These teams have two completely different approaches, especially after their crazy good elite MSN and BBC eras. I’ll explain.
Look at Real Madrid’s 2022 UCL winning line-up. Courtois, a goalkeeper that is mainly good at saving shoots, not with the ball on his feet. Mendy, a very defensive left back. Casemiro, a very defensive midfielder, with limited ball playing and offensive attributes. Kroos and Modric, experienced veterans. Kroos - Vinicius, a midfielder with crazy good long balls and a winger that’s crazy good on open space. Finally, Valverde as a RW, a winger with much more defensive instructions than the average one.
Which teams do you think all those players and tactics are better against? Against which teams do you think Kroos can pinpoint a long through ball to Vini? High-pressing, high defensive teams that like to attack even when they’re up, like Liverpool, City or Bayern? Or most La Liga teams that sit back with 11 men behind the ball, even at a draw? Do you think players like Mendy and Casemiro are that necessairy in La Liga? It’s like the whole Real Madrid team is built on facing and winning against good teams. The problem is that sometimes it’s not as good against weaker teams.
Barcelona are the exact opposite. Faster tempo, really offensive fullbacks, DM is a deeper playmaker, not a guy like Casemiro. Wingers are purely offensive players, nothing close to Valverde or Lucas Vazquez who are supporting the defence as well. They don’t excell in counterattacks and open spaces like Kroos and Vini, they excell on short, closed spaces, with quick one-twos and stuff. That way they can outplay and suffocate weaker teams with constant passing and constantly outnumbering their park the bus tactics with tons of offensive players. What happens when you face an equally good team though? Trouble starts to appear. It’s no coincidence that Xavi decided to start Cancelo as a midfielder in the recent Clasico, he knows that it’s impossible to play against good teams with so attacking fullbacks. Alba was the same before Balde took over.
Another factor is youngsters. Real Madrid almost never give chances to academy players, most “youngsters” are mainly guys who were bought at around 17-18. In Barcelona it’s the exact opposite, it feels like every other week they find a new 16 year old out of nowhere. I know Pedri was bought, but Gavi, Balde, Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Guiu. All these guys can be very helpful in La Liga, where players have the luxury of getting rid of the pressure of playing first team football little by little. But when you throw too many youngsters in the mix in the UCL, you get back to back group stage exits.
So, I think they just have completely different approaches, that have (as expected) completely different results. I’m not saying one team is better than the other, it just make sense that Real Madrid are better in the UCL, while Barcelona are better in La Liga, mostly.
Little side note to this: Barcelona has no other choice then to go with youth players as their financial situation wont let them register new squad players.
And youth players under a certain age do not neede to be registered
I have watched all their UCL games, but not really much in the EPL, so I don’t have a clear picture. I’ve gotta say I’m not Ten Hag’s biggest fan, so might be a little biased on the tactics and formation stuff.
When it comes to players, I think United suffer the most when it comes to “connecting their lines”, if that make sense. Midfielders feel isolated from the defenders, Hojlund feels isolated from everyone.
I think their biggest issue right now are wingers. Antony was missing and when he is there I don’t understand what he’s supposed to offer. Sancho is missing, Rashford is, let’s face it, horrible right now. The younger guys like Pellistri and Garnacho are kind of meh. So, every time I watch them play, it feels like 2 random guys just occupying the winger spots. Maybe a solution would be to follow Real Madrid’s example, switch to a more narrow formation like 442 diamond or 532, I don’t know. Get rid of deadwood like Sancho, Antony etc and find someone to partner up top with Hojlund (Rashford? Martial? New player?), then use Bruno as a 8/10. Mount could be more useful on that formation too. I think Hojlund has the potential to be their best player, he just never gets service he should get.
My unpopular opinion would be that their defense is not as bad as people say. Surely Onana and Maguire had made their mistakes, Varane is a ghost of his former self and almost all their defenders are either injured or underperforming. But I think their main issue is the midfielders (+wingers) not helping the defense as much as they should. I mean, Rashord tracked back ONCE against Copenhagen and got a damn red card, for absolutely no reason. That’s what they need to fix. Onana didn’t become the worst GK in the world, after being one of the best last season. Maguire can’t be good for England and awful for United. It’s easy to shit on players, the difficult part is to understand why these players are underperforming in the first place.
Also it is easier to win the league if you are out of the UCL early and the last ten years Barca haven’t made a lot of deep runs into the UCL whereas Real Madrid have played semis or finals almost all years.
In a highly competitive league especially between mainly 2 teams, if the one team has a competition more to focus on it gives an edge to you in the league.
These teams have two completely different approaches, especially after their crazy good elite MSN and BBC eras. I’ll explain.
Look at Real Madrid’s 2022 UCL winning line-up. Courtois, a goalkeeper that is mainly good at saving shoots, not with the ball on his feet. Mendy, a very defensive left back. Casemiro, a very defensive midfielder, with limited ball playing and offensive attributes. Kroos and Modric, experienced veterans. Kroos - Vinicius, a midfielder with crazy good long balls and a winger that’s crazy good on open space. Finally, Valverde as a RW, a winger with much more defensive instructions than the average one.
Which teams do you think all those players and tactics are better against? Against which teams do you think Kroos can pinpoint a long through ball to Vini? High-pressing, high defensive teams that like to attack even when they’re up, like Liverpool, City or Bayern? Or most La Liga teams that sit back with 11 men behind the ball, even at a draw? Do you think players like Mendy and Casemiro are that necessairy in La Liga? It’s like the whole Real Madrid team is built on facing and winning against good teams. The problem is that sometimes it’s not as good against weaker teams.
Barcelona are the exact opposite. Faster tempo, really offensive fullbacks, DM is a deeper playmaker, not a guy like Casemiro. Wingers are purely offensive players, nothing close to Valverde or Lucas Vazquez who are supporting the defence as well. They don’t excell in counterattacks and open spaces like Kroos and Vini, they excell on short, closed spaces, with quick one-twos and stuff. That way they can outplay and suffocate weaker teams with constant passing and constantly outnumbering their park the bus tactics with tons of offensive players. What happens when you face an equally good team though? Trouble starts to appear. It’s no coincidence that Xavi decided to start Cancelo as a midfielder in the recent Clasico, he knows that it’s impossible to play against good teams with so attacking fullbacks. Alba was the same before Balde took over.
Another factor is youngsters. Real Madrid almost never give chances to academy players, most “youngsters” are mainly guys who were bought at around 17-18. In Barcelona it’s the exact opposite, it feels like every other week they find a new 16 year old out of nowhere. I know Pedri was bought, but Gavi, Balde, Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Guiu. All these guys can be very helpful in La Liga, where players have the luxury of getting rid of the pressure of playing first team football little by little. But when you throw too many youngsters in the mix in the UCL, you get back to back group stage exits.
So, I think they just have completely different approaches, that have (as expected) completely different results. I’m not saying one team is better than the other, it just make sense that Real Madrid are better in the UCL, while Barcelona are better in La Liga, mostly.
Little side note to this: Barcelona has no other choice then to go with youth players as their financial situation wont let them register new squad players. And youth players under a certain age do not neede to be registered
Well explained. Thank you
Irrelevant, but curious how you’d analyse United’s current lineup?
I have watched all their UCL games, but not really much in the EPL, so I don’t have a clear picture. I’ve gotta say I’m not Ten Hag’s biggest fan, so might be a little biased on the tactics and formation stuff.
When it comes to players, I think United suffer the most when it comes to “connecting their lines”, if that make sense. Midfielders feel isolated from the defenders, Hojlund feels isolated from everyone.
I think their biggest issue right now are wingers. Antony was missing and when he is there I don’t understand what he’s supposed to offer. Sancho is missing, Rashford is, let’s face it, horrible right now. The younger guys like Pellistri and Garnacho are kind of meh. So, every time I watch them play, it feels like 2 random guys just occupying the winger spots. Maybe a solution would be to follow Real Madrid’s example, switch to a more narrow formation like 442 diamond or 532, I don’t know. Get rid of deadwood like Sancho, Antony etc and find someone to partner up top with Hojlund (Rashford? Martial? New player?), then use Bruno as a 8/10. Mount could be more useful on that formation too. I think Hojlund has the potential to be their best player, he just never gets service he should get.
My unpopular opinion would be that their defense is not as bad as people say. Surely Onana and Maguire had made their mistakes, Varane is a ghost of his former self and almost all their defenders are either injured or underperforming. But I think their main issue is the midfielders (+wingers) not helping the defense as much as they should. I mean, Rashord tracked back ONCE against Copenhagen and got a damn red card, for absolutely no reason. That’s what they need to fix. Onana didn’t become the worst GK in the world, after being one of the best last season. Maguire can’t be good for England and awful for United. It’s easy to shit on players, the difficult part is to understand why these players are underperforming in the first place.
Bruno as 8/10 would save my FPL this year
Good points but I’d argue case has good attacking abilities
To long
This fella balls
Brilliantly put
Also it is easier to win the league if you are out of the UCL early and the last ten years Barca haven’t made a lot of deep runs into the UCL whereas Real Madrid have played semis or finals almost all years.
In a highly competitive league especially between mainly 2 teams, if the one team has a competition more to focus on it gives an edge to you in the league.