Future Game

What Does It All Mean?

Barcelona Wiped Off Map By Bayern; 

EU Concerned Over Missing City

Football fans on this side of the Atlantic could be forgiven if they were to think that the city of Barcelona itself had been removed from the face of the earth following this week's Champion's League semi-final stomping at the hands of Bayern Munich.  Rest assured, Catalonia-philes, all is just fine in Barcelona.

But the events of the scoreline brought rise to some better discussion by a couple of football's more sensible (and knowledgeable) writers.  A couple quotes from their writing are below, offered up in this space to underline the need of coaches and players (and...dare I say it...parents) to consider the approach taken to the game.  It will be clear that the final score in Munich on Tuesday was not a sudden success.  Bayern did not buy a few players last summer and slap together a squad capable of the accomplishments this team has enjoyed so far.  This game was, in a sense, two students of the same Sensei battling to see who would become the next master of the discipline.  It may not be that dramatic in the end; there are many, many great teams capable of beating either Barca or Bayern on the day.  But if things go the direction we might expect, even the teams that challenge these two will feature similar philosophies.

What this means for my U12/13 teams is simply that many of the principles discussed below will be heavily featured as characteristics we'll seek to emulate.  Several ought to be familiar already!  Will it look like the big boys this weekend? No...nor next spring, nor the spring after that.  But as a student of Physics won't ever master that discipline, people will continue to "discover" new angles, new strategies, and so forth within the game; players must understand where it all came from, what's being done in the game now...in order to evolve into the next generation.  Exciting stuff...if we think more globally, and with the focus on creating students of the game (rather than winning youth events come hell or high water) and fostering a connection between every player and the best-known current method of playing.

To open, an older article by one of my favorite writers.  In examining the trend in increased goal scoring in European leagues the past few seasons, Jonathon Wilson offers this:

What's even more striking, though, is the behaviour of the two English teams who were the major prize-winners last season. Chelsea, having ground their way to the Champions League, now play with a dazzling trio of attacking midfielders who have a habit of leaving their full-backs exposed. Doggedness and defiance can bring one trophy, the message seems to be, but something far more proactive is necessary if pre-eminence is to be sustained.

So Bayern Munich bring in Pep Guardiola this summer, the current high priest of possession football (following names like Van Gaal, Cruyff, Bielsa, and Michels) and the pursuit of proactive play does seem to be a priority for teams who seek to be elite.  Even Swansea have brought in a Dutch disciple, Michael Ladrup, to add a more proactive approach to the wonderful short passing game which advanced the Swans from the lower divisions to the EPL (and solid mid-table status two years running) by Brendan Rodgers.  Rodgers was frequently criticized for "possession for possession's sake," an utter no-no in the work-rate crazed English game- getting stuck in still matters more to the English fan, it would seem, than valuing skill and thoughtfulness on the field.  

Shaktar Donetsk, under Mircea Lucescu, play a wonderful possession-based game with the ability to attack very quickly.  Wilson modifies the discussion (as rapturous pundits fall over themselves to make hay out of what ought to be viewed as an unsurprising result - unusual, unexpected, but certainly not a improbable one). Remember Bayern are already the 2012-13 champs in Germany, with a goal differential of plus-75; they can score in huge bunches, and never concede. That they dropped 4 on Barcelona is impressive, but hardly unprecedented:

It's important, though, not to be drawn into the cliche of physical Germans against technical Spaniards, even if Bayern do have a slight physical edge. What will be fascinating is seeing not only the two best possession teams in Europe facing off, but also the two best pressing sides. Barcelona's players will never have been placed under such co-ordinated pressure on the ball as they are likely to be on Tuesday – and vice-versa. It's in the pressing as much as in his goals that Mario Mandzukic, suspended for the first leg, will be missed. "His stamina is endless," said Felix Magath. "I think he could play two back-to-back high-tempo games." Much as Samuel Eto'o used to do for Barça, Mandzukic leads the press for Bayern; whether Mario Gomez has the energy – or indeed the intelligence – to do that is doubtful.

Stamina, coordinated pressure, intelligence.  Despite Luis Suarez's latest faux pas, stupid kids don't play football at this level.  Players who aren't organized (communicate, communicate, communicate) don't play at this level.  Players who don't work relentlessly don't play at this level.  Both teams in this case have these qualities in spades; Bayern just got it to come together better.  Certainly the return leg in the Camp Nou will look different, though to no matter, likely.  For youth players, it's important to read this and understand that stamina, coordination, and intelligence are the watchwords by which the spaces between players are controlled.  11 players cannot physically cover the field, but their organization, work ethic and intelligence can.

Wilson clearly hit the nail on the head.  For confirmation, Michael Cox offers some highly technical analysis of the game, and verifies what Wilson predicted above:

Pressing was always likely to be important in deciding the shape of this game, and Bayern’s pressing strategy worked well. They used an approach that has becoming increasingly popular in top-level games over the past year: they pressed the opposition at goal-kicks, preventing them from playing the ball forward into midfield easily…but once that press had been passed through, Bayern dropped deep into a solid defensive shape, and from then rarely pressed the Barcelona defenders.

Barcelona conceded possession cheaply inside their own half – but not always when under heavy pressure. The spell of pressure that eventually resulted in Bayern’s opener started from two Barcelona mistakes – Marc Bartra misplaced a pass which resulted in an unnecessary corner being conceded, then as soon as Barcelona had cleared the danger, Busquets lost the ball in a similarly dangerous position.

What's interesting about this is the idea of pressing at goal kicks.  At the youth level, it makes more sense to sit in against a six.  Allow the opponent to play out of the back for two reasons:  it's better for the game (think globally...better for American soccer) if the defenders are invited to play, rather than stare glassy-eyed as long balls soar overhead; and, youth players have a hard time passing through a compact, organized defense, which the dead ball situation amply allows time to set up. 

The second point Cox makes underscores something I've stated frequently in this space, and in training.  Don't ever lose the ball in your own half.  Teams that do this tend to struggle.  Another good reason to sit in deep and make the backs look inviting on goal kicks: one misplaced pass in their half, and it's game on for us.  Consider, too, how many 12 or 13 year olds can hit a six (even on an 8v8 field) high, straight and past midfield.  At U13 and on the 11v11 pitch, it'll be even more pronounced.  And poorly hit long kicks are just turnovers waiting to happen.

Fans of attractive, smart and stylish football, despair not.  Wilson goes on in a post-match post to say:

To suggest, as some have done, that Bayern's victory somehow ends tiki-taka is ludicrous. Their style is itself based on similar principles, on control of possession and winning the ball back high up the pitch – themselves core tenets of Total Football, which has underpinned Barcelona's football since Rinus Michels moved there from Ajax in 1971.

The German variant of the philosophy, which eschewed pressing, underpinned the successes of Bayern and Borussia Mönchengladbach in the seventies. The two came together as Jupp Heynckes, who played for Gladbach, succeeded Louis van Gaal, who had taken his modernised version of Total Football from Ajax to Barcelona in 1997, at Bayern two years ago.

Only Barcelona have higher possession stats and have completed a higher percentage of passes than Bayern in Europe's top five leagues this season. That Bayern last night achieved only 37% possession is because they modified – or were forced to modify – their approach against the only side better than them at holding the ball in Europe. The core philosophy of both is the same. 

Bayern are perhaps a little more physical and a little more direct than Barça but there is a reason they have appointed Guardiola as their manager next season. The era of the New Total Football continues, it's just that its centre has moved from Barcelona to Munich.