rabid is a mini version of Judy Free without any of the talent or knowledge, no point in even engaging him.

Edited by Joffa: 2/6/2011 12:27:31 PM

Find it amusing that you even find the need to comment while I would suggest to any moderators that may see this that the use of the term "Spastics" is not appropriate in this day and age.

The most fun any supporter can have with any sport is this type of water cooler conversation. It happens everyday in all sports.

Of course we don't beleive that we have the coaching ability to take charge of a team to beat Barcelona. I think its just called having fun and having a conversation.



Edited by Joffa: 2/6/2011 12:27:07 PM

Mourinho and SAF should log in and listen and learn from you Edit: This is not appropriate language for this forum. Please refrain from using insults and abuse. If you disagree with a point then argue the point don't attack the person/s. thanks

Edited by Joffa: 2/6/2011 12:26:45 PM

Key to this is the "when" or the "moment". Barcelona will try and win the ball back as fast as possible from any position on the field, once they have the ball they will get you in "Rondo" piggy in the middle. If you try and get the ball off them in your attacking third they will always out number you, thus getting you involved in a mini rondo. They will do that to you all over the pitch.

By concedeing space when you lose the ball to them your also trying to conserve energy. The intensity comes in your defensive third this is the moment you need to win the ball when you have the advantage of numbers. You either have to hit them on the counter (if the oppurtunity arises) or as you pointed out and I wrote in my post keep possesion too.

Like I said it depends on quality of player, but what Barcelona will always have in its advantage is most of it's senior squad has been playing this way since they were 11yo, its second nature to them now and makes them that much more dangerous.

If I had to face them I would be stacking my team with high calibre Argentinians and Brazilians who in many ways already play that type of game naturally.


Just re-read your first post and we are saying the same thing anyway.

Edited by Arthur: 2/6/2011 09:26:40 AM

Play 7-2-1 :p

Its not tactics its talent that you cant beat

First rule of defense is to always press the player with the ball. Zonal marking also means you have shuffle across when they switch etc. No matter what if you don't have the ball it is physically exhausting because you are reactive. Hitting them on the counter every time is also giving them the ball as you would not score every time.

Side note - Italians can keep the ball if you look at the 2006 world cup they had a lot of possession notable against Germany.

Learn to play without the ball. As Cruyff said the "Italians can't beat you but you can lose to them."

Play deep draw them into your defensive third and hit back with speed on the counter. Don't go chasing them all over the park or your players will end up exhausted in the last 20 minutes, so a zonal type of defence.
Try not to turn over the ball so keep possesion as long as possible, passing accuracy must be high. Your squad has to have as many technically gifted players as money can buy.

This season only Real Madrid Hercules and Arsenal defeated Barcelona

1 BIG difference with Spain and FCB and that is Messi..

Their speed of transition in defensive and offensive is very quick.

Holland had almost as many shots on goal in WC final as Spain. The TV where I recorded WC final has been stolen, so I can't look back.

I wrote about a lot of this stuff in the Barca/Man U stats thread.

Holland played a half press more effectively against Spain in the World Cup final. Seven Barca players were in that team.

Holland were much more successful in the WC final than Man U were against Barca in the ECL final.

You want the short answer you can't no team in the world can consistently beat FCB

The long answer wait till there senior squad members are worn down by age and the core of the team destabilizes just like what happens to all teams when they are dominating in football then strike.

But if i was coach of Real Madrid, Man United or Ac Milan i'd have to stay counter attack spared them wide on the wings. No team can stop FCB taking possession (maybe Arsenal) surrender the possession and hit on the counter is the logical answer!

HOWEVER in practice FCB are too good a breaking teams down that line up defensive ie RM lost to FCB 5-0 because they were too easy to breakdown. The only teams that generally beat FCB (when it rarly happens) are teams that attack however essentially you are trying to beat FCB at there own game and you need to beat them man-for-man, in regards to individual skill and squad cohesion FCB are unmatched.



So re-read 1st sentence.


Edited by Davstar: 1/6/2011 03:39:41 PM

My personal approach.

Firstly,
Focus on transition from BPO (Ball possession Opp) to BP (Ball possession) in our defensive half.

The key difference between Barcelona and everyone else in my opinion is there speed of transition is quicker than anyone else.

So if we can transition from BPO to BP quicker than they can transition into pressing than that is one step into stopping there dominance.

The reason why I have chosen this area is because in my opinion teams should always be able to transition to BP quicker than the opposition can transition into BPO in the defensive half for a couple of reasons.
- Numerical advantage therefore if all players move at the same pace we should be able to find our spare player.
- Ball moves faster than players

Secondly,
Are Barcelona a good BPO team in there defensive half?
In my opinion this is an area that teams rarely exploit.

So instead of counter attacking all the time like every team seems to do, we will keep the ball (this links back to point 1). And put Barcelona in a position where they feel uncomfortable... without the ball.
Patiently building up also means if we don't score well then in any case we will spend less time defending.


Thirdly,
The hardest question of all.
Whether to press Barcelona high or drop deep?

In short if you press them high there is space in behind and pressing for an entire game is physically demanding.

If you drop deep to half way then there is a fear you will be chasing shadows for a whole game and Barcelona are the best in the world at breaking down deep defenses.
However dropping deep restricts the space in behind and you can control the gaps in between the midfield and defense.

There is no ideal way to defend Barcelona when they have the ball but personally I would press certain players in certain situations.
E.g. There is no point in pressing Xavi or Iniesta high up the park but Busquets is definitely someone who can get caught on the ball in my opinion.

To press Barcelona you would need very quick back four and your front 3 would need to work extremely hard you can't have a lazy number 9 every player needs to be part of the press or they will find that one player they need to get passed the press.

Obviously this is all easier said than done but all for a bit of a discussion.

Looking forward to hearing some responses.