Three At The Back for the Catalans (Barcelona: 3-4-1-2)

In reference to the article published on goal.com, a quasi-satire-football-website, apparently there is a bit of fantasy in store for all football fans. It seems Barcelona are going to play a bizarre 3-2-3-2 formation this season. Well you could argue that the rate at which the Catalan club is spiraling out of control these days, nothing can be put beyond them.

http://www.goal.com/en/news/1717/editorial/2014/08/04/5002476/messi-suarez-neymar-cuadrado-in-one-team-barcelonas-plans?ICID=HP_HN_1

The rumour however, like all rumours during the summer break, must and should be taken with a pinch of salt. The Cules are notoriously loyal to the 4-3-3 formation; a system they preach at every level of their famed La Masia academy. According to Johan Cruyff, the best Euporean footballer of all time and the brains behind the modern version of the academy, this consistency gives a standardised solution to the team and the players in the long run. There is no use arguing with that. Partly because Cruyff will never stand down and largely because there is every semblance of truth behind the claim. 4-3-3 is a mainstay and the most basic modern formation. It is the first sketch to a plethora of other contemporary formations like 4-2-3-1, 4-3-2-1 etc.

At Barcelona, although the 4-3-3- is a holy sermon, there have been occasions when a 3-4-3 has been used, most famously by Pep Guardiola. But the formation didn’t lead to much success and the team reverted to the ever-reliable 4-3-3. But soon enough, the tika-taka code was cracked by ultra-defensive teams that attack on the break. And ever since this ‘invincible’ tika-taka tactic was compromised, technical teams that set up defensively (see Chelsea) have challenged it and often emerged victorious. Atletico did it last year and the year before, Bayern (counter-attacking) truly demolished Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final with an aggregate score of 7-0 over two legs.

There is always a natural cycle and all things, good or bad, come to an end. Such prophetic wisdom would discourage you from blaming any specific reason for the demise of things but academically looking at it, one of the main reason for the downfall of tika-taka at Barcelona is perhaps the reluctance of full-backs doing their primary job – defend. It is no coincidence that Barcelona were a force to reckon with when the more defensive minded Eric Abidal was hugging the left touch line and the younger Dani Alves on the right actually read team hand-outs. Now, Jordi Alba thinks his main competitor is Cristiano Ronaldo and the older Dani seems convinced it would be cool to go out with a few hattricks under his belt.

In essence, what that means is that both Jordi Alba and Dani Alves have evolved into wing-backs. And if given a chance to produce in that capacity, there is little doubt if they would. However, in its purest form, the suggested 3-2-3-2 is a truly ridiculous formation and one that can never work. It looks and sounds like fantasy football which has no regard for balance across the pitch, narrowing down the game to a suffocating level.

Take a look at the deployment of personnel suggested in the goal article.

(Courtesy, source goal.com) 

The ground rule for any team that wants to play with 3 defenders at the back is they need to be complimented by wing-backs who are willing to run themselves to the ground. Without that physical presence on the wings, it’ll be very easy to get in behind the defence because the 3 defenders would naturally be playing close to one another. Let’s not forget most of the top teams at the World Cup played with three men at the back and it proved very effective. Chile even managed to stick in a 5’7” Gary Medel into the back 3!

Barca certainly have the players required to play a 3-man defence system. In fact, one could even argue that the way things stand, they are more suitable to it than they are to a 4-man defence. Gerard Pique has been hugely criticised of late and with the performances he has been putting in, little surprise there. His positioning has been suspect and his concentration has been dwindling. Without a leader like Puyol besides him, he is a fish out of water and totally out of depth. However, no one can doubt his ability on the ball. So, if Pique plays in the middle of the three-man defence as a 'sweeper' carrying the ball forward, starting attacks, his ability will count double.

(Three man defence)

On either side of Pique will be Jeremy Mathieu and Javier Mascherano who will add experience and bite to the unit respectively. Mathieu who is also surprisingly fast at the age of 30 can dictate terms from the back and Mascherano who is one of the best reader of the game in football would be phenomenal in this setup.

(Four-man midfield with wing-backs)

The four-man midfield is a no brainer with Alba on the left, Dani Alves on the right operating as wing-backs and new boy Ivan Rakitic joined by Sergio Busquets in the midfield pivot.

(Three man attack in a 1-2 formation)

Up-front is where the four best players at Barcelona will fight for the three spots. Well, technically the three best will fight for two spots in the 1-2 formation. Lionel Messi is a given on the right-hand side of the front two. On the left could be Luis Suarez or Neymar. The 1 could be either Iniesta or Neymar. Any of the three can operate there if Iniesta is unavailable. It’s a beautiful problem for Barcelona to have.

This is what the final team in a 3-4-1-2 formation would look like.

It is difficult to argue against the overall quality of this squad. This is the same system Louis van Gaal used at the world cup with The Netherlands and it produced tremendous results for the Dutch. The 3-2-3-2 was obviously a troll by goal.com. But a three-man defence would usher a new revolution at Barcelona and 3-4-1-2 seems just the right way to play it.

You Old Fox, Jose

While the rest of the football loving fraternity had been enchanted, seduced and absorbed by the memorable world cup this summer, the old fox Jose Mourinho was up to some cunning business. How is that news you ask? Well, this time he has surpassed even his own lofty standards. In fact, what Jose Mourinho has achieved this time is unprecedented and will reverberate for years to come. Simply put, he has dismantled, rearranged, refurbished and rebuilt his Chelsea squad not just in record time but while hardly spending a penny in the process. To top it all off, he has made the intimidating task of rebuilding the squad look hopelessly effortless, even winning some friends along the way. To understand the magnitude of what he has accomplished, continue reading!

Before I continue, let me point out that there are two mutually inclusive perspectives of examining this subject. First, a somewhat boring but undeniably imperative financial perspective. Second, what these developments in West London mean to the team from a tactical point of view. For the benefit of the argument, I will cast glances at the financial implications first and then touch upon the tactical viewpoint.

Consider the following transfers concluded during the winter and summer transfer* windows of 2014, as on 27^th July:

*Only those transfers where financial transactions are involved have been represented.

Players Sold:

·         David Luiz (27)                   : £50 million

·         Juan Mata  (26)                   : £37 million

·         Kevin De Bruyne (23)         : £18 million

·         Demba Ba (29)                    : £5 million

·         Patrick van Aanholt (23)      : £1.5 million

Total:                                  : £111.5 million

Players Bought:

·         Diego Costa (25)               : £32 million

·         Cesc Fabregas (27)           : £28 million

·         Nemanja Matic (25)          : £21 million

·         Filipe Luis (29)                  : £16 million

·         Mohammad Salah (22)      : £13 million

·         Kurt Zouma (19)               : £ 12 million

·         Mario Pasalic (19)             : £ 3 million

Total:                                : £124 million

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So essentially we are looking at a net outlay of £12.5 million over the last two transfer windows during which Mourinho has completely overhauled the squad, addressing all the key issues along the way. To make it look better, Manchester United paid almost three times that amount to acquire the services of a 19 year old continentally untested full-back on earthshattering wages from Southampton - a deal Mourinho himself avoided fearing such a move would “kill” the club. Further, if speculation is to be believed, Chelsea are looking to offload either Fernando Torres (£15 million) or Romelu Lukaku (£25 million), the proceeds from which would not only balance the transfer books but might also result in a net profit – a rare commodity at Chelsea if the last 10 years are anything to go by. And that tells you only half the story.

Chelsea were in the business of signing players who were in the peak of their careers for exorbitant amounts and on handsome salaries, only to lose them as free agents at the end of their contracts (see Bosingwa). Although this strategy resulted in some world class players representing the club like Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack, Claude Makelele, Michael Essien and the likes, it always drew the wrath of opposition supporters who accused Chelsea of ‘buying’ success; which in hindsight seems a perfectly logical assessment. However, the envy of the opposition fans will hardly hurt the club. On the contrary, it will always remind them of their success. Rather, it was their failure to abide by Financial Fair Play that was pushing them towards the UEFA red-zone. Tables have turned. First friend made, Monsieur Platini.

Now they are buying hoards of young, talented players and developing them at their fine Cobham training ground. If they don’t make the cut, they are either loaned for further development (Lucas Piazon) or sold for a profit (de Bruyne). If they make the cut (Eden Hazard) or return from a successful loan (Thibuat Courtois), you double or triple the value. There are of course exceptions (Marko Marin) but these are few and far in between. In any case, you make at least 75% on your investment.

If the numbers above don’t tell you the full story or you have just woken up from coma after few years out, let me tell you: Chelsea robbed PSG with that David Luiz fee. And it was no ordinary heist. It was a meticulously planned rip-off that represented a win-win-win for Chelsea. Supremely talented error-prone brilliantly unpredictable centre-back out, check. 50 million Pounds in the bag, double check. The third victory is in the shape of a threat to other teams to mortgage their stadium before approaching Chelsea for their superstars, of which there will be plenty in supply in the years to come. Triple check. The same can be said about the Juan Mata sale, however it wasn’t as bad. The player was sold for just about the right market price but Manchester United were forced to pay a club record fee and Chelsea did not even flinch for a second while accepting the cheque. Kevin de Bruyne was not wanted by the manager but still fetched him a cool 150% profit on investment (bought for £7 million). All three were bought young and sold for mercurial profits. Demba Ba was sold at a small loss but at 29 and on the fringes, selling for any fee is laudable even for a good player like Demba.

Other players released on free transfers so far: Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, Samuel Eto’o and Henrique Hilario, some of who were top earners at the club, thereby freeing up the wage bill. As a result Chelsea are surprisingly low on the wage charts today (6^th in world football) whereas they were topping it some years back. Again, just to make an example of it, Luke Shaw at Manchester United is being paid £160,000 (reported) per week, a figure that is more than the combined weekly wages of Cesar Azpilicueta (not more than £80,000) and Filipe Luis (£80,000) who play in the same league and position as the Englishman but are without doubt better that him at this point.

But the real implication of these transfers stretches even further.

Champions League final 2012 Starting XI:

4-2-3-1

Drogba

Bertrand – Mata – Kalou

Mikel – Lampard

Cole – David Luiz – Cahill – Bosingwa

Cech

So what has happened to the Champions League winning team?

Two years later, only Gary Cahill, apart from maybe Petr Cech, from that squad can genuinely stake a claim as a first team player for the forthcoming season (2014-15). With Bertrand agonizingly close to the exit, the only other that remains at the club is John Obi Mikel and for how long? Drogba has re-joined the club but surely only as a fringe player. You’d be forgiven if you concluded you were watching an entirely different team at Stamford Bridge this season.

What the Blues of 2014-15 might look like:

4-3-3

Hazard (Schurrle) – Costa (Torres) – Willian (Salah)

Fabregas (Romeu) – Matic (Mikel) – Oscar (Ramires)

Filipe Luis (Ake) – Terry (Ivanovic) – Cahill (Zouma) – Azpilicueta (Ivanovic)

Courtois (Cech)

Mourinho has not only assembled a truly devastating squad to replace the overachieving batch of 2012, but also a younger and hungrier one. He claims his business in done in the transfer window. Although his words must always be taken with a pinch of salt, the squad itself looks complete. It stinks of quality, top to bottom. One that may not have a Messi or a Ronaldo, but one that has a better balance than even the almighty clubs those two mercurial players represent. The transition period under Mourinho was so smooth it could be mistaken for pedestrian. It is the most discreetly, yet ruthlessly, orchestrated transitions in recent memory and could lay claim as one of the best too.

Jose Mourinho often gets all the attention for the wrong reasons and doesn’t always get the credit he deserves. He remains a deeply polarising figure in world football, one that may inspire awe or abject nausea, mostly depending on what colour you wear. His work, however, is unquestionable. Though one may look at his last two seasons, the only two trophy-less of his distinguished career, and wonder if that ‘special’ touch is waning. That maybe the “little horse” talk was an alibi for depleting competence or, even worse, confidence. But don’t write off the Portuguese just yet. He may not rub you the right way or play the most entertaining brand of football but he has immaculately built a rock solid foundation that could as well prove to be a wending machine for trophies. All that at a cost that is surely a ‘Special One’.