The loss that FC Barcelona suffered to Girona last night asks for a deep analysis of what went wrong, and things can be improved for the future. Xavi Hernandez himself identified several factors that resulted in his team’s loss, despite his belief that the two teams were rather equal on the field.
One such factor identified by Xavi was the errors made by his men in defense. However, Ronald Araujo also had merit in his comments that all the blame for the four goals scored by Girona cannot be laid at the feet of the defenders, and an effort is needed from the whole of the team to keep the defense watertight.
Now, SPORT has highlighted one aspect that can be blamed for this poor defensive display from Barcelona last night.
Their report claims that there is quite a consensus developing at Barcelona that the team is not putting pressure on the opponents to the extent that it needs, making it difficult to deal with opponents who keep the ball well.
High pressing was one of the core principles for Xavi Hernandez when he took office at Barcelona. However, the team has gradually relaxed on this aspect of the game, and this was clearly evident in the game against Girona.
The team did press well in the opening period of the game. However, they relaxed in their efforts as the game went on, and their press was mostly disjointed, leading to more problems than solutions.
For instance, in the first Girona goal, Joao Felix completely ignored Yan Couto’s run, and the Girona player kept advancing to send Tsygankov deep into Barcelona territory. The lack of chemistry while pressing was clearly visible in this match.
At times, the forward line ran to press Girona deep in their half but was not supported by the midfield, making it easy for Michel’s men to escape the half-hearted press. Michel’s team was well drilled even to escape a good press, though, and did not show any panic when the forwards pressed.
Players like Cancelo, De Jong, Gundogan, Felix, and Lewandowski need to improve on this particular aspect, and Xavi will have to ensure the team works on it to eliminate the defensive woes of his side going forward.
