Apologies for lack of posting, I am suffering neck problems added to intensive work schedule.  For now, this is the first Paragraph of my Champions league preview for the match Between Barcelona and Rubin Kazan.

My Champions league Preview on The offside: Intro

"I can try to give him an evil look, but I do not think it helps. He is unfortunately too experienced to be feasible psyche, for he has played at the highest levels long, so it's hard to get him out of balance.
To play very physical against him is of course also a solution, but often he just run away anyway when you want to tackle him, so we must help each other if he must be stopped.
FC Barcelona star Lionel Messi is near impossible to stop on a football field, and he is also hard to psyche before and during a struggle."
That is the message from FC Copenhagen defender Mikael Antonsson, before Tuesday's Champions League match.

In the other hand, FCK striker Dame N'Doye was more optemist, saying:

"We must play better than we usually do. There is no doubt. We must play the season's best match, otherwise we have no chance of winning.
It was a good fight from us (AT Camp nou), and we were unlucky not to score. This time we must be even more concentrated and more aggressive, but we also have a chance. Read more

FC København - Rubin Kazan (Matchday 1, UEFA Champions League 2010/11)


Panathinaikos 0 - 2- FC København, (Matchday 2, UEFA Champions League 2010/11)

* This is the Preview I published on Barcelona's page on The offside. Due to temporary technical problems there since last night, we re-publish it here.

Join us on Twitter (@Footballmood)

How do you evaluate Rubin Kazan’s performance so far in the Russian Premier league?

Оhhh… Second place by score – not bad. Thats all.


Is Rubin Kazan this season a better team than last season?

For sure, my friend. Two old players are off, four new fresh COOL masters of ball are in. And this has its effect on the team performance.

What are your thoughts concerning the Champions’ league group this season compared to last season?
I don’t want to be original. Easier group, but there are further problems this season, because of our expectations and all.

Will Rubin qualify to the second round this time?

We must qualify to the second round this time. I think.

Rubin Kazan lost their first match in Copenhagen, how far will that affect their chances in the competition?

Damn match, damn Copenhagen. But you remember last CL season, RK lost game with DK, but finally stayed in the European competition. Sure, that sad match in Denmark will affect our chances in the competition.

Was the defeat in Denmark a surprise? What went wrong? 

Wha…? Surprise?! Ahh man, if you can call that sh*t «surprise», okay, but we all never want that kind of «surprise» in our lives, you know. And what went wrong? That god-blessed Cop just wanted to win more than Rubin, thats all!

How do you feel about the match tomorrow?
I feel ok. Yeah, yeah, just ok. Except this fingers tick, all ok.

What are your expectations about the match?
My expectations… It will be a Holy Day. A Day that stays in history, and we will remember it in our hearts, you know.

Do you think Barcelona will be more difficult to beat this time or a less terrifying opponent after last season’s results?
Interesting question. It is true both ways. Barca knows Rubin, Rubin knows Barca. What can I add?

How did Rubin Kazan tactics changed since last season in your opinion?
Never changed. If it’s working, any touch may be fatal. so no need to change. Just small re-locations of some players on the field, cause of new transfers.

What is your predicted selection?
No-no-no man, I never do selection, clubbers do this very well, I believe in them.

Who are the most dangerous players Rubin can count on for this game? How can Rubin Kazan Beat Barcelona?
Cristian Ansaldi, Gökdeniz Karadeniz and Carlos Eduardo. They are fast, they can run, they can show Barcelona Rubin’s dangerous counter attacks. Simplest way to beat Spanish dudes – play your own game.

What are the weaknesses that concern you for this match? Do you think that may cause troubles against Barcelona?
I dont want even think about that but… Not much time went since new people joined the team. They are still looking for perfect connection between each other. It may cause some damn troubles.

Messi may not be fit enough to play, will that make things easier for Kazan?
Much easier! This football daemon can’t be stopped on his way to goal, so I bless to God, Messi won’t show his best game tomorrow.

Beside Messi, who is the player who can make the difference for Barcelona in this match against your team?
Dont miss the match preview published on The Offside!

And why aren't you Following Barcelona on Twitter yet? Join us on (@BarcaTheOffside) and (@Footballmood)

Sources: 

Wikipedia: Rubin Kazan
UEFA’s match press kit.

Next:

Rubin Kazan - FC Barcelona match preview, at Barcelona's page on the offside
Interviews from Kazan on Football Mood

Check all the records related to the match in our previous post: Here
For the second season, I am still covering Champion's league on The offside. Check Barcelona Vs Panathinaikos Review.

But first, tell us your predictions in the following Poll:

Source: UEFA’s match press kit.

Why am I starting from there? No, it’s not the repetitive anthem of:”Support your team in ups and downs” let’s avoid the “showing up” carnival about true fans Vs so-and-so supporters that I read about, since the final whistle. Anyone who sits and watches a Barca game serves the club a favor (at least by increasing the number of viewers so the TV channels make sure to broadcast the games more often).  It’s more about the nature of this club, the method of play, and the consequences.  Based on all that, we can evaluate the performance at any time. The question:”Was it possible to get a better result against Inter?” is not valid, if you take this one game and analyze. The suitable question (in my Opinion, as I am not lecturing here) is: “Was it possible to do better considering the football criteria we set and expect?”. The difference? Simple: I am more than certain that playing a 4-3-2-1 With Busquets-Yaya-Keita in front of our defense with Pedro and Messi behind Ibra would have brought a better result (notice: you don’t even need Xavi). Don’t bother putting high pressure and running for 99.99% possession. Bring Inter players out of their own half (if they didn’t move you get a draw, at least) and hit them by counters generated through your two fullbacks (Alves and Maxwell, with Yaya moving back as a third CB) Supported –from a deep position of course- by Keita and Busquets, and lead by Messi and Pedro with Ibra leading the offense the way he used to do –SUCCESSFULLY- when he played for Inter.  Piece of cake. Squads with barely half the quality of ours do it and win titles. In fact, we could have won the liga already if we were a less “Naïve” football club, or let’s say less romantic when it comes to our game approach. We don’t bargain to hand 10 % of our possession and offense drive to the opponent even if we get the three points in return. Stupid? Unpractical? Suicidal? Blablatata…whatever? Yes. But that’s the way we do it. That’s the special thing about this team. Not being better. Not being worse. Just being…different.



That’s exactly why I jumped to defend Pep Guardiola after the game.  People are bringing up some secondary reasons to explain the defeat. This player started, that player was benched, this sub, that pass, this tackle… In fact nothing would have guaranteed this game regardless of who starts (Aside of Iniesta may be) as long as we play the same way we played last season where Pep was praised because he won titles. If you want this squad to secure more titles sack Pep, hire Benitez (without giving him the right to buy any players!). “But we won last season!” I can hear you. Dude, I didn’t say “failure is your destiny, live in disgrace”. I said the possibilities of underachieving when you play this football style are higher than ending up on the victorious thrown. Fact.

That’s why –And here we get to the point- last season I was the most critical fan when it comes to Pep’s game approach. I praised him for fixing the bugs I was criticizing during Rijkaard’s days (Even when we won titles). But there were still some issues that need to be tuned. Was I demanding a Benitez style? Get outta here!  I simply demanded an upgraded total football that matches the demands of modern game.  Giving credit where due, Pep walked a long distance in that direction, but still there are urgent requirements that will keep us fragile if we do not fix. We can win against Inter in the second leg the way we play. We can win the CL and the Liga. But it’s not because we are systematically undefeatable, it’s because we have such an uncontainable squad (Unless if: Later). That was the situation last season. That was the case during the Ronaldinho era. In fact, that was the case even during Cruyff era. If we don’t paint a clear idea about our system with its pros and coins, we can’t analyze any game properly, whether we praise a win or criticize a defeat.

In order not to make a hindsight analysis after being a bit critical about it in the last post, Let me refer back to the Issues I tackled last season the way I pointed it in previous posts I wrote since Pep was hired. Re-reading it now may bring a different evaluation. Simplifying the situation as:”Last season we were great” while this season we screwed ourselves may sound bit too harsh. This obviously means that the new signings are the reason of all troubles.  In fact we were not better last season, it’s just the opponents are more experienced to deal with this team now. Let me be a bit harsh and point out one significant difference between the two seasons in the Champions league, for example:  The Referee this season in the away game of the semi final was less friendly with us than last season.  It doesn’t mean that we had no quality back then (we had the best quality, no doubt). But we were as fragile as we are now as well. Lets refresh the memory about last season, Then we take the game against Inter this season as a demonstration.

Talking about semi finals of Champions league. If you want to have a better idea why we lost against Inter, check my article before our game against Chelsea last season. But I will paste some parts that may sound interesting at the moment:



In Barcelona: System Analysis I pointed out the impact of the forwards performance on the defense quality:

Then I wrote a three parts series about Barcelona’s champions league chances Last season: Roads Leading to Rome: Part One, Part Two, and Part three). I introduced the series as follows:



And while the second part was a bit more theoretical, the third part explained some of what we lacked against Inter last week:







Not only the team that lost against Inter was the same team (As a squad) that won the classico, but it’s even the same team that won everything last season. With the structural strength and systematic weaknesses. We switched a striker who has qualities and weaknesses with another striker who has different attributes we need more (but that’s another story that I don’t dare to tackle now that this post is XXL already). Pep is also the same coach, he did nothing worse against Inter than whatever he did in any game he coached before. 

Against Lyon last season I pointed out that: ” When you are 1-1 in an away game, and it’s the last 5 minutes, and you are already satisfied with the result, and you have two more substitutions in hand, USE THEM! “ and that: “Barcelona style sucks lot of energy, no squad can give you enough fuel to keep playing that way all the time, you need to be more selective in the games, when to play attractive high pressure possession game and when to play more tactical and direct tactics. The Champions’ league is not a show business, it’s a Mission to make possible.” Then I want you to remember the following from Lyon game as well when you check the Figures below: “To go far in the CL we need to be able to slowdown the opponents counters, filling the space behind our offense operation Zone. Whenever we lose the ball the opponent counters seems to be so fast as if sucked through a Vacuum tunnel from the first edge (opponent box) to the other edge striking our defense. One Yaya to act as a tunnel cork is not enough, and when he join the party upfront then even that Tinny cork vanish.” Mind you, we were talking about a defense with only one offense obsessed fullback (Alves), not with two (Alves+Maxwell). So you can imagine. More? Against Atletico last season:


And here is a very interesting note from that game as well (from the same article):



I end up with this notation from Barcelona (Total) Football club:


As I mentioned before, every system has its own flops. We choosed to play this system and we praise the club when we win. Its important to keep in mind that this adventure can backfire any moment, and to realize the key factors for the defeats from within the system itself.The problem with some analysts is that they do not see the whole picture. In football, it’s important to browse the team dynamics as a whole before jumping to evaluate a specific department or weigh up individuals’ contribution. If the goalkeeper can serve as a libero or not makes a huge impact on defense line and defenders decision making. If the defense is not structured properly, the midfield will put more effort supporting defense than building up offense, Offense will not be efficient, and you will only face a collaborative chaos all over the field.

The reason why I do not criticize Pep anymore is the belief that –beside some little modifications here and there-this is how far he will go in modifying the tactics and game approach (take it or leave it). Or else, I will have to nag about each and every point I mentioned above after each and every game we play. Taking in consideration where he is coming from as a dedicated total football coach, he made some impressive changes to the original football methodology. I can’t think of any other coach who can do better. I can’t demand more during the short period he coached this team.  It’s true that our total football still need modifications toward a more reliable attractive offense oriented performance. That’s easy to admit for someone who love it (Me), but more difficult for someone who live it (Pep). Regardless of the fact that it’s easier to say than to implement, especially when you have that number of games to play, leaving no time for you and your squad to practice tactical changes. What we need to consider, is something like:

-    Using two pivots instead of one in the midfield so the players in front of them can shuffle the lines forward without being worried about deep build up responsibilities and the fullbacks –who are the most important players to contribute with offense in modern football- can move forward without compromising the defense stability. No doubt, the two holding midfielders are not static, but we are taking about the original structure, not the team dynamics.

-     When the team loses the ball, there is a need to mix between positional defending and high pressure. As advanced on the field as possible (depending on the opponent’s structure). Some positional cover in the midfield is an unavoidable need. That’s an advanced zonal positioning that close spaces (“The Anvil” as mentioned above in the Barcetalia figure). It gives fewer outlets and spaces for the opponent to break through the pressure initiated by “the hammers” of the four players in front the Anvil line. Will that demand more movements from the hummers now that the team is employing less number of players for the pressure operation? Not if you take in consideration that the hammers 1) will make less exhausting transitions backward (as they are well covered) 2) They will apply the pressure in a smaller territory squeezed between the opponents box and the Anvil lined in an advanced position in the middle third. Besides, even now that we are applying pressure every way we can, there are always players in front who are useless for that process (being on the opposite flank of the possession battle?). Such players –instead of being unemployed- need to move back to contribute in constructing the Anvil line.

-    While setting offense, and now that there is enough stability in the midfield, the total football concept of switching positions can take place now. The lines will be properly spread as the team will have players pending for the ball within four lines from defense to offense rather than forcing the skillful players to move deeper to contribute in the buildup operation away from the offense third. Players like Yaya, Busquets, Xavi, Keita, Iniesta, Pedro (four of the six)  must be the players who contribute with the defenders in the deep buildup, moving the ball forward while Messi and Ibra need to operate in the offense third even during the buildup stage. Messi for example may switch sometimes with Pedro the same as Pique may run forward to the midfield when the midfielders lack passes outlets (one of the holding mids take his place in defense). In set offense, there will be a good combination of Pedro-Xavi-Alves behind Messi and Ibra to be fully dedicated to attack while having enough security behind them. To avoid static situations, two holding midfielders bring lot of unpredictable mobility on the table. The Left fullback will have no worries to make flashing runs forward (Even Pique can do it) now that there will be a player to cover (one of the holding mids). The holding midfielders will also synchronize their offense contribution (going forward) as needed.
That’s how I see it, which is more an opinion than a fact to be taken for granted. Till then, I have to evaluate Pep performance as a coach depending on the current system, not the wishful thinking.

Inter demonstration:

Every team has its counter. Every tactical system has its flops. In our case, we have troubles against teams with high work rate that can put pressure on our defenders and disturb build up, and teams with enough tanks to park and depend on counter attacking the landscapes we leave behind. There is no other team that can expose our systematic fragilities this season like Inter. Last season after the groups stages lot of fans were concerned about meeting Manchester United, Arsenal, an Italian team, etc…For me, there were only two teams to be worried about: Chelsea and Liverpool. This season after all the changes Inter made, they were the team to avoid (Beside Chelsea). Before the Arsenal game I mentioned that I am calm about it. They have the players to put high pressure, but their holding midfielders are fragile, so as their defense. Inter in return got the tanks needed in defense and midfield, the Italian sense of organized tactics, the Argentineans’ work rate,  and the likes of Milito and Eto’o to complicate our defenders’ stability while in possession or while defending near the half line.

Based on the current system we play (One Holding midfielder, two midfielders) The starting lineup was:

Valdes, Alves, Puyol, Pique, Maxwell, Busquets, Xavi, Keita, Pedro, Messi, Ibra

Abidal was not ready to start. Personally, I would have preferred to start Milito over Maxwell. In fact I think it was better to start Milito as a third defender while having Maxwell instead of Keita. Three Center backs with one holding midfielder sounds more reliable for me –defensively- than Two center backs with one holding midfielder even if he is assisted by Keita (in principle, not practice in this game). Yet, the question is: Was Milito an option for this game? I mean, he is still not fully fit. He got a knock in the last game he played. Not sure if I can boldly say Pep was wrong not to start him. If Milito was not an option, then Maxwell or Marquez? Maxwell for me. Checked.

I already commented about Busquets starting this game. No doubt (for me) he was a must. Keita (before his injury) was one of our most consistent performers this season. Before the game I said that Busquets-Keita-Xavi is my automatic option but I am not sure about Keita’s form (and I demanded Busquets-Keita when I thought that Abidal will be able to start, which makes a big difference). After watching Keita in this game, and now this is hindsight, I admit that I feel a Yaya who can move to play as a third Center back when Maxwell and Alves move forward (with Busquets as a holding midfielder sounds a better option for me. But again, without notice we are shifting back to the systematic changes I demanded last season and repeated above. Something we agreed to put aside at the moment.

I already commented about the offense line selection in the previous post. We will tackle things in more details as we rewind the game scenarios. That’s all what I have regarding the lineup.

Kick off. The game starts. The lineup is not bad (considering all the circumstances), but 1) the team is not in a good day. 2) Playing against their counter football style.  What Inter succeeded to do was stretching Barcelona’s selection. Milito ran like a wolf till he broke, pushing Puyol and Pique backward. Pandev was dedicated to Alves while Eto’o pressed Maxwell and Sneijder checked Busquets (sometimes danced between Busquets and Xavi/Keita depending who come for the help). They did it in Barcelona’s half for a reason: Instead of letting Barcelona’s defense contribute in the offense build up, they forced Xavi, Pedro and Messi to play deep in order to provide outlets and keep possession. They didn’t need to worry as they had sufficient cover behind with two holding midfielders creating central and lateral cover based on Barcelona’s offense circulation. Another thing about Inter’s performance was that they didn’t get frustrated with the lack of ball possession. In fact, they gave up on trying to battle for it. Their mind set was obvious: Wait patiently for an interception, and when they get the ball they change the play diagonally to the space caused by Barcelona’s unbalanced positioning and generate counters putting as many players on the attacked flank as possible. 

A fully fit Barcelona might break through that. The Barcelona we had for the game was not. To break through there is one word:”Movement” We lacked that Move-receive-pass-move-receive spark .Without it, there was no chance. Claiming that putting Bojan instead of Ibra would have generated supernatural energy in Pedro’s, Messi’s, Xavi’s Keita’s Busquet’s, Alves’s, Maxwell’s legs make it sound as if Bojan has nuclear fission processors behind his ears. The players were not dancing on the right tempo. The ball didn’t move forward fast enough to attack the tiny spaces that appeared here and there for few moments before Cambiasso and Motta put a block to close it. We were forced to play the passes back more than forward. With every back pass the lines moved further from Inters’ third. Ibra was completely isolated. And Inter’s transitions were much faster than Barcelona’s offense pace. It’s easy to say anyone else could have done better. But watch the game again and tell me how often the offense arrived to Inter’s third and Messi was in need for Ibra to switch positions or anything.

When the team is not secured at its own half, it always happens that the players who are supposed to set offense tend to play more out of trouble. It’s more secure to play the ball back than forward. It’s more secure to demand the ball in the space available in your own half than to make the runs forward seeking the pass in the opponent’s territory. Inter knew about this tendency that we have. They stitched their game plan based on our system’s defects. Our possession game didn’t frustrate them because it was predictable. In fact, the opposite would have done better. Secure defense with three center backs and two holding mids (sending the message “We are not in a hurry, you want us to open up, open your lines first!”), and they will start to get more frustrated. While they will have no more spaces where they expected to generate scoring opportunities players like Messi and co will forget (relatively) about defense concerns. They will receive the ball and set offense rather than trying to avoid a disastrous loss of possession.  If the defenses of the both sides cancel offense, it’s all cool. Bring them to the Camp Nou!

The problem is that we played an ultra offense structure that ended up struggling to serve defensive demands.

Regarding the subs, as much as it sounds strange, there is some reasoning behind it. Henry for example was a good option to use, but any stat for his performance this season can tell that he causes more possession loss than offense threat.  With the team struggling, the last thing we needed is to lose possession more often in the last segment of the game and track back again and again (Mou was combing Balotelli to get him ready for a reason). The idea was to create a better offense movement on the left flank using two of Abidal, Maxwell, and Keita with one of them at a time (Keita or Abidal) staying back when Pique moves forward. One of the earnings could be creating more space for Messi on the other flank to catch Inter by surprise. Besides, it will keep Maicon in his position rather than having to deal with his runs forward.  It was a nice try, without lot of expectations that it will do miracles. At least, it was better than any other option that may lead to losing possession.  It’s true that we were 3-1 down.  But when Pep did his substitution we were closer to 4-1 than 3-2. Playing at the Camp Nou to overcome a 1-3 defeat is not easy, but a 1-4 would have been almost impossible. May be in the last few minutes, We could have used Bojan/Henry to pick the balls roaming toward the box to hunt a goal. Especially after Maicon’s injury that created a more defensive Inter. 


Visual demonstrations:

First Goal: Notice the space behind the initial pressure attempt. Especially with the holding midfielder contribution in the build up. If you think any holding midfielder can cover that huge toritory alone, you are putting unrealistic expectations:

Can we overcome the defeat? Dont even doubt it. But either we need to make systematic changes to achieve that (Unlikely), or we need to be too good for our defects to hunt us, and thats how we usualy are.