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FC Barcelona has mostly been known as the masters of the traditional tiki-taka, inherited from the hugely successful Total Football strategy, since the nineties; albeit constantly having aggressive forward lines.
With the recent inclusion of the sensational Luis Suárez from Liverpool, Barcelona’s present forward line is potentially one of the most explosive ones since the club’s inception. With the unparalleled Lionel Messi and the talismanic Neymar in their squad, the Uruguayan international could not have asked for better partners-in-crime to take Spain’s most successful club to new heights.
On the contrary, numerous critics have labeled the supercharged forward line as being potentially disastrous to Barcelona’s style of play. Suárez has been tagged as being rather individualistic instead of being a team player; with the latter attribute being one of the most important ingredients for the tiki-taka style of play.
Not to forget that the aggressive striker is not the only out-and-out goal scorer to have signed for Barcelona. Club legends Thierry Henry, Samuel Eto’o and David Villa have all been successful playing as out-and-out goal scorers in its tiki-taka generation of play
Teamwork will be the key
With teamwork being one of the most significant aspects of the Catalan club’s style of play, questions have already been raised on the collaboration skills within the South American trio. The 27-year-old Uruguayan striker’s team work would be critical in determining the success of the holy trinity.
One should however keep in mind that the very success of teamwork lies in individual contributors performing their assigned roles to perfection. Having said this, the emphasis needs to be on individuals putting the team’s interest ahead of their personal interests in building a cohesive playing unit.
One can arguably put forward a classic example of Suárez demonstrating this important attribute by virtue of his deliberate red card in the Uruguay’s World Cup 2010 clash against Ghana, an action which was rather helpful for his team than for himself.
4-3-3 formation with Messi-Neymar-Suarez up front
The much familiar 4-3-3 formation for Barcelona this season could feature Luis Suárez in the role of the central striker, with both Lionel Messi and Neymar as wide attackers manning the wings.
Suarez through the middle as a centre-forward
Barcelona’s already successful three man attacking strategy can be refined by Luis Suárez playing in the role of a centre forward. With his immaculate goal scoring capabilities his main target would be to convert the killer passes, from wide attackers Messi and Neymar, into match winning goals.
The 27-year-old striker’s build should help him overpowering the defenders and attacking the goal. Having scored 82 goals in 133 performances for Liverpool, he is likely to play a major part in shaping the trio’s success. His aggressive attitude would arguably help him in intimidating the opposition defenders thus creating space for the phenomenal Messi to cut through the defence
Messi through the right as a withdrawn striker and playmaker
The modern day club legend has already been hugely successful in his role of orchestrating the Catalan attack. His tremendous pace along with unmatched dribbling skills makes him the highlight of the powerful Barcelona attack. Instinctively being left footed, Messi also has the advantage of cutting into the opposition defence from the right side thereby creating a win-win situation where he can either aim for goal or set up a match winning assist for Suárez.
Luis Enrique, however, has to redefine the hugely successful False No.9 position played by the Argentine International. Nevertheless the all-time top scorer for Barcelona has to carry on his sparkling form from Brazil 2014 in order for the La Liga giants to flourish and reach new heights of success; additionally to mark his return to the elite list of Ballon d'Or winners as a personal milestone.
Neymar through the left flank, primarily as a winger
The artistic Brazilian would be a perfect fit manning the left flank, parallel to what he does for his national team and occasionally drifting infield with his vigorous pace and dribbling.
Neymar, with his blistering pace and brilliant dribbling abilities, can unsettle the opposition defenders thereby leaving some space for Messi and Suárez to attack the goal; albeit he has to bear in mind that dribbling should be used to steer out of trouble and not get into it. The talented 22-year-old also fits the bill of being a forward, as he has been with his former club Santos, as and when required. However it is of utmost importance that he juggles the roles of being a winger as well as a situational attacker with perfect balance.
Strategy
The present day Catalan squad provides Luis Enrique with various strategies to attack the opposition goal and the presence of a strong and fresh midfield adds power to the supercharged strike line.
Applying pressure early and high up in field
By letting the trio of Messi, Neymar and Suarez feature upfront; Barcelona can create early pressure in the game at the opposition defenders. Squeezing them of space should clearly be their strategy.
Combined efforts of pressing the defenders early inside their own half could result in mistakes from them, thereby creating the situation of a potential attacking move or a killer pass. After all a three man attack causes more confusion in the opposition defence and provides Barcelona with increased attacking options.
Additionally, with Messi and Neymar playing wide, and not likely to track back much; would leave the opposition full backs with reduced chances of coming forward thereby leaving the deadly duo unmarked.
Aerial counter attacks and through balls
The longs balls from central defenders Busquets and Mascherano , creates the opportunity for the Catalan striking trio to attack the opposition goal, especially with Suarez’s indispensable skill of winning the ball in the air.
Even if the defender marking Suarez reaches the ball earlier than he does, it creates the opportunity of a Barcelona throw-in or even a corner, provided Suarez uses his aggressiveness to win to dead ball situation for his team.
Traditional tiki taka style of attack
The traditional combination passing followed by Barcelona should also provide them with higher ball possession, thereby creating the chances for the magical “One-two’s”, which Messi has mastered together with Iniesta. With Messi’s blistering pace and brilliant ball control, he can either tear the defence apart on his own, or create match-winning balls for either Neymar or Suarez in front of the opposition’s Goal mouth.
Using Suárez as a target man for drawing out defenders
The Uruguayan International’s ability on engaging more than one defender and out-powering them essentially makes him the target man in the Barcelona attack. With two of the world’s fastest players on either side, this Barcelona attack can unsettle even a strong 4-man defence and create more space for the midfielders to come forward.
The aggressive striker’s abovementioned attribute, of getting defenders glued to him, provides him with the opportunity for making the dummy runs taking opposition defenders along with him, thereby creating more width for the phenomenal Leo Messi, to penetrate deep inside the opposition penalty box.
Additionally with Neymar likely to draw attention from the right full backs, the new midfield duo of Iniesta and Rakitic should have more space to attack, with Iniesta’s powerful long distance shots being potentially dangerous for the opposition goal.
Luis Enrique wants to build an unpredictable team
Enrique, has already won his first pre-season friendly against Spanish club Recreativo de Huelva, albeit without any member of his supercharged attacking trio taking part. The former Celta Vigo boss has said that he is interested in building Barcelona as a team which is unpredictable, and wants to use different tactics and concepts effectively to deter opponents, as per reports.
The 44-year-old Barcelona boss is reportedly looking for hunger and ambition from members of his current squad. His biggest challenge however lies in synchronizing the collaborative team effort with sparks of sheer individual brilliance, thereby transforming La Blaugrana into the indomitable team he wants.
A disappointing last season for Barcelona, where their traditional tiki-taka was neutralized with ease, should lay the foundation for the start of a different style of play, an aggressive and unpredictable one where counter-attacking tactics should be used to the fullest, especially with the fiery South American front line comprising of the Magical Messi, the talismanic Neymar and the sensational Suárez.
Arguably armed with better ammunition than in the last few seasons, Luis Enrique’s Barcelona looks all set to take on the best of footballing world; egotistically set to surpass Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona and set new benchmarks in Nou Camp.
