El Clasico. Has Jose Finally Overcome Barcelona?

In Nov 2010 Jose Mourinho, Real Madrid’s new coach, brought his side to the Camp Nou to face the La Liga champions Barcelona. Mourinho was the current Champions League coach, the man who had defeated the previous champions in the semi-final while with Inter Milan.

The game was a chance for the fans, coaches and viewers across the world to see if Mourinho could overcome the world’s best team. 

The match ended 5-0 to Barcelona and Mourinho was very much humbled and had many lessons to learn if he wished to overcome the might of Barcelona. Two years on and Jose Mourinho is bringing his Madrid side back to Camp Nou viewed by many as favourites for the match this weekend.

What a difference two years makes

The Special One’s arrival at Madrid was inevitable, arguably the world’s best coach, he was the one that Florentino Perez, Madrid’s president felt was the one necessary to knock Barca off the top spot.

Since the Galactico era Madrid had gone through a rather difficult period in the club’s fortunes. The Champions League success in 2002 made many believe that the likes of Zidane, Ronaldo and Figo would go on to dominate Europe for years to come. However, the sacking of Del Bosque (amazing, considering he conquered Europe) very much affected the future fortunes of the club.

The following season saw Carlos Quieroz arrive at the club, yet he struggled and didn't last the season. After him followed Jose Camacho, Mariano Remon, Vanderlei Luxemburgo and Juan Lopez Caro all in the space of two years.

Fabio Capello brought the league title yet did not provide the necessary quality of football required for Real Madrid. Bernd Schuster attempted to bring in a Dutch revolution with players like Robber, Sneijder and Van Der Vaart yet lasted only 18 months. He was replaced by Juande Ramos who lasted six months and then came Pelligrini who was given a season. It was turburlent period for the club, no stability and  no contunity meant little success and little quality on the pitch. This all came in a time when Barcelona were becoming the world's best side. 

After two years of Barcelona dominance Madrid’s president sought out one of the world’s best coaches. Jose Mourinho was brought in to take Madrid back to the top and to bring Real Madrid their 10^th European crown.

Last season it seemed destined that Barca and Madrid would meet in the final in Munich. It seemed fitting that Guardiola and Mourinho would face off one last time with these two great sides to see who was the kings of Europe. However, this was not a film and the script did not go to plan, both sides went out in the semi final’s. Unfortunately the final game between the two managers was a rather imbalanced affair as Barca’s focus was all about the 2^nd leg between Chelsea. It ended 2-1 to Madrid and effectively sealed the title for Mourinho.

Finally Mourinho had knocked Barca off the top and appeared to have closed the gap on their rivals.

Barca’s new period

With Guardiola being replaced with his assistant Vilanova it was seen as an evolution of the side. Tito was very much an active assistant with Guardiola, he made decisions, discussed tactics and was a major part of the “tiki-taka” revolution of Barcelona. Although not as charismatic as Guardiola, perhaps because he lacked the history that Pep had as a player at the club, he clearly not a good knowledge of the game and garnered respect from the players.

So far this season Barca have started the season undefeated, winning all six of their league games, two of their Champions League games too. However, they did lose to Real Madrid in the Super Cup, losing on away goals in a 4-4 aggregate game.

Many believe that so far this season Barcelona have not actually played particuarly well. Some last minutes wins have made Barca’s start look very impressive, yet people are slightly worried about the level of the performances of the Blaugrana.

Vilanova has reverted back to the 4-3-3 tactic which served Barca so well during 2008-2011. However last season Guardiola appeared set on changing Barca’s style into the idealist vision of Cryuff, the 3-4-3. For some games it was mesmerising yet this desire to change the winning formula appeared to affect the quality of Barcelona’s play. 

Barca had evolved from a very impressive high pressing side to perhaps a side too inclined to keep possession. A lack of penetration in some games appeared to limit Barca’s ability to rip sides apart. This has in part come from sides learning how to play against Barcelona.

This lesson has come mainly from the success of Mourinho. With both Inter and Madrid Jose has learnt how to play against Barcelona in order to limit their space, time and ability to penetrate. 

This battle between the sides two sides and their respective coaches has led to a philosophical debate between football and anti-football. The battle of El Clasico has been fascinating and has clearly taken its toll on both Mourinho and Guardiola.

Lessons learnt from the Special One

After the 5-0 demolition Mourinho decided that trying to match Barcelona was suicidal. Madrid could not keep possession effectively, they could not handle the high pressure game of Barca and importantly allowed too much space behind the defence. 

Mourinho therefore sought to make his side more compact, more secure and also more cynical. The following Clasico’s appeared more of a fight than a football match. Instructions to players like Pepe and Ramos were clear, stop Messi playing, hit him hard and restrict his space. And yet, Barca still found ways to overcome Madrid.

Last season Mourinho prepared his side for the Super Cup to change his tactic of deep defending and decided to press high. In the Super Cup they put intense pressure on the Barca defence and it appeared to work. And then Barca scored twice out of nothing. 

Madrid were fitter, more prepared and obsessed with winning the Super Cup and thus achieve a psychological blow over their rivals. And yet they couldn’t and Messi would be the difference once again. 

Mourinho must have wondered what he needed to do to overcome this side.

Well, the truth was Barca and Guardiola would cause problems of their own in search of totalfootball perfection. Mourinho’s job was to dominate all those around him and be patient in the knowledge that eventually Barca would fall from their dizzy heights.

One year on and Madrid appear to have finally mastered Barca and Mourinho appears to understand the tactics required to overcome them.

Barca’s problems

It is has been no secret that so far this season Barcelona have been rather mediocre defensively. Many believe that Barca have hidden their defensive frailties and shortcomings by scoring goals and keeping prolonged possession. In many ways they have done. 

The tiki-taka style of play was to restrict the opposition from having attacks of their own and when they did attack it was hoped that as the side was so deep and compact, counter attacks would occur with only 1 or 2 players, meaning it was possible to restrict the threat.

Of course, the other aspect of Barcelona’s game which was so important and so necessary to their style and effectiveness, was their ability to press high, especially in transition when they lost the ball. Now for me I feel they have lost their effectiveness in this key defensive tactic. Sure they press, it is in their nature, yet they appear less effective both this season and last and allow sides too counter attack counter attack more freely. 

Midfilelders as defenders equals a mediocre defence

The second problem for Barca’s defence is one which is much clearer. As Carlos Puyol has been restricted due to injury and age, his influence on the side has thus been reduced. Puyol is a player who has been the foundation for the side for a decade and his restricted role is clearly affecting Barca’s performances and strong defence. With him getting injured again Barcelona who have lost their leader and motivator.

Of course, the answer to Puyol’s diminishing role was supposed to be Gerard Pique. When he arrived from United many in England were not too sure about him after mixed performances at Old Trafford. However, he was a key member of Barca’s treble winning season in 2009 and has been a key player since for both club and country.  

However, last season he was led astray by his celebrity girlfriend Shakira and was punished by Guardiola on several occasions. His new lifestyle led to a lack of focus and concentration which certainly affected his performances. Towards the end of last season started to recapture his form and in the summer for Spain. Yet another injury to him means he will be possibly out for tonight's game. His presence would have been very important for the game against Madrid. Some believe he will be available, yet it is not a guarantee.

Barca will therefore have to rely on the somewhat unconvincing partnership of Alex Song and Javier Mascherano. For the past two seasons Guardiola was forced into playing players out of position due to injuries. Players like Busquets and Mascherano were played at centre back and although shaky at times, actually played quite well. Mascherano particularly was excellent and showed this against United in the 2010 Champions League. 

Many football experts believed Barcelona had once again transformed the game, midfielders were now the modern defender, playing out from the back with the qualities of a midfielder. Yet, there was always something wrong with this tactical change, without Pique or Puyol, real defenders who read the game, headed the ball and knew the intricacies of defending as well as having the ability to play out effectively, Barca were very unconvincing at the back.

The summer required the purchase of a world class defender to improve the Barca defence as Puyol’s influence waned. Names like Thiago Silva, Mats Hummels and Daniel Agger were mentioned, yet none arrived. From the Academy products it was felt that Marc Bartra was too inexperienced to make the step up this season and a top player was required.

Yet a top defender did not arrive. Instead Alex Song, the “defensive midfielder” at Arsenal was Barca’s target. Song arrived at Camp Nou for £12m. 

Personally I believe this was a terrible move for Barcelona. They required a real defender who could replace Puyol. Thus power, strength, tackling and heading were all required, as well as possessing strong leadership skills. 

Alex Song played most of last season as an attacking midfielder, he showed no positional discipline or tactical understanding. His quality as a midfielder is nothing compared to Busquets and even Mascherano and his ability as a centre back was last seen properly when on loan at Charlton as a teenager. 

To believe this player was the answer to Barca’s defensive issues showed a real concern on Vilanova’s decision making. And so it has been shown to be true so far this season. In the game against Sevilla in particular Song was culpable to many errors in terms of his positioning and ability to defend. 

It is a worry for Barca that against Real and all their attacking threats will be a defence which simply cannot defend effectively.

The Lionel Messi problem?

As well as the glaring holes in defence, there does appear to be a concern with the world’s best player. Last season Messi scored 82 goals in all competitions. It was a simply staggering and almost baffling amount of goals and it showed the world that Messi was perhaps the best player to have ever played the game. 

Yet Barca could not win the Champions League, the one they really wanted. What was clear was that Barcelona were far too reliant on Leo to be effective against the top sides. Chelsea, although lucky throughout the  two legs restricted Messi’s influence. 

I wrote before how Barca often missed the incisive penetrative runs of Pedro last year, focusing more on congesting midfield and keeping play in front of defences. As well as Pedro David Villa’s injury was a major blow to Barca and it certainly restricted Barca’s style of play, especially when Alexis and Cesc under performed and failed to support Messi in the way Villa and Pedro did in the 10/11 season.

With Villa back now Barca and Messi has the support needed to be more effective. However, there is an issue and concern regarding La Pulga.

Although Vilanova has gone back to the more successful 4-3-3 which served Barca so well a few years ago, they appear again to be too reliant on Messi, or more importantly, Messi expects everything to be going through him. 

A few weeks ago there was an incident between Messi and Villa which highlighted Messi’s control over the team. Everyone knows that Messi is the main man at Barca, we all know that the tactics are there to get him on the ball and thus much of the play is required to go through Messi. 

It has been clear this is the case for many years and of course this has consequences. When Eto’o was moved on it was to bring Messi through the middle, Zlatan struggled because Guardiola made it clear the team revolved around Messi, for a player like Zlatan who expects the play through him, this caused issues and Zlatan was moved on. 

David Villa’s arrival pointed at this potential problem again, and while the side was successful, it was reported that Villa was disillusioned with playing out wide and wanted to play in his favourite role through the middle. Yet this went against Guardiola’s style and if not for the broken leg, Villa would have been at a different club this season.

The thing is, Barca has become Messi’s team. It has been clear for a few years, yet there appears now a worry that Messi expects the team to revolve around him at all times. His outburst at Villa signified that the quiet, reserved Messi was now becoming much more vocal and demanding of the players around him. 

This is not necessarily a bad thing, he captains his national side and as he matures, will become more of a leader. However the issue may become that Barca lose their penetrative quality by having to play to Messi. 

Last season Barca were becoming too predictable and the worry was that too much was going through Messi. Could it be that Messi is restricting the long term success of the side and as Barca become more predictable and players must play “for” Messi more, could Barca lose the style and quality which has made them so successful?

Tito Vilanova

Finally, Vilanova. I wrote before the many issues that Tito was going to have by taking the head coach role. Keeping the high standards was one thing and it seemed inevitable that Barca could not maintain the standards that made them so much better than the rest.

Added to this the diminishing influence of key players like Puyol and Xavi and the strength of foundations on which made Barca so successful was showing cracks. 

Importantly, the biggest concern of Vilanova’s is in his ability to deal with the pressures of the job and the intense media coverage of managing the world’s best team. The results so far have allowed Vilanova some breathing space and it was essential he started well. Yet losing to Madrid in the Super Cup was a huge psychological blow to Vilanova.  Jose won the first battle between the two and for a manager who had failed to overcome Pep until the end in the battle of El Clasico’s, this was very significant.

What a difference two years makes

When Mourinho brought Madrid to the Camp Nou in 2010 he came with an arrogance and left very humbled. He saw the gap between the sides and has spent two years after trying to overcome the world’s best side.

It took many attempts and many failures to find a winning formula and importantly wear down Barca and their manager and players through the media. The drama of the games, the play acting, the theatre were all part of his plan to overcome Barca.

Has he succeeded? It is very hard to write off Barcelona, in the past few years whenever the media believe Madrid are able to defeat Barca, Barca have lifted their game and come out successful. It was becoming very worrying for Madrid that they could not overcome their rivals. Yet last season was significant, winning La Liga and having Guardiola exit signified that the era of dominance of Barcelona was coming to an end. 

The game tonight is thus massive for Madrid. Although they have started the season very badly in terms of performances, results and also issues between players and Mourinho, they do appear focused on being successful this season, especially in Europe. 

Ronaldo’s issues earlier on seem to be gone and his scoring form is simply stunning. He has shown a liking to scoring against Barcelona also and so expect another big performance tonight.

Yet perhaps the key difference to Madrid now is the arrival of Luka Modric. I spoke before how he brings to the team the ability to improvethe solidity of the midfield while adding creativity in attack. He is different to Ozil and in games like this, like in Europe, Modric will be vital to the teams success. 

Madrid have struggled with keeping possession against Barca and this I believe comes from Ozil’s role in the side. He fails to help his midfield two of Alonso and Khedira defensively and struggles to get on the ball in many of the big games. Modric will allow Madrid to match Barca in midfield and will give the side more in terms of retention. He is a major acquisition for Madrid and I look forward to seeing his influence this season.

To the victors go the psychological advantage 

Tonight’s game will not crown anyone champions yet with each El Clasico it will be significant psychologically to both sides. However the pressure is all on Barcelona for me. A strong start to the season means they don’t have the excuse of Madrid of having a “slow start”. Being at home also is important and thus Barca will need a good performance and get a good result. The concern though is in defence and Madrid’s forwards must be licking their lips at what they have to face tonight.

Barca are still one of the world’s best sides, yet they are not as great as they were a few years ago. They have come back to earth and have flaws which can be exposed. With the qualities of Xavi, Iniesta and of course Messi, Barca have the potential to cause Madrid many problems. Yet unlike previous El Clasico’s of recent years, the advantage tonight appears to be very much in Madrid’s court. 

Will Jose leave humbled once again or will he walk out with the arrogance of a winning manager?

The Whitehouse Address @The_W_Address