#2 Barcelona's new obsession with crossing
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Barcelona, over the last decade or so are known for their quick play, possession and keeping the ball on the ground and playing football the r”ight way”. However, Luis Enrique recognised Barcelona’s underuse of corner and crosses and has considerably improved their skill with air balls. With Luis Suarez up front, Barcelona now has a striker who can control and hold balls which are passed aerially unlike Alexis Sanchez, David Villa or Lionel Messi.
However, Barcelona seems to be using the lofted balls far too often this season, something that breaks their possession play and hands over the ball to the opposition. Lucas Digne and Aleix Vidal attempted quite a few crosses against Hercules, with only a few reaching their intended target. What made matters worse was that Paco Alcacer never really posed a threat to the Hercules defence.
The Catalans seem to have used the ariel route far too many times against Real Sociedad and Malaga. It's fair to say that Barcelona see the ariel route as a new way to break through tough defences when they can’t do it using ground passes. However, is it effective?
