Barca’s sure-fire offside formula | Relief

It is curious that a goal-scoring machine like Barcelona (47 goals in 14 matches) and pressing at a stifling pace are not its hallmark the antics of Lamin Yamal, the kilometers of Rafinha or the sense of smell of Robert Lewandowski. What characterizes Hansi Flick’s Barça above all is its defensive system, a line of four players so developed and synchronized that it leaves everyone offside. even the high-speed Real Madrid and the star who starred in his first Clasico, like Kylian Mbappe. Carlo Ancelotti’s side were offside 12 times, five more than the average Barca team usually register in their La Liga matches. Barca were impeccable and also took advantage of the Whites’ inconsistent defensive line, as seen in Lewandowski’s opening goal.

The filtered pass was received by the Pole in a legal position because, unlike Barça’s line of four, Rüdiger and Militao got ahead of Lucas Vázquez and Mendy, who sank and assisted the striker. A photo that was highlighted by Rafinha’s 0-4, with the Galician defender defending individually rather than collectively and dropping when lined up in midfield. But, How does Flick train him? How is this synchronicity achieved in Joan Gamper’s mornings?

It all starts with field exercises that “they are not very common in high performance”– explains one of the sources familiar with the daily life of the main team and its tactical scheme. “There are many exercises in which the movements of the line of four defenders are analytically worked out. They are taught to recognize when the ball carrier is under pressure and when he is not, and when there is more risk of taking a long shot.”he adds. These are very “mentally taxing” exercises because they require a high degree of concentration and constant attention to detail, but they are very effective because they force defenders to stay ahead of attackers.

“The most important thing is to be aware of when the player who is about to pass lowers his head to shoot. In that second (or less) the defender takes a step forward and the line synchronizes with him.”– he explains. And to acquire this skill, “players must have a good profile; they are always in a lateral position to decide whether to run forward or backward.” These drills, which sometimes involve a midfielder and sometimes coaches throw long balls, require three conditions, according to the source: “The first is that they need to be done, and I know they are done every week. , and they have to be very repetitive because otherwise players forget the second thing, there has to be leadership in defense and smart players who have that ability and I think that; Inigo Martinez and Kubarsi are in the lead and know how to interpret the moments.; and third, when they learn, they interpret everything with the same brain.”

In addition to these individual and basic exercises (“Line work is rare, although there are videos of Guardiola and Sarri in which they are also used”), there are real game situations (11v11) where defenders need to know when the opponent has broken the pressure in order to decide whether to retreat or not. Flick introduces a concept called elastic protection. and this is very difficult to perform, this is a defense that does not stand still, which is always in motion and attentive to each other.

In addition to field work, a video has been added to confirm that the defense line study is ideal. There are two key aspects to it. One of them is the analysis of training, defensive movements in those analytical exercises that they conduct to find errors or improve what is done well. And finally, studying the opponent’s unhindered attack, “a trend that forwards have” when attacking space. These are the final details that have also been worked out before the game at the Bernabeu, where Mbappe, Vinicius or Bellingham usually start, and at what time and from where passes are played.

There is a lot of information that cannot be processed, all except that when repeating training, He turned Barça into a millimeter team, where every centimeter counts and trains. And the opponents celebrate goals that are not there later. And they pull out their hair.