Breaking The Bus or Defensive Strategy

The assumed underdogs AC Milan defeated Barcelona, in what appears to be the Best performance by Milan this year and on the contrary the worst performance by Barca this season. Though Milan defended effectively using BUS on most occasions when Barca tried to attack, full credit has to given to El Sharawy & Co for their goals and emerging as deserved winners.

And even more humiliation was waiting for the Catalans in the form of Los Blancos' 3-1 victory at Camp Nou.

Its been years, parking BUS strategy has affected Barca (Jose's Inter, Chelsea last season, Barca matches in Anoeta, Sevilla, Osasuna, and some other Liga teams - even Celtic in group stages this season).

“When the Bus is used, Messi becomes ineffective” - the usual buzz that goes on, whenever there isn’t a favorable result for Barca. Well its true to an extent coz, Messi can easily go past 2 or 3 players, but if he is fully surrounded by top class 4-5 defenders, he has to pass the ball and without a proper striker at the other end the attacking option becomes narrowed down to Pedro or Sanchez and occasional long range shots from Don and Xavi. Now that most clubs have come to know of this weakness in Barca’s formidable team they tend to park Bus and attack on counters. Some other teams have started using Defensive strategy, not exactly BUS but similar to that, ie, disrupt the Tiki-Taka passing, Defend together as a team, Utilise flanks when Alba or Alves are up forward and strike through counter. This second approach has been followed by more aggressive and faster teams like Milan and Real Madrid. After not being able to break the BUS, whenever Barca faces a bunch of players trying to defend together, the mind gets pre-occupied to attack more, thus leaving the CBs to defend all alone.

The usual formation of Barca

When BUS is Used

Here we can see that (though a bit congested) the tight defense doesn’t allow any space to crack through.

Messi’s position:

If there is one or two markers for Messi most of the time, there is a probability that he can get himself free with his typical moves. But in a total defensive situation he will always end up meeting a defender, hence in order to keep possession he has to pass back, else he is most likely to lose the ball.



Wings Nullified:

And since the defence covers whole of the Penalty area, passing from wings (and some rare crosses that Alves or Pedro try) are also most likely to be cleared out. Iniesta or Alba try to make ground passes by beating the full backs, but the extra defender in that area keeps the passes in check.






The Counters:

Barca’s basic approach to the game is tiki-taka attacking. As depicted in the picture (Bus formation), its in the nature of barca, including the full backs to go and attack, instead of waiting for space to open up. In this instance, if any long ball or clearance lands up with any of the attackers, only the Centre backs will have the total responsibility of defending and if its any decent player, then it will become a two on two or a three on two situation, with busquets (not so pacey) trying to track back. That’s how Barca has actually let in some goals. If one can remember the second goal by Chelsea last season at Camp Nou, then you might know there was not even one CB to defend (though it was almost full time and Barca needed to score) which resulted in Torres rounding off the lonely Valdes and tapping in for a goal.

What can actually be done to break the BUS?

Short term Solutions:

MESSI'S POSITION:
Whenever he starts at the centre, too much crowd around him forces the World's best player to drop back and tries to make a long pass or through ball to the wingers. Moving Messi to RW might hep Barca. As depicted in the picture below, the yello w lines shows the options that Messi will have if he moves to the RW. The basic strategy here is Messi being the focus for the defenders will attract them, which will leave either of CF or LW free to have space to work on attack. Whenever he finds a small gap, he can surprise everyone with his dribbling, or trade position with CF occasionally and aim for a shot.

Messi's Options at RW

Selecting other two attacking duo will be a bit tough. Iniesta has been doing brilliant as LW for sometime now. But the need for stability in midfield and the crowded Box should be considered. Villa, despite playing for limited time has scored more goals than other starters this season. If he is fit he should play his usual role at Barca, ie, LW. His striking ability is still the best at Barca. Cutting in from left and taking a shot, while the defenders are busy at the other flank (marking Messi) will reap goals.

The CF position is left to be chosen between Sanchez, Pedro and Cesc. Cesc would be the better option since he has been used at the false 9 position by Vicente Del Bosque.  His trading of passes between Messi and Midfield is second to none. If he can utilise the space and lay the ball to Villa or taking shot by himself, the chances of getting a goal is higher rather than him playing at midfield alongside Xavi.

Experimental Formation 3-2-2-3

DEFENSE:

Playing Alves and Alba as full backs has been a consistent starting line up. With both of them often racing forward, if at all there is any counter attack then it often becomes a 3 on 2 situation and with the huge space available, its more than easy to have a good shot on goal.

HENCE TRACKING BACK. 

Sanchez is the only forward who has been good in tracking back during counters. Not even The Maestro Xavi or Illusionista or even Busquets have been decent in tracking back. Alves has been doing pretty well with this respect for sometime now. On the other hand Alba has been concentrating more on connecting with Messi and Iniesta, instead of helping out Puyol and Pique. (Chk out Puyi in the Pics below that resulted in goals, Age is catching up with The Legend). Thus helping out by tracking back is even more important for Full backs than linking with attack. If you had checked out Milan's second goal, which started with Barca's throw-in error (the pic below again), it was not by accident but was a plan framed all long by Milan. Even at 3 Minutes, when Alba was about to throw in, KPB called up the Milanese to mark the receiver and tried to take away the ball and start a counter.

DEFENDING IN SET PIECES:

This is where Song will be of more use than Many others. Pique maybe the only other player who can clear out the aerial balls properly. Thus Marking during set pieces, especially against great headers like CR, Hummels, KPB, now even Varane has become an essential element of Barca's defense.

UTILISING THE FLANKS:

Huge criticism on Barca's defending offlate has been immense and unavoidable. Hence the problem of under-utilisation of wings have been overlooked. Pedro, especially, has been out of form for a long time now. And Barca must take a bold action by benching him and starting Tello and Villa. Just because he has been a great La Masia Winger shouldnt warranty a place by itself. 

LONG RANGE SHOOTING:

Also playing Guaje and Tello will see Barca making long range strikes thats been lacking for months now. Rarely we get to see Messi and Xavi trying their luck from outside the box. Powerful shooting is something this great men lack, which Tello and Villa can provide. This might help them overcome the BUS barrier, or can open up the defense by players trying to mark Villa or Tello, which will allow DOn and Messi do conjure their Magic.

START EXPERIMENTING ALREADY:

Now that Liga is secured enough, Barca must start giving more opportunities to youngsters and reserves like Mascherano. Adriano, Song, Tello, Sergi Roberto, Bartra, JDS and even Oier. Before the season end, the management must be in a position to decide the player's future, ie Hold, Loan or Sell with buyback clauses depending on the requirements. And not just with players, different formations like, 3-4-3, 4-2-4, 4-4-2, should also be experimented against lowly opponents in Liga.

Long Term Solutions:

1. Buy a Proper CB like Hummels, Subotic or Sakho as a replacement for Puyol. The CB must be strong physically and should be one who takes charge during set pieces.
2. Buy a GK like Ter Stegen, who has been heavily linked with Barca. Someone who could blast the defenders if they are being complacent.
3. There has been wide speculation about exit of Villa or Sanchez or both. It would be better to hold Villa by guaranteeing a starting position for him. If Sanchez is back to form, well and good, else going for a CF or a great shooter who will fit in like Neymar or Aguero is a must.

Conclusion - Now that Every team has come to know of Barca's style, and the way to tackle it, the predictability should be turned back and more attacks and strikes than passing around is required. Full backs should help out the defense first, before concentrating on linking with Wingers. Blaming the interim manager Roura will not help, but the management must see to that He does what is required than whats safer on paper. Barca has always come up from below. Its this attitude of getting back whenever they get tackled down has defined them, not the trophies.

PS - We, in this blog, will try to come up with more formations that maybe tried in the forthcoming weeks.