Barca's Silent Mutiny Pt. II: How We Should Play & Who Should Play

BARCA'S SILENT MUTINY PT. II

HOW WE SHOULD PLAY


BEYOND VALVERDE  

        ...I get it, this all sounds useless writing a piece saying "we should tactically do this or do that" under manager Ernesto Valverde when he's a clueless, soulless, weak-ass manager who won't do the right thing anyway...he's obviously figured out he has more control over his job when he performs horribly...yet the point in doing this in the first place isn't about Valverde and never will be.
         Yes, Valverde's selections in the starting XI and his disastrous substitutions ruin nearly any chance for the team to come together and fight, but fight we must. 
          Valverde is the Michael Scott of Barcelona, minus the whimsical charm and heart: all your left with is ineptitude and drama. And since he refuses to take control over his squad, this is about the players taking it back.
         Last season, I called for a "Silent Mutiny" amongst the squad, wherein our players go against everything Valverde wants on the sidelines and our players re-instill the Barca football ethos back into our team.
           And what better place to start than revamping how we pass the ball.

A NEW KIND OF POSSESSION 


          The manner in which Barcelona has passed the ball since Valverde's appointment reminds me of Belgium at the 2014 World Cup, Germany in 2018, Tottenham in the last Champions League final or Brazil at this last Copa America: a possession borne from pure fear.
          Those teams were so afraid of exposing their defense they opted to pass out the clock, just as we did vs Dortmund and Prague. If your defenders are controlling the ball almost three or four times more than your midfielders or attackers, something is wrong.

           Before Prague or Dortmund, I had never seen Barcelona so determined to keep a match scoreless...almost as if we were the smaller club feeling victorious battling for a 0-0 draw after fighting off wave of attack after attack.                 This wasn't just in the two 0-0 draws, we were extremely fortunate to win at home and away over Inter Milan and Slavia Prague, experiencing much of the same barrage as described above (we were lucky enough to have the magic of Lionel Messi and the opportunistic savagery of Luis Suarez to take us through).
           The truth is: we were the smaller club lucky to get outta Signal Iduna and our own Camp Nou with a point each; had they switched kits, Prague would've looked at ease in the blaugrana: we were the lesser team no question. The way Inter Milan passed through our front press like we used to disgusted anyone actually watching the match...but there's a reason that continues to happen, and I'll come on to that later.
           I get what the amateur manager is attempting to do: Ernie wants to use the ball as a defender. The problem is we move the ball far too slowly to break the lines and rarely is anyone moving beyond the fullbacks and first line of opposition press, pinning us deep in our own half. Suddenly, dominating the ball becomes less like Guardiola-possession and more like William Friedkin possession, inviting attack after attack.
          Before the international break, the ball movement was as ruthlessly tedious as The English Patient, our passing was more horizontal than a night with Kate Moss and there seems to be nobody making runs of any kind.
          Valverde doesn't understand 4-3-3 which is odd considering how much he uses and bungles the formation: the midfield needs to be more clustered around Busquets at the hub of operations, the three attackers need to keep the width between them and stretch the opposition defense. This basic fundamental of the 4-3-3 formation would provide our midfielders all the space they need to run in between the channels of each attacker.
           Make no mistake, Sergi Busquets is still the conveyer belt that supplies Messi in space best, he's still the ultimate pivote in Barcelona history and the fulcrum of which our unstoppable passing game must be based. Many have criticized Busquets the last two seasons, pointing to his lack of pace, athleticism and his age; but he was always like this! 
          So what's changed? 
          Time after time, Valverde commands his midfielders to spread out wide, forcing Busquets to cover an outrageous amount of ground in the middle when a single pass goes astray. Any defensive midfielder in the game would be exposed by this ridiculous wide three man midfield.
          What's strange is how Valverde seems to rely on this wide three man midfield to grant us width, opting for a 4-4-2 bastardization of the 4-3-3: narrow, tactically insecure and without any wingers. Jordi Alba's brilliance masked this deficiency last year until it was ruthlessly exposed by Liverpool...I mean, seriously Ernie? Making your left back a left forward, a left winger and a left back who needed to be so deep he was also a left center back when he made two or three last second interventions? And somehow we expected Alba to last all season running laps up and down the pitch all night and day as the only width for Lionel Messi?
          It's about simple organized pressing and positioning, but we can't do this without communication.
         The reason Inter Milan were able to pass through us out of the back with such ease wasn't completely on the lack of effort from our players. Yes, there were moments of lackadaisical pressing from a still recovering Lionel Messi (understandably) and a barely fit Luis Suarez, but this was down to a simple tactical error.   
          In Valverde's warped "4-3-3" where we actually see a 4-4-2 with Messi and Suarez stranded in the middle and Antoine Griezmann wasted on the left to press his lungs out for a lost cause (which often leaves him wanting in the one moment he receives each match to "prove his worth"), the South American pair knew however hard they pressed Inter Milan or Prague there would always be an outlet ball to the left fullback who'd quickly feed the (usually) open defensive midfielder (Prague's Soucek completed 62 passes in their 2-1 loss to Barca, more than Arthur, Busquets or Frenkie De Jong).
          Slavia Prague and Inter Milan were toying with our two best players because Valverde was too scared to play Ousmane Dembele or Ansu Fati? Carles Perez? Anyone to press high, work hard, run the channels and give the front line balance.
          But this goes beyond Valverde...we shouldn't expect him to do the right thing, however I expect more from our players: Pique and Lenglet aren't looking for the cutting edge, penetrative passes into midfield anymore (which is a vital component we're missing from Samuel Umtiti); Dembele must push himself to improve on his form of yesteryear and gain some trust and confidence from the team in his character; Lionel Messi needs to either begin communicating with words and instructions to his teammates rather than silent, negative body language or he should give up the captaincy...this isn't a literal silent mutiny...all revolutions need communication; Griezmann needs to find some common ground with the Messi-Suarez bromance and withstand any comical intimidation his way, and on the pitch, for his own sanity he must come inside from the left and operate centrally, allowing Alba or Firpo to bomb forward (who knows, maybe Valverde won't even notice). 
          People forget, Griezmann has contributed 9 goals out of position, he's proven himself and it's up to Messi and Suarez to stop acting like selfish children and let Antoine in on the fun. 

          The South American duo also need to trust Ousmane Dembele in the final third more, too. Players will fail, make mistakes, but when the best talents are given opportunities they take many of them and Ousmane Dembele is a player who comes alive as the game develops: When trusted with 65+ minutes in a Barcelona uniform, Dembouz has 17 goals and 15 assists in 35 appearances. 
          He'll never get those misses against Liverpool out of his head and neither will we, but he can move on from this and supply us with an entire career's worth of glittering memories.

JUST EGO TRIPPIN'


           The talk of inner-squad dysfunction and sabotage is disheartening, but when evidenced with what we see on the pitch, I know the rumors are true. I've been watching this team before Ronaldinho was purchased, before Messi or Iniesta were in the first team and I must tell you, there is an entirely different vibe around the club. 
           It's a long, creeping pestilence that began like an infection with Sandro Rosell that spread when his #2, Josep Maria Bartomeu took the reigns when Rosell resigned in disgrace and prison time. And whether it's been the Neymar transfer / transfer ban saga, the illegal / shady purchase of Brazilian "right back" Douglas, the disgusting hiring of Valverde, the disgraceful booting of Enrique, the savage destruction of Victor Valdez as the Juvenil B manager, or the current manipulative hold Bartomeu has on the core Barca legends, there's only been scandal after dramatic debacle from this board, this president and this manager...but never before had it affected our players in such a negative way until now. They've had their pants pulled down before the world and cried "I was in the pool!" when we saw what remained of this flaccid treason.
          This team is so much better than resorting to this type of hatred of competition from within...we haven't even begun to show our strongest levels and we won't until we cross that barrier by communicating as a unit. 
          The squad must learn how to pass and press with accuracy, desire and energy, dictating the pacey tempo and taking it to our opponents. We need to relearn how to dominate matches with a control that goes all the way back to our master keeper, Mr. Ter Stegen. 
          With a captain like Lionel Messi, an outspoken leader in Gerard Pique (when he's had enough rest) complimented by a bevy of versatile, world class talent from Frenkie to Riqui to Ousmane or Antoine, we can do this...more importantly: these players know how to do this and they have to do this...their reputations rely on it. 

          But in the last few years, these core veterans have chosen to allow Valverde's conservatism and compulsive, nonsensical betrayals to decide their season.
          Now these players must make a choice: bet on yourselves, your football, your past, your future or...we continue to personify Valverde and Bartomeu on the pitch with the same lethargy, gluttony and ego they enjoy upstairs in the boardroom and on the touchline.
          We've seen Chelsea win a Champions League with Roberto Di Matteo for Christ's sake! 
         We've witnessed impotent, distracting managers win the greatest trophies with far less in the personnel or brains department....so...
with an assortment of the best players this generation has to offer & the single best player of all time, then why can't we?
          Whoever Valverde plays, in whichever reckless formation or convoluted position, they must all give 100%.
          Every man on that team sheet must give their all, beginning with Lionel Messi and ending in Carles Alena, all players must fight for 90-120 minutes until May, lest they be found out by every Barca fan and dubbed "The Forgettables".
        As a group of fans, we haven't demanded nearly enough: we haven't asked for these players to care as much as we do. Sometimes we're pressing harder at home than they are on the pitch...
        We made the mistake of ordaining these players as icons, legends and even gods before they'd reached 25...
         ...now at 30+, most of these Barca veterans have looked, seemed and worst of all felt disinterested with their own success. 
        And thanks to the passive-aggressive body language displayed by Lionel Messi (appearing right out of a Mesut Ozil tantrum scrapbook) our captain sets a mopey, morose example that allows the depression (brought on by Valverde's neverending stranglehold) to continue. Hopefully after enjoying some smiles during his time with Argentina, Messi will be in a more enthusiastic mindset.
        We get it, Leo, you're watching your favorite club get ripped apart by zombified greed-hounds and their fascist court jesters, we feel the same way...we know the Valverde Blues all too well.
       And we know how depression feels: It's a succubus that zaps and quarantines the energy from your body like a plague. Worse yet, a disturbing psychological ramification from depression is how it belittles our perceived purpose in the hard work it takes to achieve our goals...it takes the long, beautiful journey of growth and improvement and begs for short cuts, kicks and screams for a "buy it now" option and pulls its hair out for instant gratification.
          We're not going to get there that fast as a team, Valverde has caused far too much damage to our squad as a whole for these players to instantly kick into gear in the off chance Valverde picks the right XI. Individually, our guys can blow any team on the planet off the pitch, especially with Leo we can always aspire to the highest.
           But as a team capable of winning the Champions League?
           Barca aren't even close, at least not until we show desire, aggression, pace in the passing game and control over the transitional moments in matches.


WHO SHOULD PLAY

   GK Ter Stegen
   RB Semedo
   CB Pique
   CB Umtiti (if fit) or Todibo
   LB Alba
   CDM Busquets
   RCM Frenkie
   LCM Arthur
   RF / CF Messi
   CF Griezmann
   LF / LW / CAM Dembele

          Until this XI plays regularly, win, lose or draw, we won't be entertained as Barcelona fans for the rest of the season, we won't be inspired by our team, we won't be hopeful for the future and we won't see Lionel Messi hoisting the titles he deserves to win at season's end.
          Until this XI can be trusted for a full 90 minutes, until Valverde can understand how to rotate a squad properly, until they learn how to attack and press with aggression, heart and desire, until they learn how to pass with pace and purpose, until our players learn how to give a damn about the club we all love, then the same old cliche will happen again and again, Roma turns into Anfield and Anfield will turn into another collapse, this time at an even higher cost.
           We are mortgaging our future to live and lie with traitors, thieves, criminals and power-hungry farces in the highest places of FC Barcelona.

by 
LONN JACKSON PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
Nov 21-22, 2019