Analysing the two Barcelona eras with and without Pep Guardiola

A picture of Barcelona players giving their respect to their then boss, Pep Guardiola.

“I give you my word that we will put in an effort. I don’t know if we’ll win, but we’ll persist. Put on your seat belts, because we’re going to have fun.”

Two trophy-less seasons had passed when Barcelona finally decided to move on and replace Frank Rijkaard with the charismatic Josep ‘Pep’ Guardiola. This was what the man quoted during his presentation to the Camp Nou faithful. And like the old saying goes, “He came, he saw and he conquered.”

Six seasons with the Blaugranes and he stands as one the most sought after coaches on the planet. Pep Guardiola not only made the Barcelona slogan ‘Mes que un club’ even more meaningful, but he made Barcelona more than just a name. Guardiola’s Barcelona represented a faith, a belief, a philosophy which reaped rich dividends by dominating the footballing world for nearly a half of a decade. The all-conquering season of 2008-09 & the demolition of Sir Alex Ferguson led Manchester United in 2010-11 were a reasonable proof of Barcelona being one of the greatest sides to play the game.

Alas! What goes up must come down & in a similar way the post-Guardiola era has been pretty woeful for the Catalan giants. Barcelona have won just seven trophies under three different managers since 2010-11 which is woeful as compared to the 14 trophies won by Pep during his four years at the Camp Nou. The Catalan bandwagon has also come to a halt under current manager Luis Enrique after two consecutive defeats against Real Madrid, Celta Vigo and a struggling win against Almeria. Has Barcelona lost its sheen, its mettle? One thing is for sure, Barcelona no longer intimidate their opponents like they used to. The defenses around the world have evolved and coaches have found that taking the game to Barcelona does have a positive effect. Meanwhile Barcelona still remain stagnant and they continue to believe in the same philosophy which is both good and bad in a way, and makes us wonder what exactly is different in the current Barcelona system than what it was during the Guardiola reign.

Accepting the fact that Evolution is inevitable

Back when Barcelona were at their best, thrashing teams at their will; most of the teams they faced were already in the damage control mode. Teams feared humiliation even before the game started and the motivation of the highly-spirited teams was killed-off by tiring possession football that Barca inherit. But those days are long gone. Inevitably the game has evolved and coaches have found a way to counter the Barcelona way which is also famously called ‘Tiki-Taka’.

It is now high time when Barcelona accept that they longer can intimidate and make a fool of their opponents. They can no longer just show up and expect the battle to be half-won. The effectiveness of their famous formation, a 4-3-3 with a False Nine has declined; whatever the reasons and there must be an acceptance by the Barcelona management at probably changing the system or at least evolving it so they could regain some lost pride.

On top of that, Guardiola did not employ his 4-3-3 at Bayern Munich given the players he had available did not comply the requirements. He has evolved his brand of possession football since leaving the Camp Nou and has taken it to a whole new level by tinkering and trying new formations for the Bavarians, Thus, Barcelona or their current manager Luis Enrique must also take a page out of Pep’s book and take a positive step towards a new look Barcelona system which would not dwell around the same tactics.

New Formations

Pep’s Barcelona was based on the foundations of unison, work rate, ball movement, patience, anticipation and most importantly dynamism. He conquered all the possible trophies in his first season in charge by mostly playing 4-3-3. Many would argue that Guardiola just put a bunch of talented players together but the man had a reason and a specific plan about how he wanted his players to play and he let go of those who did not fit the bill. Ronaldinho, Deco and later Samuel Eto’o, who were the rulers of the Barcelona dynasty then under Rijkaard were asked to leave the ship because Pep didn’t think he could fit them into his module. He let go and bought the right players at the time.

This kind of management or proper planning has not been seen in the post-Guardiola era. His successors Tito Vilanova, Tata Martino and the current boss Luis Enrique have not made any such major decisions and thus have not implied their brand of football on the Barcelona team. Looking at the current scenario one would see that 4-3-3 definitely does not suit Barcelona anymore considering the wealth of positional talent they have in their ranks. The midfield three in the 4-3-3 is an integral part of the system but as Xavi is now past of his prime and Andres Iniesta looking off-colour the mid-field no longer looks that solid with Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Busquets and Rafinha.

Also, the effectiveness of Luis Suarez gets nullified when played out on the wings as he is totally different animal when playing up front and we all know of his exploits at Liverpool. Luis Enrique needs to find a formation which can sustain the trident of Lionel Messi, Neymar, Suarez yet make them click and bring out the best from these three superstars. Probably a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-1-2 with Messi playing as the Trequartista? Food for thought over the next couple of weeks.

Set Pieces (Corners)

Corners basically incorporate two key components – attacking and defending.

Let's face it. Barcelona never really produced threat on corners. There were times when Carles Puyol used to make those runs from the deep and just head a rocket past goalkeepers, but those days are now long gone. Gerard Pique who is now a shadow of himself, Javier Mascherano, Jeremy Mathieu and Marc Bartra doesn’t seem like the kind of players who would cause much trouble in the air against the best defenders.

Defensively we have seen Barcelona’s inability to defend corners for quite some time now and surprisingly it has been overlooked. As evidenced in the game against Paris Saint-Germain corner kicks and free-kicks in and around the box still cause panic for the center-backs. One would think of a quick solution by adding a six feet plus center-back in January but conceding a goal from the smallest player on the pitch does seem to show that the problem and solution are within. Tactically somehow Barcelona line up pretty scrappy when defending a corner. Even the small teams on their trips to the Camp Nou look very likely to score on corners. Luis Enrique needs to work on this section as early as possible because it is getting a bit obvious & embarrassing at the same time.

Pressing or Off the ball movement

Barcelona’s pressing in the Guardiola era used to be brutal and playing against Barcelona meant that the opponents would not get any moment of peace on the ball before one of the Barcelona players gnashing on their ankles trying to rob the ball away. This harassment has famously dwindled after Pep left. Barcelona have declined from being hungry attack dogs to gentle, playful puppies. This off the ball aspect of the famous Tiki-Taka has not got its due credit. Barcelona hogging the ball for the majority of the game was the primary reason for their mind-boggling possession stats.

Under Tito and Tata the off the ball pressing had been diminished but under the current manager Luis Enrique it would be unfair to say that Barcelona don’t press their opposition. Barcelona of the present do press their opponents, but they do not do it as a unit. It has been evident this season when the midfield presses high up, but the defense stays back leaving a huge gap in between which can and has been exploited so many times. With the international break coming it looks like a good opportunity for Enrique to work hard on the training ground and give the puppies their teeth, and legs back making them hungry and vicious once more.

Defence

Guardiola’s defence had a monster in the form of Puyol, who would cover the right when Dani Alves would bomb forward. More importantly there were two players outside Messi who were of utmost importance to Pep. Alves & Eric Abidal. Dani Alves’s intricate exchanges with Messi in the opposition half were Barca’s biggest threat, and his ability to go up and down so consistently made up for the lack of right wingers at Barca. Abidal was equally important as he used to compensate for Alves. He used to go forward when necessary but his ability, awareness to sense danger and stay back when necessary was impeccable. If Barca somehow lose possession Abidal was the guy who would stay back and form a back three with Pique and Puyol.

Since Abidal left his ability has not been replaced. Though Jordi Alba is a better wing-back but when considering the system as a whole it looks like a mismatch. Both the wing-backs cannot go forward as it would leave the defense wide open & that is what exactly happens now-a-days. On the other hand if Alves is asked to stay back he is not that effective. Thus, giving a young and vibrant Martin Montaya more game time could solve this conundrum. Luis Enrique has to find a solution and he needs to find it quickly.

Another big chunk in the armor is Gerard Pique who has been absolutely rubbish in the years after Puyol’s retirement. Although Luis Enrique has made some brave choices by benching him lately, Mascherano too does not look up to the mark. The Argentine international considering his ability is one of the best defensive midfielders in the world and his ability/effectiveness is totally being wasted at Barca by employing him in the back four. Apart from Messi and Angel Di Maria, Mascherano was the standout performer at the World Cup for Argentina. Even Marc Bartra has to step up a bit and understand the situation to help the team with some decent performances. Plus there is Thomas Vermaelen, who has not even played a single game so far after signing almost three months back. He needs to play games in order to get match fitness. But to Luis Enrique’s credit Barcelona under his management have been defensively sound than his predecessors.

The Heart of the System – The Midfield

As we all know Guardiola’s midfield was a three-legged stool having three important components or legs in the form of Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets. One can arguably say that 90% of the system was based on these three. They were the foundation of the whole tiki-taka philosophy. There wasn’t a team on planet earth that would snatch the ball of these three. These Guardiola’s disciples used to pass their opponents to death. If tiki-taka was a portrait then these three were definitely the artists. Most importantly Xavi, he was the engine room, the heartbeat of the team. Xavi literally used to control the tempo of an entire game.

As Gary Neville once famously said, “Players like Xavi are a unique species. You don’t find them in each generation.” He was damn right. Barcelona never had to think about their midfield as they could take these three for granted to single-handedly turn a game in Barca’s favour. But that was when Xavi was the conductor and used to dictate the Barcelona orchestra. But that time is long gone as at the time of writing Xavi who has taken retirement from his national duty mostly starts from the bench and is nothing more but a falling angel.

The trio of Iniesta, Xavi and Busquets was the key to success under Guardiola.

The midfield was an area of the pitch which never came under question until the end of last season. But until the last season Barcelona had their La Masia favourite Cesc Fabregas in their ranks. Fabregas, who I think was signed at a very wrong time. He was brought to fix a Barcelona midfield which didn’t require any repairing. But Fabregas could have been a perfect answer to the ongoing problems in the middle of the pitch for the Catalan giants. Fabregas who has performed incredibly well for Chelsea this season could have finally got the opportunity to fill in the shoes of the great Xavi. Alas, he was sold and the current Barcelona midfield which used to be their forte is now being out-muscled week in week out. Another academy prodigy Thiago Alacantra was allowed to leave when it was no rocket science to know that Xavi, and sooner or later Iniesta were going to lose their magic. Thiago would have been a gem in that Barca midfield trio had he stayed on for another two years. It was nothing but bad planning on the part of the Blaugrana management.

However, this season, Luis Enrique has tried to fix their problems by reducing the influence of the midfield altogether. At times, Barcelona have looked like a team of just defenders and forwards unlike the earlier times when they had also deployed a nine-man midfield. That is when individual performances come under question and those too have been poor. Xavi with all his on the ball brilliance has failed to press the opposition off it, Iniesta too has been off colour which might be due to fatigue and injuries, Fabregas’s replacement Rakitic who provides them a more direct approach appears to be fighting a lone battle in the middle, and last but not the least Busquets, who mostly used to be Xavi’s wing-man was always like a catalyst and never individually creative.

Passing which was the fundamental factor in Barcelona’s midfield has now declined at an extent that they look sluggish in the middle and their link up play looks too laboured. Barcelona can’t even look up to their academy La Masia to give them another midfield maestro. They have some promising young lads in Rafinha, Sergi Samper and Sergi Roberto, but both are far from being the real deal. Thus, Luis Enrique has no choice but to look for the solution in the market as soon as possible.

Positional strength and Messi

As mentioned earlier Pep’s system was based on dynamic positional and zonal play he had a plan and a reason of putting each of the players he selected in his line-ups. In Pep’s system, he used each player in a particular position to the maximum effect thus delivering the maximum yield from his players. And as the cliche goes no blog can end without mentioning his name i.e Lionel Messi, who at the start of the Guardiola reign was used on the wide right side of the pitch but Pep further converted the little magician from Argentina into a full-fledged striker or a false nine. Messi as a forward player then has gone on to break records and also create them like a raging bull and the rest is history. Under Guardiola, Messi was an intriguing concoction of a flying winger, a deadly striker and a creative midfield artist all in one diminutive package.

However under current boss Messi has been pushed a lot deeper where he has the responsibility of creating goals-to fill the void left by Xavi and also score them. Well, now come on you cannot keep a Lion in a cage and expect it not to roar. But whether Messi could scoreless and still be effective? The question remains.

Another factor when talking about positional strength is Luis Suarez. Finally, the Catalans have seen their most expensive signing in action after months of waiting. Whilst, we have seen glimpses of talent the Uruguayan possesses, there is a lot of work to be done in terms of integrating him into the system. Whether keeping him wide right is the best solution only time can tell and the boss certainly has his hands full during the international break with a lot of thinking and tinkering to be done. Speaking as a whole Luis Enrique must be under a lot of pressure and getting the trio of Messi, Neymar and Suarez clicking as early as possible could win them games and also give the boss further time to fix problems from other areas of the pitch.

PS: Pep always used to be thinking, scheming and looking to constantly adjust his system so that they don’t become predictable. He used to take a lesson from previous experiments, reinforce what worked and reanalyze the elements that didn’t work. It would not be a bad time for the current manager and the support staff to take some inspiration from their legendary predecessor and take Barcelona back to the heights of their era of domination.

“In football the result is an imposter. There’s something greater than the result, more lasting – a legacy.” – Xavi

It is inevitable that a club as huge as Barcelona will rejuvenate themselves and once again be at the very best with what they believe.

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