Tactical Breakdown: How the addition of Jordi Alba has hurt Barca's defence

It is still hard to believe that FC Barcelona, tipped as one of the greatest club sides in modern football history were so comprehensively mauled by a rampant Bayern Munich side at the Allianz Arena last night, the scoreline of 4-0 ever so painfully planted in Los Cules’ memories. However, even the most passionate and blindly optimistic Barca fan may have known somewhere in the back of his head, that it was always coming, either sooner or later. If taken a closer look at the Blaugrana’s season so far, their most notable shortcoming this season has been their shoddy defensive record. Be it the gripping 3-2 comeback win against Sevilla FC or the 5-4 thriller against Deportivo La Coruna in La Liga or the 2-1 defeat at the hands of Celtic and the 2-0 wipe out by Milan at the San Siro or the quarterfinal escape show against PSG in the UCL, the glaring defensive lapses have been there for all to see. Yes, FC Barcelona’s philosophy suggests that attack is the best form of defence and hence scoring goals is the top priority. However, even under Pep Guardiola, FC Barcelona’s defence wasn’t leaking as many goals as they are doing so this season. In fact, in the 2010-11 season, only Hercules and Arsenal were the two notable teams to score more than one goal in a game against the Catalans! So, how did everything change so drastically in defensive matters this season? The signing of Jordi Alba can be pointed out as one of the most notable factors.

Last season, FC Barcelona’s defensive record was also not really quite impressive as can be seen in the numerous 2-2 draws in La Liga and also the defeats against Real Madrid and Chelsea FC. However, that can still be attributed to Pep Guardiola’s tactical experimentation with the introduction of the 3-4-3 system to add more bite in midfield. This season, with Tito Vilanova in charge, Barca has reverted back to the 4-3-3 formation and yet defensive stability has not been accomplished by the Catalans. Ever since the dynamic left-back was signed from Valencia last summer, FC Barcelona’s attack has looked even more vicious than in previous seasons but at the cost of their defence. A closer tactical outlook will help shed some more light on this issue.

Earlier, under Pep Guardiola, the most commonly featuring defensive lineup was as follows:-

RB- Dani Alves

CBs- Gerard Pique, Carlos Puyol/Javier Mascherano.

LB- Eric Abidal/Carlos Puyol.

When Pep’s Barca played in the 4-3-3 formation, Dani Alves, the explosive Brazilian right-back was given the licence to make numerous lung-bursting runs on the right flank as is evident even in today’s Barca. However, this was not the case with either Eric Abidal or Carlos Puyol on the opposite flank. Their runs were only limited up to the half line. When Dani Alves used to make his forward runs, the defence again would be left to 3 men. Yet, in this case, Gerard Pique used to move to the right to cover up for Alves. Sergio Busquets used to drop back in defence from his defensive midfield position to support the other isolated centre-back and Abidal/ Puyol used to hold their runs and stick at the back to deal with any counter-attacks. Hence, the 4-man defensive shape used to be restored, giving Barca the much needed stability at the back. Another way to tackle the situation was that Busquets used to shift to the right side of midfield to cover up for Alves, while Xavi moved to the defensive midfield position and Messi dropped deeper into midfield as well forming a 3-5-2 formation. Yet, the left back on the other flank always stayed put in his position. Even this was an effective strategy to thwart counter-attacks when Alves was caught out of position.

When one analyzes Tito’s Barca, the case is different. The common defensive lineup is as follows:-

RB- Dani Alves

CBs- Gerard Pique, Javier Mascherano/Marc Bartra/ Carlos Puyol

LB- Jordi Alba

In Vilanova’s Barca, both wing-backs are extremely dynamic and both love to make surging forward runs. However, this means that the defence is reduced to just 2 centre-backs. This creates a tremendous headache for Sergio Busquets as he now has to make a decision on whether he should drop back to defence, which is futile as it will only result in 3 men at the back which is not sufficient enough to handle the counter-attack, or whether he should cover up for the wing-backs in midfield itself and if so, which wing-back should he cover? This leaves Barca embarrassingly exposed on the counter and the effects are often brutal, as illustrated by Bayern last night.

Now, one might make a strong case by stating that the Spanish national side held a brilliant defensive record in last year’s Euro campaign, conceding only one goal in the entire competition despite having attacking wing-backs in Arbeloa and Alba. This is where Vicente Del Bosque’s terrific tactical nous comes into play. The famous 4-6-0 tactic which he so adamantly stuck to can now be justified. He realized the attacking potential of both Spanish wing-backs and did not want to discourage their style of play. Hence, he deployed two defensive midfielders, or ‘pivots’. Hence, Busquets covered up for Arbeloa on the right and Alonso did the same for Alba. Xavi moved to defensive midfield, Iniesta and Silva dropped back to pick up the ball and Fabregas, the ‘false 9′ mediated as an additional midfielder or a forward, with Alba and Arbeloa supplementing him as wingers. Thus, comparing Spain to Tito’s Barca is not ideal.

So how does one deal with the Jordi Alba situation? Clearly, asking him to restrain himself from his natural potential and restrict his forward runs is the most discouraging thing that a coach can do. Also, deploying two defensive midfielders in Alex Song and Busquets will slow down Barca’s high tempo game to a considerable extent. The most logical thing to do at the moment is to sign a proven world-class centre back, maybe two if needed, who are gifted enough to deal with fast counter-attacks even with both wing-backs being far ahead upfield. Someone like Vincent Kompany can be a stellar addition to the squad as he has faced a similar challenge at Manchester City, with both Clichy and Zabaleta being very attacking in nature. One can only hope for the best in the days to come and wait for Sandro Rosell, the current Barca president, to make the right move in the coming summer transfer window.

The ball is in your court Mr. Rosell!