P.S. : This post is dated 26th August 2012. For newer data or any other plans or clarifications on any teams, please contact me at tauheed.official@gmail.com

Hello everyone...My name is Mohammed Tauheed Ur Rahman. I am 22 years old from Mysore, India and have a great passion towards football and desire to be a top football manager one day. 

So, I’ve been studying the tactics of many teams in Europe and have been working towards getting my tactical awareness better by reading few books about football and its tactics and also by making my own observations. Based on the knowledge I’ve gained through it, I’ve started creating tactics and on how to beat clubs by concentrating on their strengths and weaknesses.

My previous page on blogger.com can be visited here. It deals with How to beat Manchester United. 

I would like to thank everybody who took there time out to read it and also to mail me and comment on it. I really appreciate it.

So before I start off with the tactics, I would like to specify a minor detail in the design of my tactic. Now many guys, with whom I have interacted with, say that matches can be won if the teams follow a given style of play like the tiki-taka passing system followed by teams like Barcelona and the Spanish National team. I partially disagree with them.

Why??? The reason is that the tiki-taka brand of football, or any other style, needs high level of practice, precision and a high level of skill. This development takes a minimum of 6 months for any team to train to develop and implement it in there game-play. 

So my design takes into account the minimum qualities that any team in the world possesses, like defensive sturdiness, counter-attacking, wing-play and such basic ideas in football.

So here I would like to present my tactical insights on how to play against and defeat FC Barcelona.

Well Barca may have lost the La Liga in the 2011-12 season but they are the team to beat. I mean almost every manager and football tactician in the world is trying to figure out a way on how to contain them if not beat them.

So here goes... The tactic maybe a bit lengthy and may drag-on but I really think this is one of the tactics which will make Barca lose there sleep.

The Team.

To defeat your enemy, you have to know them better. Hence we first take a look at the team.

Barcelona are a team built on the philosophies of total football by one of the greatest players to have graced the game, Mr. Johan Cruyff. Barca have always been a force to reckoned with but right now everyone who sees there game reckons that they play a game out of the world.

Barca have been one of the most consistently top performing team not only in the La Liga but also in the European Championships as well. They have a world class youth system where legends have been made. They have been producing great players like Xavi Hernandez, Pep Guardiola, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol and Lionel Messi. The current core of the team is also formed of players from the La Masia Academy like Sergio Busquets, Victor Valdes, Gerard Pique, Cesc Fabregas and Pedro Rodriguez among others come from the same school and it just makes things more difficult for the opposite side.

transfermarkt.co.uk values the whole team of Barcelona at a price of more than 600 Million Euros!!!

The Manager: Tito Vilanova.

Even though Tito has literally zero experience in professional football management but the fact that he was the assistant of Pep Guardiola for seven years is enough to speak volumes about him. Even though he takes over from Guardiola, he will not make any changes to the way they play because when they are winning with the old, why go for new???

The chemistry he has with the players, with the system and with the way the club functions, he will surely cause problems to the opposite side with his planning and managerial acumen.

He has already signed Jordi Alba from Valencia and Alex Song from Arsenal which just underlines the scouting talents of the backroom staff.

The Defense:

Gerad Pique, Sergio Busquets, Carles Puyol, Jordi Alba, Victor Valdes are all graduates of the La Masia and it just makes there on-field and off-field bonding more stronger. New arrivals from the academy like Martin Montoya and Marc Muniesa just support this statement.

Puyol has been one of the greatest defenders of the modern age. He has been the heart of the Spanish and Barca defense for the past 10 years and has a good 2 or 3 years ahead of him. 

Pique on the other hand has been equally good. Except for few minute discrepancies here and there he looks really great for the future of Barca. 

New signing Jordi Alba will just fill-in for the injured Eric Abidal this season while Abidal recovers from his health issues. Alba is a really good signing given his pace insight and his movements on the wings. 

Dani Alves always a threat while on the attack on the left wing. He's got speed, vision and a great acumen to score, assist and also to give a strongheadache to the opposite sides. 

Sergio Busquets acts as the link between the midfield and the defense and has been pretty efficient in his job.

Javier Mascherano is a very good player who plays equally well as a wingback, central defender or as a defensive midfielder. The experience he has is a huge boost to the team.

Coming of the bench Adriano provides good defensive play whenever the club needs his services.

STATS:

Barcelona have conceded the least number of goals this past season (29) in the Spanish League. They also conceded the least number of shots in the whole of 2011-12 La Liga season (276). There nearest rivals Real Madrid conceded 32 goals from 384 shots. We can see the disparity between the defenses of the two sides based on this statistic.

One more startling stat is that Barcelona conceded just 112 corners when compared to the 168 corners conceded by Real Madrid which is 50% more than Barcelona. 

Lastly, Victor Valdes has been there most reliable man between the sticks. He is a good goalkeeper even though he commits some really really stupid errors now and then but he also pulls out some remarkable saves as well. 

All-in-all the Barca defense is very well organised and does there job really well.

How do they play???

The central defenders are aerially very good. As tiki-taka focuses on short passing, the team's midfielders occupy the central part of the pitch. This prompts the wingbacks (Dani Alves, Puyol, for a short period last season, and Jordi Alba) to run in through the wings and provide support to the midfield. 

Busquets, even though his natural playing position is defensive central midfield, he slips back a bit making it a 3-man defense.  They maintain a high defensive line and also a good offside trap.

The Midfield.

The engine room of the Barca team which has accurate passing, splendid technical ability, superb adaptation to different scenarios and most importantly there biggest strength: to keep possession with them. Almost every match they play, they have a pass-completion-percentage of around 80% and they keep ball possession for more than 60% of the playtime regularly. All thanks to the wonderful midfield maestros of Barcelona.

Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas. These three names are the ones which feature regularly in almost every list talking about the Top 10 midfielders in the world. There combined value must be around 150 million euros(according to transfermarkt.co.uk) and even for such a monumental pricing I would say they are under-priced. They have been regulars in the Ballon D'Or list of probables every year. 

Sergio Busquets provides the linkup play between the front-line of the midfield maintained by Xavi and Co and the defense line. As mentioned earlier, he is very good at it. 

Javier Mascherano played most of last season as a defender whenever needed more than a midfielder but his real position is in the defensive midfield area and he's really wonderfully played his part.

Alex Song played an effective part in the late resurgence of Arsenal last season.

New graduates from there academy like Thiago Alcantara and Kiko are proving to be good backups with a great eye to play the Barcelona way.

How do they play???

For a team which has the best passers in the world with an average of 80% pass-completion rate and a consistent possession play of greater than 55% in every match, their midfield is fantastic to say the least. 

Xavi and Iniesta play the ball around as they wish and land in the occasional defense-piercing through-balls which are always any defender's nightmare. 

Iniesta and Dani Alves provide the occasional burst-ins towards the oppositions which just ups the tempo of their attack from the normal slow-pass game to the dangerous attacking game(watch this).

Moreover they also pass it to Lionel Messi who either pass it away to another forward into a give and go (watch this)  or just dribbles his way to goal (watch this).

The Frontline.

Numbers don't lie:

Barcelona have an excellent shots-to-goal conversion rate of 18.30% in the La Liga, which means they score a goal for every 5.5 shots at the goal. Now, there closest rivals and fiercest rivals in the La Liga, Real Madrid, have shots-to-goal conversion rate of 16.60%. The top shots-to-goal conversion rate in each league is lesser than these two teams. The highest shots-to-goal conversion rate in the English Premier League is of Manchester United: 15.06%, Serie A: Napoli: 12.67%, Ligue1: Paris Saint Germain: 14.04%, Bundesliga: Schalke04: 16.05%.

David Villa's injury just underlined his authority at the Barca frontline. Every season he's a regular to score about 20 goals. His, width, pace, skill and technique with the ball are astounding. He scores at rate of less than two matches-per-goal which is a superb figure. His return to Barcelona from injury just adds to there strength upfront.

Lionel Messi. The name which has been valued by transfermarket.co.uk at 100 Million Euros is a phenomenon. The argument goes on whether he's the greatest player of all-time or not. Such is his class. His speed, slyness, dribbling skills, technique and precision has no equal in the world today. He's open been referred to as an alien. Considering his record 50 La Liga goals last season and 73 goals overall, it has to be no surprise that he has won the Ballon D'Or  for the last 3 years.

Pedro, Fabregas, Sanchez and Issac Cuenca just add on to their strength on the attacking third. 

How do they play???

These numbers tell us that the finishing by Messi and Co. has been superb. 

The attacking theory is very simple. David Villa and Alexis Sanchez provide width on the wings alongside Messi, who plays as a 'False 9', stretching the defense while Messi attacks in through the center. But as simple as it may sound, it is the most annoying things for there oppositions. 

As specified above, they are also ably supported by Iniesta and Dani Alves time and again. This just makes there offense vary from a 3-man attacking force to a 5-forward attack which is very very difficult to breakdown.

The Final Word.

Barcelona play in a hybrid formation of 4-1-2-3 and 4-1-2-1-2 depending on the availability of attacking options and also the flow of the game. Barcelona play a game which many say is the perfect game(which I totally disagree). So we cannot expect Barcelona to do any major changes in the squad or in the tactics.

Jordi Alba, Pique, Puyol and Dani Alves will be manning the defense with Alba and Alves trying to open up the attack and assist in the attack through the wings. Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta will be in their usual roles of the midfield. A recovered Villa may return alongside Messi and Alexis Sanchez to bolster the forwards. Fabregas, Alcantara, Montoya, Cuenca, Adriano, Mascherano, Tello, Afellay, Pedro, Montoya and Muniesa will provide healthy options on the bench.

HOW TO BEAT THEM???

Well beating one of the best teams in the world is no child’s play. You need to work hard, plan effectively, train excessively and perform to your highest potential. The main weapon that they employ in their game, or their strength as many know, is their ability to keep possession and distribute the ball within there players. To counter it, I have formulated a technique which, I think, would not only minimize there possession-based play but also contain the flow of there game. The players of the team need to adapt to the flow of the game and adapt as the game shapes on. I feel tactic actually focuses on two different scenarios of the game as it progresses.

1.  Formation when our team is in attacking position, and

2.  Formation when our team is in a position where we need to defend.

Team Selection.

At the first look, it may seem like its a simple 4-3-3 but its more than just that. You would learn how I would like it to be used in the coming part of the tactic. 

The Defense.

We need a 4-man defense denoted in the above graphic LB(who is the left-back),CB,CB(the central defenders) and RB(the right back). The defenders need to be alert, aerially sound as well as rock-steady in the defense. Barcelona's main strength is keeping possession and providing pin-point passes and through-balls. All these need to be cut out by the defenders as well the other players supporting the defense.

The wingbacks (LB and RB) also need to have the ability to take the ball  forward on the wings to stretch the field of play for Barcelona. The central defenders must stand strong and prevent any kind of defensive lapses occurring from the central area.

We need to prevent any and every defensive lapse as Messi, Fabregas (when as a False 9), Villa, Pedro, Alexis Sanchez and others.

The Midfield:

The midfield is the most complex and most important part of any team. In this formation, we need three types of midfielders.

1. A central midfielder, CM, who can support the defense when there is a dangerous situation as well as move forward and act as anchor to the strikers..
2. The two other midfielders, LM and RM, one on each side of the central midfielder are to take the ball forward and press the situation on the opposition as attacking midfielders, or playmakers, or come back and help the defense in dangerous situations.

The central midfielder not only supports the defense as the man connecting them to the attacking third but also acts as a virtual second layer of defense which keeps the team from any kind of dangerous situations. He must not only act as a fifth defender but may also act as a cover to the other midfielders while the team is on attack mode(more details further down the page). 

The other midfielders (LM and RM) bring up the versatility and the flair in the attack. They need to move in forward to act as playmakers or take up the positions of defensive midfielders while Barca are in attack mode.

If Barcelona attack, they need to move back and either fill in the void at the centre of the defense and plug in the gaps by cutting out Xavi and Iniesta or provide support on the wings to the wingbacks by applying pressure of Dani Alves, Jordi Alba, Pedro, Alexis Sanchez or David Villa whenever they makeup an attack from the wings.

The Forward-line:

We will need a striker up front (ST). Barcelona are a very good defending team. They have Alves, Puyol, Busquets, Alba, Pique, Mascherano and Adriano who are technically gifted and are physically able to nullify any incoming attack. Victor Valdes is a good goalkeeper too, except for the occasional fumbles and idiotic mistakes.

The striker need to be constantly moving around and create space for himself as well as his fellow attackers the attacking third. 

The Wingers(WR) must provide able assistance to the striker when any counter-attacking opportunity arrives. The wingers also need to act as additional strikers or playmakers and must be able to poke in incisive thru-balls and also be swift and try and spread the play.

While attacking, they need to be at the top of their awareness and create space for themselves to score a goal or create space to their attacking partners infront of the goal and hence maximize the chances of scoring goals.

Formation, strategy or gameplay while our team is in an attacking position

Note: The colored arrows indicate the passing moves which the player can play in a given situation.

A 4-2-1-3 would be a good formation while the team is in attack-mode. 

As the above graphic shows, the striker would here move into the heart of the opposition's defense with a view of unsettling them, creating space and also having a good eye for scoring goals. 

The wingers need to be at the striker's right and left and spread the play of the game. If one winger gets the ball, the other winger must charge into the box to become an additional striker.

The central midfielder(CM) must fall back and act as a defensive midfielder to nullify any counter-attacking threats which can arise from the central part of the pitch. 

One of the other midfielders needs to act as a playmaker(RM in the above graphic) while the other midfielder(LM in the above graphic) supports him by his side acting as an additional playmaker and also acting as a link between the CM and the RM. 

The wingbacks need to move in through the wings to provide additional assistance from the wings to the attacking area.

The Passing moves:

The black arrows indicate the moves which the central midfielder can do.

1. He can pass it to the other midfielders if he feels the need to retain possession or if he thinks that they can create a better goal-scoring scenario.
2. He can also put the ball in to the wingbacks. This move will just open up more attacking options upfront and unsettle the Barca defense.
3. He can also pull in a long cross to the wingers/striker up in order to open up the defense.

The red and orange arrows indicate the moves which the attacking midfielders can pull of. They can-

1. Either pass it back to the defensive midfielder so that they hold on to the possession.
2. Or pass it to the other attacking mid so that a quick attacking move can be done.
3. Or they can exchange passes between themselves so that whoever has a better passing opportunity can do so to create danger for Barcelona.
4. They can also put a good through-ball for the strikers upfront 

The biggest weakness I see in the Barcelona game is the lack of width. Tiki-taka is a type of gameplay where in players pass short, keep the possession with them and move the ball slowly upfront with a steady buildup and patient distribution of the ball. This just leaves an empty space or a hole in the wings which requires Dani Alves or Adriano to run up through the wings and leaves the wings empty. 

The wingers need to capitalize on this situation and move in through the wings. The wingers must be the main threat to the opposition. We can see how the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Angel Di Maria, Theo Walcott and Nani have tormented the Barcelona defense with their run-ins from the wings.

The yellow arrows indicate the moves which the wingers can play. 

1. They can either have a go directly at goal.
2. Or they can put in a cross or thru-ball into the striker.
3. Or just vary the tempo of the game by passing it back to the attacking mids.

Other than these moves, the players will surely be able to pull out some other moves. We also need to be wary of any counter attacking football from them as their frontline has a remarkable speed and pace which can easily put us into a really bad situation.

Formation or strategy while our team is in a position where we need to defend.

When you play a top-class team like Barcelona, you need to be top-class in every department, especially  we need to be top class in our defense. We need to be good at set-pieces, as well as rocksteady in the defense . We need to block their passes as well. We also need to be at the top of our game defensively. We need solid marking and an urgency to initialize a quick and brisk counter attack.

Barcelona have an average possession of around 60% or more in every game and the main threat is not that they keep possession, the threat is what they can do with that possession. They use through-balls, crosses, dribbles, long-ranged shots and everything else in the book and more too. 

In the 4-2-1-2-1, a variant of the 4-2-3-1, one of LM or RM must come back and take up the role of an additional defensive midfielder alongside the CM. While the other midfielder acts as an initiator of a counterattacking move just above the two other midfielders. 

Now what the players need to do is ensure that the passes between the Barcelona players are minimized. This strategy mainly concentrates on blocking out the passes of Xavi/Iniesta and initializing a counter-attack. 

The LM who switches back as a defensive midfielder and block out passes from Xavi in the forward direction. 

The CM on the right side would be the best to stop Iniesta who likes to move forward a lot more than Xavi.

Messi, Sanchez and Pedro have to be stopped by the defenders - The two DCs and the RC. Now you may say leaving Messi without a dedicated marker would be a risk but if we block out his passes and never provide him the ball, then it would be work saved. But I do have a different strategy on how to contain Messi, but that's for another day.

The winger on the left should be pressing on Dani Alves and make him think more than twice to move forward. And I personally think Cristiano Ronaldo is a genuine example of how Dani Alves can be pushed back.

Now you may ask-"Does just blocking the passes of Barcelona work against them?" 

The answer to that is this. Barcelona are champions of possession. No doubt about that. All we need to do is wait for them to do the mistake and not do any mistake on our own. If we cover up all the passes that they will push in and nullify it, they will be tempted to attack with more men and hence have a weaker defense. And that is what we need to bank on. Create a quick-counter and then move forward with 2 or 3 men and we stand a very good chance of scoring goals. 

Patience is Barcelona's biggest strength and we need to have better patience than them to beat them.

I hope you like my tactics.I will be publishing tactics on how to be other teams soon enough. 

You can mail me at tauheed4ever@gmail.com.

Thank you very much for reading this. Any inputs, corrections would be welcome.