Looking To Boost Possession Numbers And Solidarity As Barcelona

[Lesterfan_Cambiasso]

Hello Everyone

So in the Pep tactical recreations thread, i talked about my Real Madrid save and I feel through a combination of our quality and the bigger teams being inexplicably weak its been a little too comfortable for me.

I outlined my Pep (ish) tactic, and this tactic regularly sees the team completing 1000+ passes per game and retaining good solidarity.

Ive tried to implement these principles with Barcelona, but its not been as successful.

Granted, the players are not as good, the squad is not as deep and theres a big rebuild ahead, but we seem noticably more shaky at the back and we top out at 800 or so passes per game, even though we can generate 65% + possession (and indication that the barca players are attempting more dribbles than the Real players perhaps?)

Im going with this tactic currently (sorry at work so cant get onto the game)

 

Team Instructions: Attacking mentality, Play out of defence, Wide Width, Much Shorter Passing, Lower Tempo

Transition Instructions: Counter Press, Hold Shape, Distribute To Centre Backs, Distribute To Full Backs, Take Short Kicks

Defensive Instructions? Much Higher LOE, Much Higher Defensive Line, Offside Trap, Much Higher Pressing, Get Stuck In.

 

Its similar to my Real tactic, but not as effective.

 

Any suggestions on how to improve this to gain 1000+ passes per game?

 

Thank You!

[nidhar.ram]

1 hour ago, Lesterfan_Cambiasso said:

but we seem noticably more shaky at the back

With this set-up, I am not surprised one bit that your defense is shaky. You are left with two CB's to cover the entire pitch during transition. They are going to be pulled left, right and center.

I am curious to know why your DM is a RPM and also why Busquets? His physical attributes are not up there for RPM + his OTB and not to mention his traits. He is probably going to go missing during the buildup.

There are other roles I would look to make it more balanced and penetrative. 

[Lesterfan_Cambiasso]

1 minute ago, nidhar.ram said:

With this set-up, I am not surprised one bit that your defense is shaky. You are left with two CB's to cover the entire pitch during transition. They are going to be pulled left, right and center.

I am curious to know why your DM is a RPM and also why Busquets? His physical attributes are not up there for RPM + his OTB and not to mention his traits. He is probably going to go missing during the buildup.

There are other roles I would look to make it more balanced and penetrative. 

I can explain these points for sure.

1) Why are the two centrebacks left the way they are? This is for two reasons, 1) so that Alba can come and sit in a central midfield role (the Cancelo type role) whilst bolstering the midfield, as all the Barca midfield options are diminutive weak players with low tackling ability. So Alba is quite useful in the counter press in that regard. Also, by putting the wing backs higher up the field, they are more of an option to create passing triangles

 

2) Why is Busquets an RPM? Mostly due to PPMs. He has PPMs which are things like stays back at all times, plays simple passes etc. I want him to come deep to make a 3 at the back for the buildup from the keeper and to evade the press, but id like to see him support the midfield too, if for example Pedri moves forward, the central midfield ends up becoming a diamond of sorts...... Busquets at the base, Alba as a left point in central midfield, De Jong as a right point in central midfield and Braithwaite as a PF (this role for me sees him drop the deepest).

 

I think Busquets mentals are really good to be honest, got good passing and vision too, so i dont think a playmaking role of sorts is too out of the equation (although its not his favoured role).

 

 

[nidhar.ram]

1. The CB's are fine. But my point is that they are lacking defensive support during transition. RPM, IWB, CM(A), WB(A) will all be caught upfield if possession is turned over; leaving your CB's with little to no support.

2. RPM is asked to Take more risks but Busquets likes to play short simple passes. Moreover, RPM is expected to have high physical attributes which Busi clearly lacks. Not to mention is Off The Ball for a role which is required to roam a lot. If you really want a playmaker; a DLP would do. the DLP offers defensive stability to your system 

 

[lfds89]

Why no "Be More Disciplined"?

[FelixCAN]

I don't know where the obsession with "1000 passes" in "Pep tactics" originates from. This season the most I can see is 820 against Everton, then 766 Watford, 763 United, 742 Brugge, 717 Arsenal and so on; https://fbref.com/en/squads/b8fd03ef/2021-2022/matchlogs/all_comps/passing/Manchester-City-Match-Logs-All-Competitions. Last season you have 881 Bruce Newcastle and 820 Allardyce West Brom. You don't easily find passing stats for the time where Pep was at Barca, but here it says that there is only three games in La Liga since 2005 that have over 1000 passes completed and one of them was this under Setien so not like it was a regular thing there too https://www.fcbarcelona.com/en/news/1579860/season-highs-for-possession-and-passes.

The issue if you just use shorter passing and not the extreme instructions isn't that you don't get the passing but that the opponents still pass the ball around a lot having like 500-600 passes, while these Newcastle and West Brom when they have the ball just kick it long asap hoping somebody will get at it. Not using these extreme instructions would sacrifice some passing but probably get better results in an instant. Using Busquets as RPM and Alba IWB doesn't fit their playstyle so that's something to think about as well.

Edited December 24, 2021 by FelixCAN

[Robson 07]

6 hours ago, Lesterfan_Cambiasso said:

2) Why is Busquets an RPM? Mostly due to PPMs. He has PPMs which are things like stays back at all times, plays simple passes etc. I want him to come deep to make a 3 at the back for the buildup from the keeper and to evade the press, but id like to see him support the midfield too, if for example Pedri moves forward, the central midfield ends up becoming a diamond of sorts...... Busquets at the base, Alba as a left point in central midfield, De Jong as a right point in central midfield and Braithwaite as a PF (this role for me sees him drop the deepest).

Sounds like you're after a halfback tbh.