Can we play like Barcelona ?

[GStar]

I'd hope we don't try and imitate Barcelona and instead play the way our team naturally will.

 

[andy66]

Just like Barcelona, we beat United at Wembley in a game that mattered, then lost a friendly ;-)

 

[Cityfan]

we don't just pass for passing sake like Barca do,

Don't think Barca pass for the sake of it they are constantly trying to move the oposition around to open up gaps, they are patient in posession untill these gaps appear that is why they are not constantly going forwards.

That is more or less what I meant the difference which I have seen in these 1st three games and with the Barca games are that whenever we have the ball we pass to attack and score quickly whilst Barca would pass the ball around and as you said open up spaces patiently to attack

Fair enough, I misunderstood your original post and thought you were implying that Barcas passing was pointless rather than patient.

 

[king]

we can keep our own formation but we could try to keep position a bit more and press a bit higher like bara

 

[Ahmed]

Am I the only one that though the Spurs game wasn't that Barca esque?

If you watch them, they constantly make little triangles and just knock it between them, we didn't do that once. Plus I feel like we were far more direct than they are. The only way it was similar was some of the movement to open up passes, for example the way Nasri set up the first goal.

I agree with you completely... We have a different style than theirs and we have some solutions in our game that they don't have, like the crosses we get toward Dzeko...

We're way more direct and we tend to move forward and try to create chances on every ball. Maybe that's something we should do more wisely especially when we are ahead, since the counter-attack could be dangerous for our defence.

Like it's been said before, they have Messi, but what's sure is that if we keep on improving and ameliorating what we've done at WHL we wont need Messi like stuf, Nasri-Dzeko connection or Silva-Aguero or Yaya-Tevez connection or a super sub connection AJ-Balo would always be enough to make things happen for us !!

 

[Deleted member 14625]

Everyone knows how Barcelona play, they only have one formation and they have been using it for so long.

Its the 4-3-3 with 4 defenders, 1 holding midfielder, 2 playmakers & 3 forwards.

____________________ Valdes__________________

Alvez______Puyol___________Pique________Abidal

_________________Busquets_____________

_____Xavi______________________Iniesta______

____Pedro_________Messi_________Villa_______

I hope Mancini will try to play like them, they think that this is THE ONE formation that let them win all their trophies in the past few years and I think we have the ingredients to use it as well with:

____________________ Hart__________________

Richards____Kompany_____Lescott________Clichy

_________________Yaya Toure_____________

_____Nasri______________________Silva______

____Aguero______Dzeko________Tevez______

Yaya Toure lost his place in the team at Barca because his defensive play in that position wasn't of a high enough standard. He NEVER puts a tackle in and is shit at jumping thus very rarely wins a header. Plus if he goes on one of his runs he spends thirty seconds on the floor and if the opposition is off on a counter attack who'd be there to cover?<br /><br />-- Sun Sep 04, 2011 10:49 am --<br /><br />

Am I the only one that though the Spurs game wasn't that Barca esque?

If you watch them, they constantly make little triangles and just knock it between them, we didn't do that once. Plus I feel like we were far more direct than they are. The only way it was similar was some of the movement to open up passes, for example the way Nasri set up the first goal.

Spot on. We played completely differently to how Barca play. Some isolated instances were Barca-esque but that's it.

We played with more power. We played with a focal point up front. We played far more direct with long passes to feet or in behind or high balls all for Džeko. We don't hunt the ball down like Barca do, we allow the opposition to have possession for spells and sit off them, we'll put tackles in around our own box rather than hunt in threes on the edge of their box. We carry the ball more than Barca do. We put more crosses into the box than Barca ever do.

We very un-Barca like.

 

[shrekmansour]

I think our prefered formation is the 4-2-3-1 which is what Capello used against Bulgaria. Six players to protect one goal, four to attack the other: this looks a winning system, because with Yaya Toure/Nigel De Jong and Gareth Barry/Owen Hargreaves to guard the defence the front four can be granted a self-expression licence, as they were in Arsène Wenger's best Arsenal sides.

So the formation would look like the way we lined up against Spurs:
--------------------Hart------------
Richards-------Kompany----Toure------Clichy
----------------Toure-------Barry-----------
------Silva---------Nasri----------Aguero
-------------------Dzeko----------------

 

[byronic]

I agree City don't, and don't need to, play like Barcelona. More direct. And another crucial difference, City can be more varied going forward because Barca does not have a Dzeko/Balo type striker, tall and accomplished (complete) at the same time which opens up combination play even further.

 

[Kippaxman]

Yaya's brilliant but i wouldn't have him in a defensive midfield roll. Thats Dejong or Barry territory

 

[Deleted member 14625]

I agree City don't, and don't need to, play like Barcelona. More direct. And another crucial difference, City can be more varied going forward because Barca does not have a Dzeko/Balo type striker, tall and accomplished (complete) at the same time which opens up combination play even further.

At some point teams are going to find a way to play against Barcelona and what do they do then?! (although they do have Messi to rely on, haha, that always helps!) We've got more variety to our game than them. If we keep improving and playing with our variety we might one day reach their level of excellence but giving opposition more to worry about if they shut one way down.

 

[Peteri]

we can keep our own formation but we could try to keep position a bit more and press a bit higher like bara

That, in my opinion, is what differs Barca, apart from the passing game, from most teams. They press extremely high up in the pitch. When Real did this to Barca in the Copa del Rey games, Barca looked far from their normal selves.

Since possession is Barca's game, part of possession is getting the ball back quickly, thus the high pressure. Looking at the games we have played this far in the season, greater pressure on the opposition when they have the ball, is definitely something we can improve on.

 

[blue dallas]

can we play like them ? ..no

can we beat them ?....yes.

 

[hecandothatfromrange]

Why is every good team that can string a pass about compared to Barca?

They don't play the football which is best; they play the best football.

 

[lostgalaxy]

We can play even better in terms of style.

We play much simpler. Barca makes too many passes before they score a goal.

 

[mat]

Shouldn't the OP change the title to "Can Barca play like City?"

 

[balkanno]

Lets play like Man City.

As long as we dont play like the City of 1996....................

i laughed cheers

 

[bluenickusa]

As not only a massive blue but also an argentine international, I've seen this idea of "playing like barcelona" applied to the argentine national team, a team with possibly as much talent as city, and it crash and burned worse than the hindenburg. At Barca, as was mentioned before, they've been doing that style of play for many many years.

Mancini is doing a fantastic job of playing our team in positions that they are capable of performing well in. He knows EXACTLY, what a players best qualities are and how to help them exploit their strengths to improve (look at the improvement of Silva, Balo, Barry, AJ, Richards, to name a few).

I feel that in the EPL if you hold on to possession for too long, you will get counter attacked straight to hell, as the defenders/DM in this league are beasts and will just stomp right through you.

On a final note, was the OP of this thread watching the game against Tottenham? IT WAS FUCKING BEAUTIFUL. Barca should really be worried about City. feels great to say that

 

[alky313]

Barca play to draw the CBs up, stretch the fullbacks and create massive shifts of ball movement after they've created a weak side. We play in front of the CBs. Only one goal on against Spurs was Barca esque.

Let's not forget this is a team that didn't hold possession against Swansea. We have a lot of time before anything looks remotely like Barca.