Neymar stole the headlines with a clinical hat-trick but the real star of the show was Luis Enrique, whose smart rotation and exact pressing instructions led to an assured team performance.
FC Barcelona’s 6-0 victory over Granada was just what the players, the manager and the fans needed after the monumentally frustrating midweek draw away to Málaga. Many of the tactical problems that Málaga highlighted remain to be resolved at a later date, but this was a much-needed morale boost and a reminder that Barça remain a genuine force with a clinical frontline.
Barça manager Luis Enrique continued with the 4-3-1-2 that it seems is now non-negotiable but made several changes to the starting eleven.
The selection of a completely different back four to the one that played in the last match was sensible given how intense and draining that game was. Xavi came in for Andrés Iniesta and, despite being fielded on the left of the midfield three as opposed to his more familiar right side, gave an intelligent and incisive performance, the sort which an unlucky but under-par Iniesta failed to produce against an incredibly well organised Málaga side (see images below). Munir replaced Pedro and carried on his remarkable first-team breakthrough, looking at home among much more experienced professionals.
Luis Enrique deserves great credit for his use of the squad in this match. It’s unclear whether he intends to continue rotating centre-back partnerships, but in an area of the pitch where mutual understanding is everything, it makes sense to switch between the pairings of Javier Mascherano and Jérémy Mathieu and Gerard Piqué and Marc Bartra for now. Lucho also made smart substitutions, allowing Ivan Rakitić and Sergio Busquets rest after a strenuous week and giving Sandro minutes to ensure that he continues on his steady upward trajectory.
Barça’s performance was much improved but it must be said that the decisive factor here was the poverty of Granada’s performance. Joaquín Caparrós’ side sat deep in a flat 4-4-2 formation and committed men forward on the counter, a fairly logical plan but one that the players did not have the aggression, the stamina or the levels of concentration to make effective.
It was a bizarre approach, especially after Málaga showed exactly how to defend against Barcelona just a few days ago. Caparrós should have known that it’s next to impossible to flood the midfield against Barça with only two central players, and although he did switch to a 4-1-4-1 late on, the damage had already been done. Time and again Barça had all the time in the world to move the ball around, drag Granada’s midfield two around and wait for space for a third player to develop on the edge of the penalty area.
The pleasing thing from Barça’s point of view was that this match reminded us that teams that don’t have almost superhuman levels of stamina and concentration will almost always crumble eventually. Whereas Málaga shut them out by applying intense pressure with three central midfielders and basically bullied Barça in the middle of the pitch, Granada spread themselves too thin and ran out of steam early on, just as Levante did last weekend.
After a fairly quiet opening half hour, Barça grew in confidence and started to have fun, effortlessly combining and finding that a spare man was always available and usually in a good position. The contrast between their final third passing maps from the Málaga game and this match could barely be starker or more illustrative.
To their credit, Granada did have a few half-chances on the break while the game was still alive. They nearly scored in the seventh minute after concerning errors from Dani Alves, Munir and Mathieu allowed Youssef El-Arabi to hit the crossbar. Although the visitors never looked like competing in any serious sense – their setup was simply far too open – it wasn’t inconceivable that they landed a good jab before Barça inevitably laid them out with a powerful uppercut. The knockout blow arrived just before half-time when Neymar and Rakitić scored in quick succession.
As well as having a simple numerical advantage in the centre, Barça’s outfought Granada. As well as having 69% possession and thus being in control of the match, Barça recorded 36 tackles to Grenada’s 17, ensuring that whenever the away side took possession of the ball, they had no time to think about what to do with it.
It started from the back. The defence was aggressive positionally and because of that it was easy for the midfielders and forwards to mark and press with great intensity. After a frustrating absence in the Málaga game, the high line and constant pressure on the ball that have become the keys to creating advantageous situations for Barça were back. The first, third and sixth goals all resulted from this pressing.
With so much space to play in and so much hard work being done to get them the ball, it was no surprise to see Lionel Messi and Neymar flourish. Neymar’s performance was hugely encouraging even before he started scoring: he often drifted out wide and came inside, giving Granada’s defenders a problem with regards to tracking him; he became involved in earlier phases of build-up play and moved the ball at a high tempo; most promisingly of all, he committed defenders with dribbles and high-risk passes in a way that we haven’t really seen so far this season.
It wasn’t really a test for Barça but, as the old saying goes, you can only beat what’s in front of you. Luis Enrique’s men did just that and they did it in style.
from Barca Blaugranes - All Posts http://ift.tt/1BrS3Uc
0 التعليقات:
إرسال تعليق