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Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman has admitted that he will utilise the 4-2-3-1 formation more than the 4-3-3 during his time at Camp Nou.
The 4-3-3 has become synonymous with Barcelona as Frank Rijkaard, Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique have all used the system to achieve success in the La Liga and the Champions League.
Barcelona earned a 3-1 win over Gimnastic de Tarragona in a friendly on Saturday. The former Everton manager played the game using his favoured 4-2-3-1 with two holding midfielders. Speaking after the game, Ronald Koeman explained:
"It’s perhaps a little different and more defensive to what we have seen in the last few years. But the aim is to move the ball, hold on to it and create space to play between the lines, behind the opponents’ midfielders. I think this team is capable of doing this because we have midfielders who are able to play in that way."
Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman hints at a new approach
Barcelona earned a 3-1 win over Catalan side Gimnastic de Tarragona, who play in Segunda División. Ousmane Dembele opened the scoring for the Blaugrana in the fifth minute- his first goal after a long injury layoff.
Antoine Griezmann and Philippe Coutinho rounded off the win from the penalty spot. Koeman started almost a full-strength side which included their talisman Lionel Messi, even though the Argentine started training this week.
The former Dutch national team coach made 11 changes at half time, giving debuts to new additions Pedri, Francisco Trincao and Konrad de La Fuente. The Catalan giants play another friendly against Girona next Wednesday.
Barcelona start their league campaign in two weeks against Villarreal, and Koeman spoke about the importance of the pre-season, especially as there is much lesser time for players to get fit for the new campaign. He said:
"It was important for those players to play now because this is not a normal pre-season, we only have four weeks together, not six and it’s very difficult. What we want to do right now is focus on our fitness and then over the next two weeks focus on more tactical questions.
"The most important thing today is that fortunately there were no injuries and everyone was able to play 45 minutes. We showed good levels of intensity in spells, and although there are things we can improve in we are happy. We’ve only been working together for two weeks and now we have two more."
