The Amazing thing happened!!!

[Doctor DOOM]

This a question to my fellow members here, who have watched this particular game, as well as other Barcelona's games....
Is it fair to say, Barcelona plays a south American game, and its style of team play is not European ?

I think they play total football with massive coverage zones for each player, also with heavy emphasis on ball possession and miles and miles of running by all players. this running makes their passing (at any given time, the player with the ball has at least 2 if not more options to pass to ) as well as defending look very easy and casual. sometimes, too bloody casual for their own good, though.
you rarely see this in other teams.

having said that, I must say in my belief barca does have some lacks also.
they need to be a bit more aggressive, especially in the midfield. when they play, they look like delicate but highly efficient dancers who float here and prance there. even their defensive mids arent as aggressive as they shd.
so I think they need someone like gatusso or alonso or ... . a bit more aggression and toughness.

this aggression could be handy in their attacks too. a bit more direct approach, once in a while adds a new dimension to their team. they dont have that many direct approaches as seen in other teams like re'al or chelsea or ... .
but that's wht makes them what they are: a team that sticks to its guns no matter how behind or how close to the final whistle.
shd it be appreciated? some may agree. I, personally, would love to see someone like Drogba with his more direct aggression as their forward to add this dimension to the team

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but there are remedies or counters to their style too.

till 2 years back, they were extremely suspect in defense, especially against tough brits or tall attackers. but they took care of it by hiring PIQUE, who in my opinion is one of the two main reasons they won so many trophies last year.


but for this year, the opponent can play a very tough, aggressive (english style) pressing game UP IN THE FIELD, from their 1/3rd. if they manage to sustain this (it's almost impossible to keep this up for 90 minutes. needs tremendous energy and stamina), and keep barca defenders on the back-foot, and prevent them from getting the ball across the halfway line, then you can contain them ... sort of.

if your forwards and mids run A LOT and play a man-to-man press on barca defenders and def-mids, then barca will be in trouble. they either have to pump the ball up field or keep passing back to valdez.

many teams have tried to do this. and they have succeeded only for a period. since this needs sh*tload of energy, these teams usually crumble in the middle of 2nd half and barca hurts them.

btw, Look for this very tactic (pressing way up the field) by the madrid idiots this saturday.
I doubt barca can repeat last year's 6 goal demolition this year. but I'll be happy with a simple (even lucky) win.

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speaking of "amazing games", that 6 goal rape WAS another magnificent example of "games made for history".

[Nokhodi]

Doctor Doom, you talk about pressing to counter Barca's game, but Barca itself also plays a system which relies on pressing. They basically start pressing the opponent as soon as he crosses the half-line. Everyone does this, including the forwards. Messi I think ran more than most of the other Barca midfielders.

Whenever I see teams playing the pressing game, I just wish TM could do the same. But unfortunately running for long periods of time has never been a favorite of our TM players.

[zzgloo]

Payman jaan....
You are way out of my league....I niether know at much about thier past, nor have disect thier game that close.....
but my little cent, tells me, pressing would work against anybody...and all teams, are uncomfortable against pressing....and is not just Barca.....,and all teams, are incapable in sustaining the press ....
The reason,I asked if you all see any similarity with the south American style...is based on the fluency it is displayed by barcelona,from Midfiled to their forwards.......such smooth transition can not be just icing on the cake , and must be something thier coaching staff has incouraged and built around......hence,NON-Erupean in my opinion .

[Doctor DOOM]

to nokhodi:
yes, barca also play a pressing game.
I was merely saying the rare methods to counter barca's attacks. once they cross the ball over the halfway line, you are done for. so a high pressing game on their defenders have worked ....... to delay the inevitable


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to bahram:

if you havent kept up with barca's games, then I invite you to watch the goals of this game from last year, IN MADRID's stadium, at least. Barca won 6-2 away to madrid!!! the goals' links are here:
http://www.soccerclips.net/videos/re...arcelona-pique


yes, pressing is uncomfortable. but due to high demand in energy, it is not sustainable.
as for barca, I think once they have crossed the ball over the midline, even pressing wont work against them. guys like iniesta, xavi, messi can easily lose their mark with a quick turn or flick or ... . henry and alvez can easily lose their mark with a sprint or feint or a deft pass.

I hardly watch south american football, but I assume you mainly mean brazil.
teams like uruguay and argentina, who are more physical and thus, their game is not as technical as brazil.
while most of the europe is more tactical than technical, like germany, england, italy, ... . but then we have european teams play a more technical game like portugal & spain.
while the eastern block plays a very physical, mechanical (and quite boring) game, we suddenly see a czek team that has a western european style!
and we have a team like holland which is everything good about the game mixed together.

what I'm trying to say is we cant categorize styles based on the region anymore.
.... except one particular style; grass rolling, which can be pinpointed on arab teams. there may be "pretenders" who naively may try this once in a while, but nobody does it better and more professionally than the arabs. so when it comes to grass rolling, we CAN attribute it to a region quite comfortably.

[shayan20]

wow I rarely see Barca play a "dirty game" but they had to do it today against Madrid in order to win. top marks to Guardiola again.
The defense was so well organized that Madrid's players could barely get into the box, only creating 2 good chances during 90 minutes tell the story. For a team that scores average of 3 per game at home, that is pretty embarrassing.
dirty play I also meant the way Barca players wasted time in 2nd half but that was necessary to lower the pressure and make the RM fans leave the stadium early

[zzgloo]

===========
to bahram:

if you havent kept up with barca's games, then I invite you to watch the goals of this game from last year, IN MADRID's stadium, at least. Barca won 6-2 away to madrid!!! the goals' links are here:
http://www.soccerclips.net/videos/re...arcelona-pique


yes, pressing is uncomfortable. but due to high demand in energy, it is not sustainable.
as for barca, I think once they have crossed the ball over the midline, even pressing wont work against them. guys like iniesta, xavi, messi can easily lose their mark with a quick turn or flick or ... . henry and alvez can easily lose their mark with a sprint or feint or a deft pass.

I hardly watch south american football, but I assume you mainly mean brazil.
teams like uruguay and argentina, who are more physical and thus, their game is not as technical as brazil.
while most of the europe is more tactical than technical, like germany, england, italy, ... . but then we have european teams play a more technical game like portugal & spain.
while the eastern block plays a very physical, mechanical (and quite boring) game, we suddenly see a czek team that has a western european style!
and we have a team like holland which is everything good about the game mixed together.

what I'm trying to say is we cant categorize styles based on the region anymore.
.... except one particular style; grass rolling, which can be pinpointed on arab teams. there may be "pretenders" who naively may try this once in a while, but nobody does it better and more professionally than the arabs. so when it comes to grass rolling, we CAN attribute it to a region quite comfortably.

Thanks for the link....
Indeed it is Football at an amazing level...
I meant the whole Latin America...Including Mexico....In which, the game plan does take into the account,the victories in MAN TO MAN encounters !!,as Western-Eastern Europeans do not !
Take,Iran vs Thailand match ( as example in a lower class )..and what thier coach said about the game...Thier coach,believed, Higher skills of Iranian players was the key to thier Loss,and not neccessarly the game plan devised by Iranian coach.
Once a coach believes,he has players who could single handedly change the course of the game,and take the game out of its structural design...he plans the game,in such way, that those abilities are ecouraged and fed !..and create problems for opposing coahces .
and at last.....the success of barcelona....should not be creadited to thier coach...but to its management and investors.

[Paradigm]

^ That's most people's dream WC final I guess. Mine for sure.

Well, Spain and Brazil (along with Italy, USA, and Egypt) appeared in a small tournament last year. Spain choked versus USA in the semi-final, while Brazil came from 2-0 down to win the final game versus USA 3-2. The Spain which I saw in that tournament did not seem like the team that won the Euro 2008.

[Payam_S]

There are Barca, Arsenal and to some extension, ManU playing this style. Also, Spain plays this style.
Cheers

actually ManUnited is somehow the first team who played this style....keeping the ball as much as you can by passing to make the opportunity and ....

I remember they used to keep the ball by like 25+ passes till they lose it....