Due to the unfortunate circumstances that occurred,
Barcelona where forced into another new managerial change. It has been a
turbulent year or so in the Barcelona managers office, the circumstances
however where far beyond their own control. Tata Martino has come in and
Barcelona will be hoping for a period of stability. It was unfortunate for them
that last season saw the first without Guardiola, his assistant Tito Vilanova
took over. This was the first period of change, and when tragedy struck and Vilanova
took a leave of absence to help recover from cancer, a new period of change
ensued which temporarily thrust Jordi Roura into the hot seat. Vilanova of
course made his return but the bad news that his cancer had returned forced him
to step down entirely, Tata Martino came to the front.
Martino only had one new signing, which was made before his
arrival. The talented Brazillian Neymar joined the ranks and the new boss seems
pretty pleased with his inherited squad, choosing not to add anymore new faces.
The style hasn’t totally been changed, but there have been some major
adjustments. Spectators where almost shocked to see Victor Valdes take a long
kick this season, rather than roll the ball out so Barcelona could build from
the back. The team pressing from Barcelona which was the key feature of the
Guardiola era subsided slightly under Vilanova and now even more under Tata
Martino.
The less pressing of Barcelona as a team and as a whole unit
has in return highlighted the quality possessed by Sergio Busquets. He has been
given more responsibility in the middle of the park to win the ball back for
his side. In previous regimes he was renowned for his ability to step into
defence allowing the full backs to bomb on, but under Martino we have seen a
more combative Busquets. The Spaniard covers more ground than ever before, aggressively
seeking the ball in more areas of the pitch than in previous years.
As shown below, last season in the Mestalla against Valencia
Busquets operated mostly centrally, and either in his own half or just slightly
above the half way line when Barcelona where in possession. This season however
in the same fixture not one of his tackles came centrally, instead they
happened out wide and high up the pitch.
Martino has given Busquets license to prowl that midfield
and the early indications are that he is very comfortable doing so. This season,
may just see Busquets going from Barcelona’s most underrated player, to one of
the top midfield combatants in Europe.
No comments:
Post a Comment