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With barely 4 weeks remaining for the start of a fresh Primera Division season, Luis Enrique’s plan for shaping Barcelona’s early season would be at its climax. With the recent signing of Jeremy Mathieu, in a £15.8million deal from Valencia, the defence now apparently looks more established than before.
Barcelona did raise some eyebrows while forming their new explosive forward line comprising of the South American trio of Messi, Neymar and Suárez. Sadly however, their fans will not able see the fiery strike-line in full swing before a considerable amount of time, well at least till the first El-Clásico of the season.
With Suárez still serving a ban, from his biting incident at Brazil 2014, and Neymar out with a potentially career-threatening injury for some time, Barcelona are already on the back foot prior to the start of the 2014-15 Season.
While it certain that Suárez will be out for a considerable amount of time, the absence of the talismanic Brazilian winger can significantly affect the shaping of Barcelona’s early season.
Update on Neymar’s injury
The 22 year old Brazilian forward suffered a fractured vertebra last month, during Brazil’s quarterfinal clash with Columbia, thereby ruling him out of action for significant amount of time.
According to latest reports, Neymar is still being treated with anti-inflammatory tablets, to ease his pain, in addition to undergoing extensive physiotherapy and is likely to be out of action for another six to eight weeks.
The absence of the talented Brazilian International and the sensational Suárez gives rise to a number of talking points for shaping Barcelona’s crucial success early into the season
The rise of Gerard Deulofeu and Pedro as wingers
Gerard Deulofeu and Pedro are the probable wingers to accompany the phenomenal Lionel Messi in forming the forward line.
The 20 year old Deulofeu, marking his return to Nou Camp after serving a season on loan to Everton, would be vitally important and is expected to be benefitted hugely from the absence of Neymar. His Premier league experience should help him tremendously while starting the campaign for Barcelona.
The Barcelona wonder-kid generally likes playing from the right side as an attacking midfielder cutting into the opposition defence occasionally. The Spanish youth international was responsible for almost all dead ball situations with the Barcelona-B team during his playing days with them.
Albeit the Girona born youngster might lack the raw pace of Alexis Sanchez, his brilliant technical ability and a good eye for goal might feature him primarily through the right flank at Camp Nou.
On the other side, Pedro, who has already been featured in the La Blaugrana outfit, might take the role of an attacking midfielder primarily manning the Left wing. Although he generally plays the ball his left foot, he actually right footed and has fantastic sense of position. This Ambidextrous nature can be a big boon as he can easily change positions according to the situation. Pedro is also known for his long and powerful shots targeting the opposition goal.
Additionally, his non-stop chasing attitude would certainly prove to be a constant harassing factor for the opposition defence, leading to them being cramped for space early in their own half.
The 26 year old, having already represented Spain in the highest level, would have a critical role to play in shaping the success for Barcelona early into the season.
Albeit the absence of the talismanic Brazilian winger would hurt Barcelona, it gives the youngsters a chance to prove their worth to the La Liga giants.
Andrés Iniesta and Ivan Rakiti? will have to step up on the offensive end
The newly signed Ivan Rakiti? would fit in as a good box-to-box midfielder with his versatility. The Croatian International’s good game vision and passing ability makes him the potential candidate to man the central midfield along with the intelligent Andrés Iniesta.
Although the 26 year old’s primary role would be of a playmaker providing assists to the fast wingers, his uncanny ability of crashing the opposition penalty box should also be used to step up the Barcelona attack.
Furthermore, with the not so experienced Deulofeu beside him on the right flank, Rakiti? has very less room for error in managing the right midfield.
On the other hand Andrés Iniesta, being spontaneous and quick, would also play a major role in anchoring the Catalan midfield.
The crucial absence of Neymar on the left flank makes it imperative for Pedro to use his electric pace and excellent technical skills in making false runs into the opposition half, keeping defenders glued to him, which should create the additional space required for Iniesta to make his way towards the Opposition’s goal mouth.
It is true that Iniesta will not be in complete ease without the brilliance of the injured Brazilian and he has to make that extra effort to manage the left midfield.
The La Masia graduate, together with Rakiti?, has to step up on offensive side regularly to provide Barcelona with the additional flair they need in their attack to make a successful start this season.
Messi as False No.9
With the lack of Suárez in the strike line, Barcelona is likely to continue featuring Messi as their false-number nine. The Argentine International had completely redefined the landscape of strikers in Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona playing as the false-number nine.
The 27 year old attacking midfielder should drop deep frequently, even to the halfway line if required, and receive the ball, looking for space to go up field. His extreme ability of keeping the ball glued to his feet and producing those killer passes suits the familiar tiki taka style, as the Catalans would look to gradually build up the attack.
Barcelona leaving a gap in the center-forward position would tempt the opposition defenders to come up field, and this provides Pedro and Deulofeu with the cunning opportunity to run behind them, Pedro especially with his stimulating pace. A neat through ball to him from any of the midfielders puts the Spanish International on a prospective one on one situation.
Messi has already been known to provide the killer passes and through balls which cut through the centre-back and full back with utmost precision.
This strategy would also rely heavily on the duo of Iniesta and Rakiti? running deep from midfield to support Messi and create the chances of attacking the opposition goal mouth.
Formation of the 4-3-3, sans Neymar and Suárez
La Blaugrana’s familiar 4-3-3 formation, early this season without the likes of Neymar and Suárez, could feature Deulofeu and Pedro teaming with Lionel Messi to form the forward line.
The midfield can be manned by the trio of Andrés Iniesta, Ivan Rakiti? and Sergio Busquets, with Iniesta and Rakiti? moving forward consistently to support the strike line.
The 4 man defence could feature the likes of new recruit Jeremy Mathieu as a left full back, Gerard Piqué and Javier Mascherano as central defenders , and Dani Alves as right full back. It might be noteworthy that the 30-year old Mathieu would face good competition from Jordi Alba for the left full back position.
Injuries and bans are never a good thing to feature, especially during the start of a fresh season, as potentially they mean lesser playing time for the sidelined players. The impact is even more when the sidelined players belong to the likes Neymar and Suárez.
With the two heavyweights out, the Catalans have already lost two-thirds of their explosive forward line at the start of this season, leaving Luis Enrique to fill the up the positions with youngsters and new talents.
The fiery frontline duo should however be benefitted from their timeout, as they would have the precious opportunity to watch and learn the new style of play that Luis Enrique’s Barcelona would adopt.
Getting familiarized with the system prior to playing in it would eventually benefit them in understanding their roles and responsibilities in it.
