Barcelona and Hansi Flick are in the spotlight after Sunday’s defeat to Real Madrid left the defending Spanish champions five points behind Los Blancos in the table.
It’s another defeat for the Catalan
giants who are not in the best form currently. Injuries have played a part, obviously, but Flick has now been advised to change his formation.
Former Barcelona coach and player Carles Rexach thinks it might be time to move to a 4-4-2 set-up. Rexach has analysed the Clasico defeat and has had the following to say.
“I think they want to push the front line, but they don’t do it well enough. In addition to the lines, there needs to be a reasonable distance between the lines, about 10 meters. Otherwise, what happens is that there’s a huge gap with the defensive line, and Madrid takes advantage of that because it leaves a huge gap,” he wrote in his column for Mundo Deportivo.
“Given this situation I think Barça should use four midfielders, in a 4-4-2, but in a diamond formation. Now, when Barça loses the ball in midfield, it’s a half-chance. In the Clásico, they were saved because there were offside calls; otherwise, they would have ended up with goal-scoring opportunities.
“Now, they press hard, but they get too far away from the defense, and with Real Madrid in front of them, who are good, they play a long pass and that’s it.
“It’s not a question of accumulating more defenders, but rather of being well positioned on the field. For a teammate to be able to cover you, they have to be close. Madrid, for example, put a player on Pedri, and that ends up affecting the game.”
Flick spoke about the importance of positioning before the win over Olympiacos, highlighting how it “kills us in the defense” when the team’s press isn’t quite right.
Do you agree with Rexach? How can Flick tweak things to get Barca back on track? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
