Analysing Teams' Start To The Season

ARSENAL

Key Player : Santi Cazorla

Disappointment : Olivier Giroud

Position : 8th

Record :

1 win
2 draws
0 losses

2 goals scored
0 goals conceded

Major Point : 3 straight clean sheets

The Gunners, despite sitting in 8th behind newly promoted West Ham, are confident ahead of the next 35 games. But why? Why would they be upbeat after drawing against Sunderland and Stoke? Enter Steve Bould. The introduction of the former defender has had a serious effect on Arsenal's results. I cannot remember the last time this happened but Arsenal have not conceded in 3 games. At the Brittania and at Anfield, two of some of the toughest venues to go to in the Premier League. Everything the Potters and the Reds threw at them, the men in red dealt with expertly. The only problem is that they haven't hit the net as often as they should. £9.6 million signing Olivier Giroud has started slowly in front of goal, his clever movement has not been compensated with the goals that convinced Wenger to sign him up from Montpellier. But fellow newcomers, Lukas Podolski and Santi Cazorla have started life at the Emirates very well, the duo bagging their first of the season in a 2-0 win over Liverpool at Anfield. The diminutive Spaniard has emerged as one of the best players in the league, following in the footsteps of Juan Mata and David Silva. Only time will tell whether the mercurial magician can mastermind Arsenal to their first trophy in 8 years.

CHELSEA

Key Player : Eden Hazard

Disappointment : Ramires and Juan Mata

Position : 1st

Record :

3 wins
0 draws
0 losses

8 goals scored
2 goals conceded

Major Point : Eden Hazard's Start To The Season

The Blues have made a sensational start to the season. Albeit against light opposition, Chelsea have hit the ground running in the new campaign. Eden Hazard setting the league alight in the trequrtista role. Fernando Torres firing on all cylinders. And the back four keeping it tight. The only stutter in Chelsea's blistering start is a 4-1 mauling at the hands of Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup with Falcao helping himself to a hat trick. Ramires has not replicated his heroics of last season so far with dire performances. And neither has last season's Player Of The Year, Juan Mata. But we are only 3 games in. Anything can happen. Speaking of. What if Torres gets injured? Sturridge will have to step up in a role that he cannot play. Their dream start will quickly become a nightmare. Eden Hazard has picked up 6 assists so far - 2 coming from winning penalties. Fernando Torres has 2 goals in 3 games. Where do Chelsea go from here? We shall find out...

LIVERPOOL

Key Player : Joe Allen

Disappointment : Where Do I Begin?

Position : 18th

Record :

0 wins

1 draw

2 losses

2 goals scored

7 goals conceded

Major Point :

53% average ball possession

52 shots

2 goals

New manager. New players. New style. Same old Liverpool. But the new era has shown glimpses of progress. High pressing. Fluid passing. Everything that Brendan Rodgers is hoping to turn Liverpool FC into. Barcelona Mark II. But an opening day loss at the hands of West Brom, a 3-0 mauling at the Hawthorns, rained criticism upon the Welshman. An encouraging display against champions, Manchester City, where young starlet Raheem Sterling made his full league debut and impressed for the Reds. Leading 2-1 and in cruise control, a loose back pass from early scorer, Martin Skrtel, found Carlos Tevez who rounded Pepe Reina to dramatically equalise. Then came Arsenal. A tactical masterclass from the Gunners secured a 2-0 away win. And once again, the criticism rained upon the team. The only light in this dark start is the emergence of Joe Allen. The new signing brought with Rodgers from former club, Swansea, has been their best player so far. 94.1% pass accuracy. 8 tackles. 1 foul. 10 interceptions. 31 successful long balls out of an attempted 32. Not bad for a player who was plying his trade at Wrexham on loan just 4 years ago. Maybe we are wrong. Maybe the Reds will turn a corner and become the team that Brendan Rodgers wants them to be. Barcelona didn't just play like Barcelona overnight...

MANCHESTER CITY

Key Player : Yaya Toure

Disappointment : David Silva

Position : 4th

Record :

2 wins

1 draw

0 losses

8 goals scored

5 goals conceded

Major Point : 5 goals conceded

The champions had stuttered out of the blocks this year. Compared to last term where 12 goals were shared between Swansea ( 4-0 ), Bolton ( 3-2 ), and Tottenham ( 5-1 ). The Citizens haven't asserted dominance in any of their 3 games this season. The fluidity of their play hasn't expressed yet. But their is still oh so much time left. To think that, arguably, the Premier League's best player, Yaya Toure, was, technically, the worst player in the Barcelona squad is a thought that sends shivers down our spines. 2 goals and 1 assist so far for the Ivorian, but 91.6% pass accuracy, 9 chances created, and 26/31 long ball accuracy, that's really something. On the other hand, David Silva has been lacking in quality so far in this campaign. Remember, this is the player who single handedly masterminded Manchester City's crushing victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford 6-1. The 5 goals conceded is concerning, especially with 3 of them coming at home to Southampton and QPR. What will happen in 2 weeks when Arsenal visit the Etihad? We'll soon find out...

MANCHESTER UNITED

Key Player : Robin Van Persie

Disappointment : Nemanja Vidic

Position : 5th

Record : 

2 wins
0 draws
1 loss

6 goals scored
5 goals conceded

Major Point : Robin Van Persie 4 goals
                        Rafael and Kagawa 1 goal

The Dutchman just can't stop scoring. In whatever shirt he wears. The transfer saga of the window ended with Robin Van Persie jumping ship to Manchester United from Arsenal. The usual armchair assumptions were made. " He will flop like Torres did ". Torres wasn't the best ST in the world when he moved to West London, that's the difference. When RVP was still wearing Arsenal colours, the squad was branded as a one man team, due to his excessive scoring. What they didn't realise was that there is no such thing as a one man team, Arsenal create the chances, Van Persie puts them away, simple. And when you have the BEST STRIKER IN THE WORLD playing up top for your club, he's gonna hit the back of the net a lot more regularly than other frontmen. Well, well, well. It seems as if the one man team accusations have also moved north to Manchester. Of the 6 goals scored by Man United, 4 of them came from Van the man. Could he be the player the Red Devils need to bring the title back to Old Trafford? In the form he is in, I would say so. But to win titles, you need a solid defence. And when your best defender is constantly making mistakes, then you have to say that the back line is faltering. Coming back from a serious injury he sustained against Basel last year, Nemanja Vidic has looked shaky at the back. Man U need him back to seriously challenge for honours. And fast.

TOTTENHAM

Key Player : Moussa Dembele

Disappointment : Gareth Bale

Position : 14th

Record :

0 wins
2 draws
1 loss

3 goals scored
4 goals conceded

Major Point : Luka Modric's Departure

It's all gone quiet at the Lane. 9 months ago, Spurs were a shoe in for top 3, outsiders for title winners, and were playing the most entertaining football in the land thanks to Mansour City reject, Emmanuel Adebayor, getting on the end of the Bale/Lennon combination. Fast forward to the 1st of September and a lot has changed. A lot. However, Tottenham's biggest mistake wasn't the sacking of Harry Redknapp, nor the sale of Rafael Van Der Vaart, it was the sale of Luka Modric. The Croatian playmaker was Tottenham's best player, and his creativity will sorely be missed. I don't think that any of Spurs' acquisitions can step up to the bar the midfielder set, but the Moussa Dembele lad has shown serious potential. His powerful strike to open the scoring against Norwich was just a sample of what the Belgian offers to the team. He should fill in Van Der Vaart's boots with time. Andre Villas Boas has bought well, but sold badly. His reputation in England will take a serious hit should he fail to succeed at Tottenham, the Portuguese needs time, but will Daniel Levy give him enough?

Barcelona Tactics Revealed

Ever wondered what makes the Catalan giants the team they are? Have you ever wanted to see beyond the usual ' pass, pass, pass ' assumption? And find out why Yaya Toure, the Premier League's Xavi, was sold to accommodate a 21 year old Sergio Busquets? Well, wonder no more. I am here to explain how the magnificent Barcelona system works. Every small detail will be covered in this article. From their famous passing game to a libero. Here we go :

Formation

Since Guardiola's arrival in 2008, the Barca structure has been under a lot of change. Team selection, positions, and formations. Here's what the Barcelona team looked like before Pep stepped in :

The attack was spear headed by the famed Holy Trinity : Samuel Eto'o, Thierry Henry, and Lionel Messi. Three of the most deadly forwards on the planet, on the same wavelength, cue defensive destruction.

The midfield was made up of two maestro's in Andres Iniesta and Xavi who will dictate the tempo of the game and will construct attacks. While Yaya Toure will cover the defensive duties as the holding midfielder.

The defence was made up of one of the most under rated players ever to play the game, Gianluca Zambrotta, new signing, Gabriel Milito, patriot, Carles Puyol, and steady eddie, Eric Abidal.

Barcelona finished in 3rd place that season, behind winners, Real Madrid and Villareal in second. 18 points off the title and 10 off second place. Something needed to change.

So Frank Rijkaard was replaced by Barcelona B coach, Josep Guardiola, a club legend who amassed 263 appearances for the club in his 11 years of services in the pivote role in front of the defence.

And this was what he did :

Lionel Messi was relieved of his duties as a right winger, who would cut in to shoot or cross, and was give the false 9 role or the free role. He would not be glued to the last defender and wait for a player to sent him through a la Inzaghi, but he would come in deep to collect the ball and play in other players. This caused havoc for defenders. They couldn't mark him because if they did, they would leave a huge gap in defence for Eto'o or Henry to exploit. They were powerless to stop him.

Gerard Pique was bought back from Manchester United as Guardiola wanted to make the team into a big family. Gerard had the philosophy of Barcelona already drilled into him at his time in La Masia, so it would be a breeze to enter the first team.

Sergio Busquets was promoted from the B team to the first team, replacing Yaya Toure in midfield and given the pivote role.

And we all know what happened next.

Keep Possession

" The one who has the ball is the master of the game "

- Xavi Hernandez

Sensei Xavi is right. There are two purposes to keeping possession for long periods of time : Attacking and Defending.

Attacking

• When you have the ball, you can dictate the tempo of the game.
• You can tire the opposition by making them run all over the park for long periods of time. This leads to lapses in concentration due to physical and mental exhaustion, which leads to goals.

Defending

• If you have the ball, the opponent cannot attack.

Since Pep Guardiola's arrival in 2008, Barcelona has never had less than 50% of possession in a game

High Pressure

Barcelona apply high and intense pressure to get the ball back from the opposition.

• This destroys the opposition physically and mentally. They break their backs to get the ball off Barca, and when they do, they find themselves surrounded by two players hounding them in possession.
• If the ball is won in the opposition's half, then you are around 20m to goal. Instant danger. Winning the ball in your own half. No danger.
• But only pressure them into mistakes. Do not give away silly fouls.

Guardiola installed a rule into his players : the 6 second rule

When they lose possession, they have 6 seconds to get it back. If they don't get it back, they regain their positions.

High Defensive Line

Barcelona aim to play their football inside the opposition's half in every game. Playing a high defensive line :

• Pushes everyone further forward, literally the whole team is in the opponent's half, which compresses the space in which the opponent can play in.
• Offside trap, when Barcelona put intense pressure on defenders, since they are technically deficient, their only option is to knock it out to the frontman. With that high defensive line, 8 out of 10 times the striker will be caught offside.

Look back at the 6 second rule picture and look at how high the defensive line is. At 3 seconds, there is only 1 player in their own half. At 4 seconds, there is 2.

Triangle Passing

Here is an example of Barcelona's triangular passing against Arsenal :

Look at Xavi coming deeper to create another triangle and offer himself as an outlet

There are now more triangles and the players can combine again to get themselves out of the situation

Creating Space

Players have to drift to draw their marker out. This opens up another passing option and another lane.

Example :

Once Xavi has picked up the ball, he instantly moves in the free space in the middle of the park. Pedro makes a quick look to his left to examine the situation around him and sees Dani Alves unmarked on the right side.

Pedro moves in deeper to draw left back Gael Clichy out of position and open up space for Alves to run into.

To this day, I have no idea how Zlatan Ibrahimovic missed that chance. just look at Arsenal's defence's shape,

Libero

Busquets plays a very important role on the pitch. You may not notice, but Busquets is the instigator

Take a look here :

Busquets has dropped from CDM to SW. Here's why :

• Notice how Gerard Pique is already pulling off wide. He is covering for Dani Alves who has read the situation as is already pushing upfield. The reason why Dani Alves is allowed to push up so far upfield is because he has Pique covering him. And Pique has Busquets covering him.

False 9

Messi is not a striker. Messi is not a winger. Messi is not a midfielder. Messi has no set position. That's what makes him so hard to mark he will roam the field, daring defenders to come out of position and mark him. And before you know it the ball is in the back of the net.

Example

Zlatan Ibrahimovic Goal Vs Arsenal

Messi takes a quick look over his shoulder and sees Zlatan making a run in behind him.

 Messi takes two steps forward. TWO STEPS FORWARD. And draws Vermaelen out of his position and creates a gap behind him. Xavi sends a lofted ball over the defence to release Zlatan.

Zlatan now has a lot of time and space to make a decision of where to shoot.

TWO STEPS CREATED ALL OF THIS








Hopefully this piece gave you a greater understanding into the world of Barcelona. Feel free to leave a comment below on what my next post should be. I write for you.