In this post I want to outline some of the key changes in the way the team line-ups on the pitch. In doing this I will discard the traditional way of describing a team’s line-up, which is either written as 4-3-3 or 4-4-2. In both cases this just describes how a team defends and tells us nothing about how the team attacks and operates when they have the ball. Which is what most interests fans and probably players as well.
With this in mind I will start with the traditional or classic on field line-up. This formation has been the mainstay of FC Barcelona since at least the time of Johan Cruyff as manager. This has two central defenders, a defensive midfielder or perhaps more accurately a pivot, two creative/attacking midfielder, the nominally full backs play forward around the same line as the two creative midfielder, two wingers/wide players and a centre forward. I describe this formation as 2-1-4-3.
As an example of this formation, here is the line-up for 2015 Champions League final. This was the last time Barça won this trophy:
Piqué and Mascherano were the two central defenders, Busquets was the pivot, with Rakitiç and Iniesta as the two creative midfielders. Alves and Alba were the two attacking/overlapping full backs. Messi and Neymar were the two wide players with Suaréz as the centre forward.
Xavi started this season with this formation, but since the turn of the year has switched to a radically different line-up. In doing this he was perhaps motivated by the lack of a reliable attacking right back and the lack of a reliable winger/wide player on the left. Ansu or Ferran can play on the left, but both tend to play inside. The lengthy absence of Dembélé due to injury was possibly another factor in Xavi’s decision to change the team’s formation.
The current line-up now has three defenders across the back. There are two pivots instead of just one. The two creative midfielders remain as do the two wingers/wide players and the centre forward. I describe this formation as 3-2-2-3.
With the current squad this translates into the following line-up:
Christensen, Araújo and Koundé as the three defenders. Busquets and De Jong are the two pivots, with De Jong having a freer role. Pedri and Gavi are the two creative midfielders. In attack, Raphinha plays on the right with Lewandowski as the centre forward. The biggest surprise is that Baldé, nominally a full back plays as the left winger.
Remember, this is Barça’s formation when they have the ball and are attacking. The advantages of this system are 1) there is a more solid defensive line with three defenders who tend to stay back instead of just two; 2) with two pivots and the two creative midfielders the team now has four players in midfield, which will often give them a numerical advantage. The main downside is that the two wide players need to stay wide most of the time and they need to be able and willing to track back when possession is lost. Baldé and Raphinha are good at this, while Dembélé, now fit again, may be less reliable in this aspect of his game.
With the league now won, it will be interesting to see if Xavi sticks with this formation for the remaining four games. The current squad is a bit short on top quality replacements for some of the key players, For example the only creative midfielder, apart from Pedri and Gavi is Pablo Torrre, another youngster who has hardly played at all. Ansu and Ferran could play there and have come on in that position in recent games. Sergio Roberto and Kessie will presumably also get some more game time. We might learn a lot about the depth of the squad from these four games.
Alister Rutherford 