Lets Talk Tactics: FC Barcelona vs Manchester United CL Final

[Arzhang]

All my Man United friends are predicting a 4-3-3 with Berba starting over Tevez. They predict it will look something like this:

VDS
O'Shea Rio Vidic Evra
Park Carrick Giggs/Anderson
Ronaldo Berbatov Rooney

I think if Man. U play a 4-3-3 as they have predicted it will cause Barca a lot of problems, more than the 4-4-2 you guys also play (am I right about the 4-4-2???). I'm not going to speculate too much about Man U. since I haven't followed all their games this season and am not familiar enought to have valuable input. However, I can talk Barca all day long. We are going to have a makeshift backline which I believe could cope with a 2 man front better than a 3 man front line. Barca will look something like this:

Valdes
Puyol/Keita Pique Yaya Toure Puyol/Keita/Sylvinho
Busquets
Xavi Iniesta
Messi Eto'o Henry

Guardiola is really going to have to figure this out soon so that he can start training the backline and preparing them for the challenge ahead. The first issue that pops into my mind is who would you rather have Puyol mark... Ronaldo or Rooney?? Obviously Ronaldo is still regarded by many as the best in the world, but Rooney has shown himself to be equally as effective for Man U, especially in recent weeks with his work ethic.

Another obvious concern is how much faith can you really put in Sylvinho and Keita. Sylvinho is 34 now I believe, and hasn't seen much playing time all season. He is still a threat moving forward with his crossing and movement off the ball, but he can't be expected keep up with Ronaldo or Rooney. Keita is usually a midfielder but has very defensive attributes. He is strong, has great stamina, works his socks off, he's very aggressive, never backs out of a 50-50 ball, and plays simple. I think he could be great defensively, but its not something I want to try out/test in a CL final.

I have faith in the Yaya Toure/Pique backline. However, if there was any alternative to the backline which would allow Yaya to play as a defensive midfielder, I would prefer it. Even though that scenario would leave our backline even sketchier, most probably, I think having Yaya in that position is sooooooo valuable. Especially when you have a completely attack-minded midfield with Busquets, Xavi, and Iniesta.

Regardless to all this tactical speculation, Barca is going to have to play knowing that they have to score a lot, because they are most likely going to get scored on. Its going to be very touch considering Messi has been quiet lately, Eto'o has been missing the most obvious chances, and Henry will just have recovered from an injury, Iniesta as well. Nonetheless, Barca have overcome a lot of droughts and hardtimes this season, and the best, if they are to call themselves that, can overcome anything.

[milad]

what tactics? barcas tactic: pass it around for 15 minutes then give it to messiah or iniesta to open up the defense.

[Arzhang]

what tactics? barcas tactic: pass it around for 15 minutes then give it to messiah or iniesta to open up the defense.

I should have said formations/tactics. And I'm sure Barca's tactics are going to be that black and white.

[Suprah]

We dont play 4-4-2 that much now.

More like 4-3-3 since last season more or less.

[The-Iron-Ghost]

they will attack the shit out of Man Utd, Since they dont have the aggarate to worry about they will just have to push sure they score when they attack cause Man Utd will make them pay with the counter. I see Man U on the back foot playing counter attack

[shayan20]

for one thing I know it will be a hell of a match if fergusen got the balls to play 3 upfront against barca's shaky defense which everyone expects him to do because barca is missing 3 key defenders!!
but will he do it? will he risk? or he is scared if he leaves too much space behind Messi-henry will cause too much trouble?

I hope he goes with 4-3-3 as well so we can witness a great final with goals.

[Keyan]

I think the game all depends on who scores first. If Man UTD scores first, they will play defensive and wait for counter attacks.. other than that, be prepared for a game with many goals. Despite barca having defensive problems, I think Man U will have to score at least 3 goals to beat barca. Just my .02

[yashar_fasihnia]

kevin is right, man utd's defense is clearly superior to barca's.
so if man utd scores a goal, its gonna be tough for barca and if they score a second, almost impossible to come back.

however, on the other hand, if barca score, man utd will try to equalize and leave huge spaces for barca to exploit.

that being said, i think barca's midfield is superior to man utd's and barca will have more possession, and i wont be surprised if they reach the 500 passes they have been making in CL this year against almost all oppponents.

[chuck bass]

toure is too offensive minded to play cb imo..did anyone see him in the cup final? lol

i would prefer cacares

[shayan20]

toure is too offensive minded to play cb imo..did anyone see him in the cup final? lol

i would prefer cacares

yea I saw him, he was solid actually. but you cant compare athetico strikers with ronaldo rooney tevez etc.
toure is slow, but caceres in a big game like this is a huge risk, i dont think pepe will start him anyway, he doesnt seem to trust the poor guy

all the time im thinking how pepe wil line up.
we just have to wait.

[persian boy]

Barcelona: Give the Ball to Messi

Man United: Give the ball to Ronaldo

[IranSoccer#8]

I can see Ronaldo/Rooney/Tevez or Berbatov having a field day with barce's d. I see yaya toure playing CB again and keite holding it down in the midfield. slyvinho out on the left, but i dont see him having much success against Ronadlo or Rooney, Puyol and Yaya in the middle, and Pique outwide on the right. I think in the middle, there will be some great match-ups. giggs, scholes, and carrick against xavi, keita and iniesta. and evra vs messi will good to watch. as will henry and neville. in the middle, i dont see eto'o being able to play his game against vidic and rio. I see barca's weakness on attacks down the flank and the counter. I see barca dominating possesion in the middle of the field. And barca better not give ronaldo any room to run and they better not commit any fouls within 30-35 yards because we all know what ronaldo can do. I'm predicting Barca 1-0 Man U 1 after 90, and I'm taking barca on penalties.

[Arzhang]

I can see Ronaldo/Rooney/Tevez or Berbatov having a field day with barce's d. I see yaya toure playing CB again and keite holding it down in the midfield. slyvinho out on the left, but i dont see him having much success against Ronadlo or Rooney, Puyol and Yaya in the middle, and Pique outwide on the right. I think in the middle, there will be some great match-ups. giggs, scholes, and carrick against xavi, keita and iniesta. and evra vs messi will good to watch. as will henry and neville. in the middle, i dont see eto'o being able to play his game against vidic and rio. I see barca's weakness on attacks down the flank and the counter. I see barca dominating possesion in the middle of the field. And barca better not give ronaldo any room to run and they better not commit any fouls within 30-35 yards because we all know what ronaldo can do. I'm predicting Barca 1-0 Man U 1 after 90, and I'm taking barca on penalties.

There is no way that Pique will play out wide... he is a centerback and that's it. Puyol on the otherhand has played every defensive position this season. He will be put out on one of the flanks for sure. The question is who should he mark.... Ronaldo or Rooney??? Guardiola is more than likely going to experiment a bit this weekend against Osasuna with some backline formations.

I definitely think Man. U will be able to exploit our backline. We just have to go into the game thinking we have to score score score. They are more than likely to score one or two... that just means we'll have to score 3 or 4. Barca have always played with this mentality and need to really keep loyal to it against Manchester. Henry and Iniesta are going to be so important this game. Fergie has already expressed his concern regarding Iniesta.

[shayan_esteghlali]

There is no way that Pique will play out wide... he is a centerback and that's it. Puyol on the otherhand has played every defensive position this season. He will be put out on one of the flanks for sure. The question is who should he mark.... Ronaldo or Rooney??? Guardiola is more than likely going to experiment a bit this weekend against Osasuna with some backline formations.
I definitely think Man. U will be able to exploit our backline. We just have to go into the game thinking we have to score score score. They are more than likely to score one or two... that just means we'll have to score 3 or 4. Barca have always played with this mentality and need to really keep loyal to it against Manchester. Henry and Iniesta are going to be so important this game. Fergie has already expressed his concern regarding Iniesta.

all i know is that if shojaie cant exploit barcas back line, NO ONE CAN

[shayan20]

I can see Ronaldo/Rooney/Tevez or Berbatov having a field day with barce's d. I see yaya toure playing CB again and keite holding it down in the midfield. slyvinho out on the left, but i dont see him having much success against Ronadlo or Rooney, Puyol and Yaya in the middle, and Pique outwide on the right. I think in the middle, there will be some great match-ups. giggs, scholes, and carrick against xavi, keita and iniesta. and evra vs messi will good to watch. as will henry and neville. in the middle, i dont see eto'o being able to play his game against vidic and rio. I see barca's weakness on attacks down the flank and the counter. I see barca dominating possesion in the middle of the field. And barca better not give ronaldo any room to run and they better not commit any fouls within 30-35 yards because we all know what ronaldo can do. I'm predicting Barca 1-0 Man U 1 after 90, and I'm taking barca on penalties.

Man Utd will win on penalties.
Barca have to try and finish the job in 90 minutes or at least ET because in penalties we will lose.
Valdez never saves a penalty.
our best penalty takers in Etoo and Messi are not very reliable eighter.