of the season.