Why Barca lost 4-2 against Girona 😳
(A Thread)
(A Thread)
Every tactic in football is developed to increase the likelihood of a team winning. This is achieved by having a better goal difference than your opponent in a single game. It’s quite simple.
You can go with different approaches. In many games last season, Barca were pragmatic. A good defensive structure, four midfielders and a solid goalkeeper won Barca the title. This season Barca have a different approach that is dictated by the players available.
In the absence of a world class defensive midfielder, Gündogan, Frenkie and Pedri rule the midfield. In possession it’s high class, and we have seen improvements the last few games. Out of possession there are some major concerns. Is it sustainable? That’s yet to be seen.
However, it was not those concerns that were our biggest issue yesterday. That was not the root to the embarrassing 4-2 defeat. We knew Girona would create chances. We knew Girona would have longer spells of possession.
We simply had to create more than Girona - and we did. It’s up to the players to capitalize on opportunities in front of goal. No strategy, coach, or external factor can score goals. They can only get players into these situations, then it’s up to the ones who are on the pitch.
Barca were elite in this aspect. Specially in the first half. We frequently moved the ball from defense to the final third, for then to test the goalkeeper. Overall, Barca broke their own record in 2023 for shots attempted, xG accumulated and shots on target.
Barca’s attackers failed in decisive moments. We should have scored at least 4 goals, which is supported by our xG (4.06). xG does not even measure the times players took bad touches in front of goal, which ruined the chance. There were a few.
Goals affect games. When you waste chance after chance, you are bound to get punished. After all, we played a top team. In the first half it felt inevitable that Barca would score. We only did it one time, unfortunately.
There are areas of the game in which we must improve. Our pressing and structure off the ball is one. Still, the fact we did not get three points yesterday is ultimately down to ridiculously poor execution in front of goal, and not the tactics we used.
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