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3. Abandon the 3-at-the-back experiment and make optimum use of the full-backs
While Pep Guardiola employed the three-at-the-back experiment rarely during his phenomenal reign at the Camp Nou, Luis Enrique has been much more open to the concept and during crucial matches has gone ahead with employing a 3-4-3 system which had one of the traditional fullbacks Jordi Alba or Sergi Roberto play as wide men while forcing one of the regular central midfielders Andre Gomes or Ivan Rakitic out wide.
While supporters of this approach will point out the spectacular success it had in that remarkable Paris Saint-Germain second leg, you only have to look at the game that occurred three days later to identiffy the critical flaws of this strategy as Deportivo La Coruna comprehensively outplayed them at the Riazor. While the most obvious thing that match highlighted was how piss-poor PSG were, the key take-away should have been just how aimless Barcelona looked, both on the ball and off it. With players playing out of position and a midfield that didn’t really know what to do, it looked very much like the bad ol’ days of post-Figo and pre-Ronaldinho Barca when no one knew just what exactly was going on.
Next season, they should stick to their traditional 4-3-3 and ensure that the full-backs are given freedom to bomb forward. One of the things that made Barcelona so good back in the day was the attacking impetus provided by the likes of Dani Alves, Eric Abidal and Jodi Alba down the flanks – they were the forerunners to what would become one of the most important aspects of modern football, the presence of a roving full-back who would allow the forward player to cut in and wreak havoc while still maintaing the option of having a player hugging the touchline.
Aleix Vidal demonstrated just how better Barca are when Lionel Messi has a right back behind him that bombs forward when he finally regained Enrique’s trust but injury cut that tryst short. As good as Sergi Roberto is, it is time the new management got a proper right back to do what they do best.
