F.C. Barcelona: Same Game, Different Style

In the few years before the appointment of Pep Guardiola, F.C. Barcelona were on the fringes of creating something very special in the history of football. They played a brand of football, courtesy of Ronaldinho and Xavi that was original and hard to defend against. These two playmakers were the brains of Raikaard’s operation and Samuel Eto’o was often the one who applied the finishing touches. Despite victory against Arsenal in the 2006 Champions League final, this team was not as dominant a force as it could have been. Lionel Messi was in his early years as a player and even though he had a big impact, he was also learning his own role in the team. In the summer of 2008 Guardiola arrived and a tired looking Ronaldinho departed for the less demanding duties of Italian football. Guardiola may not be the best coach in the world but he was clever enough to know the exceptional talents that he was inheriting and unlike Raikaard, he would not allow complacency to cost his team the success that their ability deserved. Players such as Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and Eto’o do not need to be taught how to play football when they have the ball because they are natural footballers. As many pundits might say, these players have the entire picture in their head. They know where their team mates are and where they will run next. They know before they get the ball what they will do with it. This is the part of the game they excelled at under Raikaard because they enjoyed it and were the best at it.

When I imagine Pep Guardiola going into his first team meeting as manager, I imagine him in his most fashionable suit, walking down a dark tunnel and into a changing room occupied by his entire squad. The players are all sitting down eagerly awaiting some wise words of inspiration from their rookie coach. Pep walks over to the tactics board, picks up a pen and writes just one word for all the team to see. That word is ‘Pressure’. That’s my vision of how it went down but no matter how it happened you can be sure that they spent the pre-season of 2008 working hard without the ball, running like dogs chasing a bone. There is no doubt that that pre-season was a hugely significant time, not just in terms of Barcelona going on to be successful that season, but also inventing a new way to play the game. There is a reason why Barcelona controls 70% of possession in a game regardless of the opposition. Of course they are the best at passing and moving. They are also the most patient team who pass and probe and wait for the opponent to get tired and the space to open up. In the past when they lost the ball they would gradually retreat back towards their own area and cover the dangerous spaces and hope for the other team to misplace a pass. That was something they didn’t want to do because they lacked motivation from their coach. Guardiola’s Barcelona force the opponent to misplace passes. When they lose the ball, instead of retreating back they advance forward like a cavalry charge, knowing all the while that their rival is not as good as they are at keeping the ball. Often when under this intense pressure from Barcelona players, the opposition just kick the ball high towards the other end of the pitch and surrender possession. Other times they attempt and fail to pass it out of defence and are immediately under threat of conceding. On the rare occasion that the opponents keep the ball and get into dangerous areas Barcelona can get into trouble because many of their players have committed themselves further up the field. However, they can often rely on their strong willed captain Carlos Puyol and emerging defender Gerard Pique to put out that fire whenever it arises.

The originality of their style is the combination of their breathtaking passing game and the intensity of their efforts to win the ball back. Never before has a team been willing to risk so many players high up the field in the process of closing down the ball because quite frankly no other coach in history believed it would be effective. Instead they thought it would leave their backline too vulnerable. Today the Barcelona tactic means that all three attacking players, two midfield players and sometimes one of the full backs will put pressure on the opponent when Barcelona lose the ball. If they fail to get it back after around ten seconds, then the midfielders and full backs will retreat. It is a system that has won every tournament they have played up to now except one. They were unfortunately eliminated from the Spanish cup this season but otherwise have won 6/7 trophies they have competed for. They are currently top of the Spanish league and are contesting the semi-final of the Champions League. The skills they show when in possession combined with a wonderfully innovative defensive system means that they have taken the game to a level which has never before been achieved. They are the greatest team to have played the game and if their desire remains for the next number of years, they will become undoubtedly the most dominant team ever in club football.