My earlier Grimm post had waxed hopeful about Barca shifting to a 3-1-3-3 this season. 1st game of the season and that's exactly what they did. So obviously I must be happy.. I am, but only because I was proved right... not because the formation was their next step to galactic domination (which would be impossible anyway since they'd first have to get past ME AAAHHAAHA I AM TH..ok back to the post...). The game itself was quite bad, and I don't mean in a ohmygod it was so one-sided kind of bad...which it was, but that's for another day (a day when EPL fans have a chance to say "well..its Liga after all" without running the risk of me shoving the ManU-Arsenal DVD down their throats, although it'd be a nice change from what EPL fans usually swallow...). That bracket being said, quite a few Liga presidents did go on to say "well..its Liga after all", but that's also for another day (a day when Valencia didn't win incredibly and play incredibly and sit in joint 1st place. On second thoughts, let me rephrase, "that's for never...").
The game was bad for Barca too, they had as much an off-day as a 5-0 result against one of the best sides in Europe would allow. The 3-4-3 has the flexibility to turn talented teams into blindingly attacking teams, and organized teams into solidly compact teams. It turned Barca... into a frog... neither the ones that get kissed by princesses nor the ones that get electrocuted by dastardly iguanas using gullible ferrets, but rather the ones who are outside the purview of the only 2 famous frogs I can reference from pop culture... I trust you get what I mean somehow... They played the 3-1-3-3 that I thought would be awesome, but with Fullback width sacrificed for three tight MFs, they were forced to push Alexis and Pedro out reallllyy wide (the very reason Villa didn't start, which in itself was a transition to non-famous amphibian life forms). Not only did this completely nullify the give-and-go's the front-3 used last year, but also meant 1 MF had to jump into advanced positions beyond the false 9. Surprise surprise, this was Cesc.
Cesc played the exaaact same role Deco played in his first 2 seasons. Hover at the half line and frequently continue runs into the box beyond the forward (not to mention give the ball away 50% of the time, try ambitious through balls or blind lobs just to look smart, and fail miserably). It was after all a time when they played with Ronaldinho and Guily, who offered genuine width and hence needed a Deco, like this Barca 3-4-3 needed a Cesc. A consequence of him in the team was complete erosion of solid possession play in MF. No one had a good game, Iniesta had one of his worst games (before his 1st good pass of the night freed Messi for the goal and got him a 7.5 goal.com rating by default), Thiago struggled to control the pace what with Deco V.2 constantly choosing to surrender possession in pursuit of premature through/high balls, and Alexis was isolated on the wing after having spent last season doing what Villa usually does for Barcelona (a lesson for line-hugging Krasic if he really wants to drive Juve). Even Messi had to play a lot further up the pitch than comfortable, given the 4-man MF behind him and dispersed front line alongside.
Now here's the real belter....ready for this?...Keita....played well (THUMP...that was the sound of you falling off right? right??), he actually did. Goal.com gave him the lowest rating of all the Barca players, but for perhaps the first time in his career he did what a Barca player should and attacked players in possession rather than standing off and tracking, something I thought he couldn't change. He frequently won back possession in a game where they showed none of the intense charging-to-win-back-ball like past year. Overall, while everyone praised this change in tactic and the whole "wow he's so proactive, he's even changing what isn't broke" and Cesc-plaudits for scoring, I really felt this was a big step back from the dazzle they usually display. Even so, I'd rather not be the one to say "I just want things to be the way they were between us...4-3-3"... so if the 3-4-3 is here to stay so as to accommodate the extra man in MF, I'd really love if the width came from the MF 4 rather than the forward 3, like how Argentina used to do it with Sorin and Zanetti playing wingback. So how about Abidal-Sergio-Pique at the back. Thiago/Pedro - Iniesta - Xavi - Alves at MF and Villa - Messi - Pedro/Alexis in front. Cesc can get out his pompoms and help the crowd sing the Blaugrana song (which is for some reason starting to get on my nerves....that god awful ManU pub has ruined football anthems for me for life...)
One last word of ignominy for woeful Villarreal who woke up that morning thinking "aaah what a beautiful day, brush teeth, eat breakfast, enjoy the countryside drive, get raped by Barca, drink beer with friends, party, sleeep... what a beautiful day!" and all conspired to ensure that's exactly the way their day would play out. It was an insult to the incredible team they are, and they most obviously didn't even try, I really hope they reimburse my cable bill for this shameful night the way Arsenal reimbursed their fans... Cani is one of the few trequartistas left in football and he spent his time hugging the touchlines. Rossi and Nilmar play wonderfully off each other and they didn't once exchange a pass, instead skulking on opposite sides of the pitch. Still, Borja and Bruno were amazing and it bodes well for the rest of the season while Gonzalo and Musacchio showed how defenders can defend intelligently and skillfully by effortlessly anticipating and intercepting through-passes.... until there were 1 too many - thanks to a MF that was brutally let down by their front line. But it still is hard to see them challenging for even the runner-up. All up to Los Che now to beat the shit out of Barca/RM and win the league........
Did I mention I'm also now an official Brighter than Have Albert supporter...Did I get that right? Britain and Hove Alpine? Brighton and Hive Album? Bri...OK I give up, some random 2nd division club that Vicente Rodriguez has just joined very philanthropically to single-handedly guide them to the Premiership next year, and then to victory and beyond... I would say 8-2 against Arsenal, but he needs a real challenge...
The game was bad for Barca too, they had as much an off-day as a 5-0 result against one of the best sides in Europe would allow. The 3-4-3 has the flexibility to turn talented teams into blindingly attacking teams, and organized teams into solidly compact teams. It turned Barca... into a frog... neither the ones that get kissed by princesses nor the ones that get electrocuted by dastardly iguanas using gullible ferrets, but rather the ones who are outside the purview of the only 2 famous frogs I can reference from pop culture... I trust you get what I mean somehow... They played the 3-1-3-3 that I thought would be awesome, but with Fullback width sacrificed for three tight MFs, they were forced to push Alexis and Pedro out reallllyy wide (the very reason Villa didn't start, which in itself was a transition to non-famous amphibian life forms). Not only did this completely nullify the give-and-go's the front-3 used last year, but also meant 1 MF had to jump into advanced positions beyond the false 9. Surprise surprise, this was Cesc.
Cesc played the exaaact same role Deco played in his first 2 seasons. Hover at the half line and frequently continue runs into the box beyond the forward (not to mention give the ball away 50% of the time, try ambitious through balls or blind lobs just to look smart, and fail miserably). It was after all a time when they played with Ronaldinho and Guily, who offered genuine width and hence needed a Deco, like this Barca 3-4-3 needed a Cesc. A consequence of him in the team was complete erosion of solid possession play in MF. No one had a good game, Iniesta had one of his worst games (before his 1st good pass of the night freed Messi for the goal and got him a 7.5 goal.com rating by default), Thiago struggled to control the pace what with Deco V.2 constantly choosing to surrender possession in pursuit of premature through/high balls, and Alexis was isolated on the wing after having spent last season doing what Villa usually does for Barcelona (a lesson for line-hugging Krasic if he really wants to drive Juve). Even Messi had to play a lot further up the pitch than comfortable, given the 4-man MF behind him and dispersed front line alongside.
Now here's the real belter....ready for this?...Keita....played well (THUMP...that was the sound of you falling off right? right??), he actually did. Goal.com gave him the lowest rating of all the Barca players, but for perhaps the first time in his career he did what a Barca player should and attacked players in possession rather than standing off and tracking, something I thought he couldn't change. He frequently won back possession in a game where they showed none of the intense charging-to-win-back-ball like past year. Overall, while everyone praised this change in tactic and the whole "wow he's so proactive, he's even changing what isn't broke" and Cesc-plaudits for scoring, I really felt this was a big step back from the dazzle they usually display. Even so, I'd rather not be the one to say "I just want things to be the way they were between us...4-3-3"... so if the 3-4-3 is here to stay so as to accommodate the extra man in MF, I'd really love if the width came from the MF 4 rather than the forward 3, like how Argentina used to do it with Sorin and Zanetti playing wingback. So how about Abidal-Sergio-Pique at the back. Thiago/Pedro - Iniesta - Xavi - Alves at MF and Villa - Messi - Pedro/Alexis in front. Cesc can get out his pompoms and help the crowd sing the Blaugrana song (which is for some reason starting to get on my nerves....that god awful ManU pub has ruined football anthems for me for life...)
One last word of ignominy for woeful Villarreal who woke up that morning thinking "aaah what a beautiful day, brush teeth, eat breakfast, enjoy the countryside drive, get raped by Barca, drink beer with friends, party, sleeep... what a beautiful day!" and all conspired to ensure that's exactly the way their day would play out. It was an insult to the incredible team they are, and they most obviously didn't even try, I really hope they reimburse my cable bill for this shameful night the way Arsenal reimbursed their fans... Cani is one of the few trequartistas left in football and he spent his time hugging the touchlines. Rossi and Nilmar play wonderfully off each other and they didn't once exchange a pass, instead skulking on opposite sides of the pitch. Still, Borja and Bruno were amazing and it bodes well for the rest of the season while Gonzalo and Musacchio showed how defenders can defend intelligently and skillfully by effortlessly anticipating and intercepting through-passes.... until there were 1 too many - thanks to a MF that was brutally let down by their front line. But it still is hard to see them challenging for even the runner-up. All up to Los Che now to beat the shit out of Barca/RM and win the league........
Did I mention I'm also now an official Brighter than Have Albert supporter...Did I get that right? Britain and Hove Alpine? Brighton and Hive Album? Bri...OK I give up, some random 2nd division club that Vicente Rodriguez has just joined very philanthropically to single-handedly guide them to the Premiership next year, and then to victory and beyond... I would say 8-2 against Arsenal, but he needs a real challenge...
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