The Barça Analyst

Barcelona had very little room for error this winter transfer window. The wage bill had to be sorted out and the Xavi had to be given reinforcements in order to boost hopes for Champions League football next season. Xavi needs wingers for his system and Alemany got him Ferran Torres and former Barcelona “Made in La Masia” player Adama Traore. Although we don’t know where Ferran Torres will be played, Adama Traore will surely be deployed to hug the touchline to unbalance defences with his speed, dribbling and silky baby oil. As a low risk loan signing, Barcelona couldn’t have much more to fill the void on the wing. The Obvious Traits Adama Traore’s game is based around his speed and dribbling ability. He completes a commendable 3.97 shot creating actions, 3.13 crosses and wins 2 aerials duels per 90. His main downside is his end product, he rarely gets into good positions and his goals+assists tally (is less than Fred) this season is quite laughable. Just comparing Adama Traore’s “no...

Ferran Torres, the January signing, who would have thought. The so called marquee signing for Barcelona is sure to get culers excited. The fee is said to be around €55M+€10M in add-ons. Is he worth the price? What will he bring to Barcelona? Here is Ferran Torres’s player profile. Ferran Torres is a Spanish forward who can play across the frontline, as a false/number nine and a left/right winger. He is an  all action forward.  His key attributes include dribbling and finishing . He is taking 2.89 shots per 90 and his goals/shot ratio of 0.19 per 90 ranks him in the top 11% of wingers. While being a technically gifted player, he is also a  hardworking player  off the ball, with his 5.04 successful pressures ranking him in the the top 13% of forwards and his commendable 32.4% pressure success rate ranking him in the top 2% of forwards. He is a decent playmaker as well, but this along with his hold up play, these are aspects of his game which he can certainly improve u...

Thursday night football it is. The last time Barcelona failed to advance from the  Champions League knockouts, seven current first team Barcelona players weren't even born yet. This isn't were Barcelona belong and we need to get out of this situation soon. Nevertheless, as Xavi said, "This is a new beginning, a turning point". The Champions League is definitely the competition Barcelona want to compete in, but a few months in the Europe League wouldn't be a disaster. To burst the clouds of disappointment, here are seven ways in which the Europa League could be a blessing in disguise for Barcelona. Winning Mentality Let's face it, Barcelona are not in the position to compete for the big titles. Despite the fact that few years in transition is what the team needs, keeping the winning mentality intact is essential. The Europa League is the perfect competition for just that. Even though Barcelona do have a shot at domestic silverware, winning in Europe would be a...

Eight ! That’s the number of La Masia graduates Xavi included in his first starting lineup as Barcelona manager. The excitement surrounding the match was evident with the Camp Nou crowd roaring for the first time in quite a while. Xavi didn’t have much time to prepare, but it does look like he has already been able to transfer some of the principles onto his players, and that’s what we saw in this match. The playing style had quite a few noticeable changes, but the patterns were quite similar to what we are used to seeing. Xavi’s Barcelona showed glimpses of what they are capable of, so let’s dive deeper into those details.   Starting XI Higher Intensity  Xavi didn’t make wholesale changes in the lineup as expected and several passing patterns were similar to that of previous games this season. One thing that did change was the intensity with which Barcelona played. The players were working relentlessly for most of the game and they were moving the ball with a lot of purpo...

The one who has the ball, is the master of the game. Combine, pass, play - that’s football. “ Xavi’s Barcelona Era” has begun. The midfield maestro is back at the club and culers are definitely excited. Xavi will bring back the Barcelona way, restore discipline and hopefully lead Barcelona to glory. Xavi has already started making some changes at the club, there are several rumours about possible signings and there are widespread opinions flying around about what we can expect from Xavi. The tactics and team selection from Xavi are major talking points as well. Here’s your complete guide to what Xavi will bring to FC Barcelona. The Immediate Changes Within a week of his arrival, Xavi has already started shaking up things behind the scenes at Barcelona. He has started to implement several small changes at the club, which might seem insignificant in the larger picture, but they do have significance. Training sessions at Barcelona have not been up to the mark for several years now a...

Barcelona have gone 3 consecutive away games without scoring under Koeman , the last time this happened the Barcelona manager at the time Louis Van Gaal was sacked. Koeman and Van Gaal have both lost their last 2 games in-charge of Barcelona before being sacked. Crisis is the word that is associated with both these dark times . Koeman’s reign at Barcelona has been far from ideal. He surely deserves criticism but was it really the right moment to sack Koeman? There are certainly reasons for doing so, but there are also several positives that back Koeman’s time at Barcelona. Nevertheless, Koeman is gone and now it appears that Xavi might take over at Barcelona. Fans are sure to be excited about this, but there are many risks that come with it. However, Xavi’s work at Al Sadd show positives signs and it might just work at Barcelona. There’s a lot going on right now with Barcelona’s managerial situation, so let’s try and analyze it. Ronald Koeman’s Reign at Barcelona Culers will hav...

Koeman’s job is in danger , there’s no denying it. Barcelona are just not getting the results under him, but worse than that is the way in which we are playing, whether it be sitting deep against Bayern Munich or relying on crosses against Granada. Against Atletico Madrid, there were some positives signs, but they were few and far between. Against Valencia, it was a much better performance, nevertheless, it was a small sample size. In general, Koeman has come under fire for his tactics and game management . There are several managers linked with the Barcelona job, but we might as well explore the possibilities of what this team can do with some changes on the drawing board. Well today I will be analyzing Pep Guardiola’s system at Manchester City and let’s see what Barcelona can learn from it. The Working Over the years, Pep has tweaked his system quite a bit and at this point it’s hard to even define a formation seeing the liquid football Manchester City are playing under Pep. O...