Barça is still the most dominant team in terms of territory and possession. The reliability of the ball is achieved through Xavi’s built pressing pattern.
At the same time, for the sake of the effectiveness of this element, sacrifices are made – even when possessing the ball in the opponent’s half, the team often thinks about control, and not about creation (readiness to respond to a possible loss). Here is the list of all available bookmakers and reviews for each of them.
The first aspect is pressing/counter-pressing
Barca’s pressing intensity (PPDA) this season is 7.49. More radical, but with different efficiency, only Real Sociedad presses. Under Xavi, this figure reached the best level since Luis Enrique.
Pressing is supported by an ultra-high line of defense. The height of Barca’s defense, calculated according to the coordinates of defensive actions, is 50.59 meters. The highest for the time for which data is available (since 2019). And, of course, the highest in La Liga.
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In counter-pressing, Barça always goes into pressure. The chip here is in the location of the players during the loss. The team constantly keeps a structure that allows you to respond well. As a rule, this is a variation of the formation 3-2-4-1 (3-2-5).
The second aspect is the cheating qualities of the defenders
Frequent situations after the failures of the first wave of pressing are the high-speed duels won by the defenders of Barça. The basis of the defense are Ronald Araujo, Jules Kunde and Alex Balde (the leaders in the playing time among the defenders). Each of them is amazingly good in such duels.
Often they overtake rivals in potentially lethal situations after a failure in pressing.
Two details are of particular interest. The first is the features of La Liga. Among the Spanish middle peasants there are almost no full-fledged counterattacking machines. Many teams build the game with a big forward. This gives Barça’s super-defenders an advantage in such episodes.
The second is Xavi’s mindset when picking defenders. Defensive qualities and the ability to play in a high lane are primary for him. Araujo has publicly admitted that he is working on the quality of his passing game, but does not yet consider this his forte. It is he who is the symbol of the defense of Barca, and not, for example, Eric Garcia, who, according to Xavi, passes well enough to play in midfield (there was such an experiment).
The third aspect is Ter Stegen’s form
The German goalkeeper saved the team from 8.3 goals against the average keeper.
A big contrast to the last three seasons, when Ter Stegen went into the red on the parrying metric. He is probably helped by the low average severity of impact – 0.21 (the lowest result for the period for which data is available – since 2017).
But it is impossible to get into such a serious plus without constant bright rescues and the highest level of stability. These are the companions of Ter Stegen this season.
Ideally, Xavi needs to decide on the main option and work on compatibility within the model, which will partially cover the shortcomings described.
A confident victory in La Liga is an important intermediate step that will give Xavi time. Building the necessary mechanisms is a coaching challenge, not a guarantee. If it works out, Barça will become great again.
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