Pep Guardiola’s FC Barcelona (2010/11 season)
Introduction
I actually cannot recall a team that made me feel more nervous before a game than Guardiola’s 2010/11 Barcelona side. They played some of the most incredible football that no one could ever come close to. They revolutionised the modern game with a brand new style of football, in “Tiki Taka” and they were successful because of it.
This team was one of the best in history, with legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson describing the squad as the best he had ever faced. Barcelona won the treble that year, winning La Liga, Supercopa de España and the Champions League.
Having players like Lionel Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro, David Villa and Carlos Puyol help massively, but Pep Guardiola deserves tremendous credit for the way in which he set this Barcelona side up.
Starting Eleven
No surprises with what system Guardiola chose, in the conventional 4–3–3. Below was the best starting eleven that season:
Valdes
Dani Alves — Puyol — Pique — Abidal
Iniesta — Busquets — Xavi
Villa — Messi — Pedro
Attacking Style
Very simply, Barcelona played possession football. It didn’t matter which opponent they came up against in each competition, they’d play the same way. Basically, their style was mostly short passes, with occasional long balls to switch the play.
The style of play was done at a slowish tempo, where the players are in close distance to each other. Guardiola was more focussed on players holding their positions than making runs. This was to suck the opposition in and create space.
It was also due to Pep’s preference for playing positional football. This is a style of play where the football pitch is divided into zones and each player is assigned to a zone. If a player moves into another zone, a teammate has to take his place, which is what we call rotations.
Every player had roles, which made gameday a more simple task of just executing those roles. In deeper positions, it would usually be the two centre backs and Busquets. Those players initiated the play, as their passing ability was elite.
The fullbacks would usually hold the width, to stretch the pitch and act as recycling options for the centre backs, as well as Busquets. It must be mentioned that Alves would be more adventurous when Barça had possession, due to his incredible offensive ability.
The wingers would at times provide the width, but more importantly get into positions, in and around the penalty box, where they could engage in short combination play or finish a chance.
But the three most important players to Guardiola’s system were Xavi, Iniesta and Messi. They created the play as well as the space for the play to occur. Those three players had tremendous understanding, and their chemistry alone would be enough to break down any opposition’s defence.
They are also the only three players that are allowed freedom of movement, Messi more so in particular, which I will talk more about later on. Both of the advanced 8’s were allowed freedom of movement, however you would typically see them operating more in their respective halfspace (i.e. Xavi in the right half space). Both Xavi and Iniesta don’t get into the box as often as someone like Messi.
The movement of all three midfielders would create mass confusion among the opposition defenders, as they wouldn’t know who to mark, nor would they want to press any of them, due to the fear of leaving space in behind for one of them to run into.
But Barcelona’s patient build up play regardless of who was making movements into the box, would be enough to cause tension amongst an opposition’s shape, where it would be common to see them drop off and not press aggressively in deep areas.
Barcelona were also an intelligent team in possession as well, particularly when they worked it into the opposition’s half. Their ultimate objective was to create space in central areas, but the opposition would look to crowd those areas out constantly. So through the use of wide overloads, when the ball is brought back inside again, a player like Messi could receive in space.
I said Messi had a different role before. The idea of a false nine was developed by Guardiola for the match against Real Madrid in the 2008/09 season. It was all to do with changing how the striker would be, particularly with how often they would drop deep, either to get involved with the play or create space for others.
At the time, no one knew how to really defend against this concept, so Barcelona utilised it for many years to come. Messi has incredible playmaking abilities, and his movement is so unpredictable, it is a nightmare for the opposition to keep him under control.
Patient build up was so important when it came to creating these chances. Stretching the opposition, being patient until the gaps would open up was a skill. Many teams would look to do these steps as quickly as possible, but there’d be a rushed element and the space wouldn’t be created.
Barcelona’s constant ball circulation wears out the opposition, where their concentration and focus is drained, but more importantly their discipline when it comes to holding their position in their defensive shape.
Barça’s patience again was incredible. There were many moments in matches where they could’ve given in to the temptation to play a line breaking pass to a player who’s in space, but they analyse the situations so well, that they know that through the patient build up, a better opportunity will come.
Defensive Style
Under Pep, how Barcelona would behave without the ball, was just as important as to how they would behave on the ball. So every time they lose the ball, they press with a high degree of intensity in order to regain possession as soon as possible.
Beginning with a high defensive line, the forwards would press the defenders and the midfielders would press the midfielders. Barcelona would firstly counterpress for six seconds (Pep’s magic number) before reverting to their high block and the following pressing structure occurring.
When the ball somehow gets to their own box, Barcelona would defend with the four defenders and three midfielders. The forwards had less defensive responsibilities, in order to conserve their energy.
Conclusion
This Barcelona side deserves to be called one of the best of all time. Their attacking play was phenomenal and their players would perform weekly with such a high level of skill and quality, that it would amaze even the best teams in Europe.
