Barcelona’s new age under Setien has seen some significant improvements concerning playing according to the Blaugrana doctrine of complete football that was made famous by Johan Cruyff.
There are significant positive differences between the present squad and the squad that dropped against Atletico Madrid under former supervisor, Ernesto Valverde.
First, we couldn’t see Frenkie de Jong joins the midfield trio following his red card against Espanyol. This brought some interesting modifications to the midfield, that could help us understand what the future holds for the center of the park in Camp Nou.
Arturo Vidal got his infrequent start under the new coach and played a vital role in the success, establishing Lionel Messi for the sole aim of the game. Nonetheless, it remains to be seen if the Chilean would keep on fighting for moments after De Jong’s return combined with Arthuro Melo’s complete recovery.
Ivan Rakitic and Sergio Busquets were among the starters with the former being replaced in the 71st minute by the much-awaited kid, Rique Puig.
The La Masia graduate is prepared for the senior squad with both director and Busquets praising the 20-year-old after starting the motion that led to the Messi goal. The trainer said he has a fantastic reading of the game while his fellow teammate, Busquets, stated he’s immense quality and can offer a great deal to the club. The youngster recently claimed the coach asked him to become be”daring, to not shed possession and to press large.”
He shined against Granada, finishing 142 of 157 passed, which was more than the whole moves made by the resistance (130).
If the 31-year-old was able to pass over Granada’s entire team, then you guessed it right, Barca were dominant and confident on the ball with 82.6percent possessions. This proves that the club is gradually moving into their roots which made them such a heavy ball commanding team.
To be able to keep the ownership, the squad should press the opposition heavily so as to recover the lost ball. The effectiveness of this can be seen when Riqui Puig regained possession after stealing the ball off Antonio Puertas that resulted in the rapid passing to secure the sole aim of the game. Pressing is not simply a defensive strategy but also helps break the opposition’s momentum to help rehydrate.
The Barca defense saw the likes of Gerard Pique and Samuel Umtiti, together with the 2 full-backs, expect the opposition’s attack fluidly. A rare sighting because the defense is proven to conceded regular goals under Valverde, but beneath Setien, the defense just was able to provide Granada one shot on target.
Another shift is the elastic formation with regular but comfy changes involving the 4-3-3 and 3-5-2 throughout the game that was never achieved under the former manager. Setien’s eleven regardless of the absence of a suitable No. 9, on account of the harm to Luis Suarez, was flexible with the formation and use what made sense at the moment. This saw the 2 full-backs, Jordi Alba and Sergi Roberto, push farther up the wing through a Barca attack to demonstrate crosses and support when possible.
Barca are moving towards a brighter future under the new manager and the fans are hoping for a stunning performance in the squad for the rest of the season.
