In fact, for the current Barcelona, they are really different from the Barcelona under Pep Guardiola a few years ago.

Although the overall structure of the two teams is not very different, for example, the midfield is still based on Habaib as the core, but due to Xavi's aging, Rakitic is now used more to play the main team.

But Enrique has some subversive tactics to the "conventional".

This so-called "tradition" is the passing control that Barcelona has continued in recent years, or the "tiki-taka" style of play that fans have spread more widely.

It is a very stark fact that although Pep Guardiola himself denies the term "tiki-taka", it is appropriate to use the term to describe the passing style of his team, and in fact it is the most praised aspect of the game for Guardiola.

The frequent and fast short passes that could only be seen in training in the past have been replicated by Guardiola at the top of the game, and the ideal situation of "I play and you defend" has been realized.

The problem is that if this is a "tradition", it has been partially changed since Martino; After Enrique took over, it was even better than Martino:

Because at this time, he has the three big killer weapons of MSN in his hands.

And when you have MSN in your hands, what is the need to stick to "tradition"?

"I like to use the concept of 'time of possession per minute' to recalculate almost all the technical statistics on the offensive end, which also shows the biggest difference between Guarda Barcelona and Enrique Barça."

Ancelotti said, opening the laptop he had brought with him, and Pan Yi hurried over.

An Pang said "ball control time per minute", of course Pan Yi understands.

In fact, it's the most basic method of data analysis in football, and it's used by many data analysts' analysis teams, including Chelsea.

But a lot of teams don't care about that, they don't think it makes sense. But Barca's case illustrates what it means.

On the laptop, a line graph is displayed, which represents the time spent on the ball per minute in Barcelona over the past few seasons.

It peaked in the 12-13 season, when Pep Guardiola finally stepped down, at around 13 times per minute, before falling off a cliff until Enrique approached the 11 mark in his season in charge.

In fact, just looking at the possession rate and the number of passes, Barcelona is the first in every season, but if the two are combined to calculate the passing frequency, Barcelona has a big decline.

It's actually a bit of a weirdness.

Because since Pep Guardiola's debut, the significance of passing in football has actually spread across Europe, and although not all teams are pursuing possession, "more and faster passes" are a common pursuit.

If pass-and-control football is a big river, then when all teams are riding the wind and waves along the river, Barcelona, as the most advanced boat, quietly played a "boat against the current".

In this season, Barcelona's number of passes per minute of possession time is lower than that of its old rival Real Madrid, and sometimes even lower than Atletico Madrid! (Of course, Atletico's pass success rate is a bit spicy...... ）

This is where the ruthlessness of data analysis comes in: many of the fantasies about the "cultural" level can be very fragile here – how can you say that you are sticking to the "tradition" if you play the "tradition of passing football" and play less often than Atletico Madrid?

However, it is undeniable that Enrique's overall results during his time in charge have been quite impressive – at least now he has won the Copa del Rey and La Liga.

And with more than 100 goals of firepower output on the offensive end, it is definitely not the turn of the so-called "traditional defenders" to point fingers.

This also raises a new question: how can Barcelona, which deviates from the "tradition", ensure its attack?

"It's easy. In the case that you have MSN, pursuing too much of the pass-and-control system will only advance the rhythm and compress the frontcourt activity space, resulting in MSN's perverted ball-holding offensive ability being restricted. ”

Carlo Ancelotti opened another table that reads "Barcelona Possession Time Shot Ratio".

That's a different way of statistically.

Any attack on the football field can be roughly divided into two steps: the first is to convert possession into shooting; The second is to convert shots into goals.

The former is more focused on efficiency, while the latter is more focused on quality. So how do you quantify the efficiency of "ball control into shots"?

Quite simply, look at how much time it takes for a team to take a shot on goal, so there is the concept of "time to shoot ratio", the lower the number, the more frequent the shots.

What is the situation at Barça?

From Pep Guardiola to Martino to Enrique, Barcelona spend less and less time on the ball every time they shoot.

The change in this data can be understood as the more Barcelona plays, the more "impatient" it becomes, and the more it plays, the more emphasis is placed on "quickly forming a shot".

Generally speaking, forcibly increasing the number of shots on goal will result in nothing more than "low quality, more attempts", and the accumulation of shots will inevitably decrease at the same time as the threat of shots will inevitably decrease.

However, in Enrique's era, Barcelona managed to do both – this season's Barcelona maintained the number of expected goals per shot in La Liga, specifically 0.158 expected goals per shot, which is at least a notch ahead of all other teams.

High shot count combined with high shot threat is bound to accumulate an intimidating expected number of goals.

The total expected goals of 95.4 is really a beating of all teams in La Liga. Barcelona has the highest "true shot conversion rate" and has scored more than 110 goals.

There are such statistics, of course, first of all thanks to MSN's awesome shooting efficiency.

MSN played 82.57% of all goals; 603 shots were taken, of which MSN accounted for 69.49%.

】

Unlike the BBC, where Real Madrid next door still scores most of the time, the BBC is almost exclusively on the ball, Enrique's MSN combination is responsible for holding the ball up front.

The three of them not only account for a terrible proportion of the team's offense and shooting, but also reflect the data of dribbling and passing the ball.

The sum of MSN's "dribbling and one-on-one" accounts for 61.07% of the team's total – which is unthinkable for Real Madrid, who have evenly shared the ball and have a bit of a national mentality.

If you really want to say that "attacking and defending" is the tradition of Barcelona, then from the data point of view, it really doesn't seem that Enrique has any other traditions besides formation and ball possession......

"Of course, there is no such thing as a three-person theory of a single one-man rule." Ancelotti began to open some video files.

"Enrique's routine is to get the ball to MSN as soon as possible in the midfield. MSN gives priority to individuals to detonate on the spot, uses a minimalist way to achieve offensive advancement, and then fills one person in the middle and back court after arriving in the front court, so as to achieve "3+X" offensive investment. ”

"Look at the ...... of this attack"

Carlo Ancelotti has clicked on a video, which is a clip of the Barcelona game this season.

It's not a quick break, but it's a very concise play, and the whole process is actually a penetrating pass between Neymar and Messi, plus another person outside MSN who actively runs forward.

But it reveals Enrique's train of thought very clearly:

Neymar could have given the ball to Iniesta at the start, but he didn't do that at all, and instead drove straight into the middle of the two.

That is to say, Enrique gave the three gods in the front court enough room to play freely, and even chose the former between individual work and so-called "team football".

"Don't think it's just an isolated case, it's a situation that abounds in Barcelona this season."

Ancelotti opened another video.

In almost the same position, it was Neymar who held the ball and successfully passed the ball to eventually split the ball and create a shot threat.

"Enrique's 'MSN alone' and '3+X' offensive system is honestly quite difficult to defend."

"Look at this, when Neymar holds the ball on the side, he can completely control it and then pass it back, or pass it directly horizontally, both of which are not difficult for him to do."

However, he managed to get the ball out of the four-man bag...... It can only be said that the artist is bold, and the tactical drawing board cannot be fitted. ”

Neymar then moved forward with the ball next to Messi and Suarez on the left. So who will take advantage of the huge void on the right? The answer is: whoever is here will come. ”

"Usually Rakitic is on the right side of the midfield, so Rakitic is very frequent; The reason why Rakitic is so good and can replace Xavi is largely because his excellent running ability is too important for this minimalist attacking system. Of course, Alves does this a lot. ”

"Look at the ...... of this goal again"

In the next video, although Rakitic didn't touch the ball, his movement was still worth watching.

This is a typical Barcelona-style counterattack, with not many troops involved, one Messi holding the ball and directly leveling the opponent's return to the defense, and it was Suarez who scored the goal.

But at this time, it was Rakitic who plugged in with MSN and appeared in front of the goal, and he even ran up from the back.

'Barça's midfielders tend to play a role in attack, but when they really have a chance, they can still shoot and score, rather than relying entirely on MSN.

"Of course, MSN is mentioned here, especially Messi and Neymar's strong passing ability."

"They have dominated the top two in the short pass table this season, so in positional battles, Barcelona often play some attacks that people don't know how to summarize no matter how they look at the video."

"Look at this goal, Atletico Madrid's defense has no problems, but Messi really found the space to penetrate, and Neymar can really be blocked like that and pass the ball accurately......"

Speaking of this, Ancelotti couldn't help but smile wryly.

In fact, Real Madrid have not been bad this season, with the BBC scoring more goals than Barcelona at full fire.

But Barcelona relied on such a seemingly simple routine to score goals into the opponent's net, and then gain points and finally win the championship.

"So you're right, it's very difficult to defend against MSN, and the most important thing is to cut off the midfield's connection with them."

Pan Yi, who had been quietly listening to An Shuai's explanation, said coldly at this time: "But what if the midfield can't prevent it?" After all, there is Innesta, or Harvey, standing here. ”

"Haha, I've seen your defensive abilities, and I'm sure you'll have a way." Carlo Ancelotti laughed, "If you can't defend against it, then there is really no team in the world that can defend against them." ”

Pan Yi also smiled: "I have another idea. If we really can't prevent it, then we can just try to get a few more of them? ”

"I appreciate your idea." Carlo Ancelotti laughed, then pointed to his laptop, "I just said about their defense." ”

Of course, Pan Yi has also studied Enrique Barca's defensive system.

This season's Barcelona still seems to emphasize pressing, but the core idea has been changed to a parallel position.

In fact, Enrique has put a lot of emphasis on the overall formation of the defensive end compared to Pep Guardiola.

Most of the time he will force Neymar to play back aggressively, using a 4-4 parallel defensive system, and putting more emphasis on tackling in midfield.

It's just that although Enrique's defense includes the midfield pressing that Guardiola era emphasized very much, the problem is that this pressing idea is completely different from Guardiola's usual "whole team pressure on the ball".

Pep Guardiola's defensive thinking is to completely break up the formation, and from this point of view, Enrique is also "iconoclastic".

And the effect of this is also very good.

In the 2014-2015 season, Enrique reduced Barcelona's goal tally to just 21!

Real Madrid, on the other hand, conceded 38 goals in the same period.

Since the two sides are evenly matched in the number of goals scored, it is precisely this number of goals conceded that led to the final champion of La Liga being Barcelona instead of Real Madrid.

So Enrique's "iconoclastic" tactics are really good.

Of course, for Pan Yi, he also admires Enrique's approach, and he himself does it.

After all, there has never been a natural law dictating which team must play in what style, and no team with such a long history has ever been able to consistently stick to a single style of play.

The so-called "always adhering to tradition", to put it bluntly, is just a beautiful word for believers, put aside the ethereal ideal in the heart, and then look at history in combination with public opinion, and finally decide the wind to say that it is the record.

If you talk about Real Madrid's first five consecutive Champions League titles, or the Bayern dynasty, the Ajax dynasty, or more recently the Milan dynasty, do you care what style of play they relied on to win the championship?

The results are good, even if Barcelona is allowed to play defense and put the bus, if all the championships are won, it will only be a small number of diehards who will question it.

Of course, this is just an extreme statement, after all, if the team plays badly, it is still very unfriendly to neutral fans, and it is not easy to attract fans.

What's more, Barcelona's current style of play is still very good-looking, MSN's performances always give people a pleasing feeling, but Enrique is relatively more pragmatic.

"So how did you break through their defenses?" When Ancelotti finished speaking, Pan Yi asked.

Pan Yi is not only a good teacher, but also a good listener.

Therefore, An Shuai was talking endlessly, and Pan Yi listened quietly most of the time, and then only asked some questions.

And these problems are often the key to breaking the game.

Ancelotti apparently understands too.

"One, it's to take advantage of your high altitudes, just like Bayern bombed them in the second leg." He pointed to Barcelona's backline on the tactical board and said.

This is obvious.

Barcelona's air defense basically relies on Pique, and no one else is very good.

And Pan Yi's Chelsea has produced a high-altitude lineup full of big men in the league, which is really handy.

"Of course, there are times when there is instability in high-altitude bombing, and then you have to find a way to make a fuss in the midfield or on the wing of Barcelona."

An Fat's words are also very reasonable.

If playing long balls is a consistent means of scoring, then the best teams in the world can just smash into the box, which is not the case.

A really strong team is often a combination of various playing styles and routines, a combination of the side and the middle, and can rush and hang and pass control, so that people can be unguardable.

"So, I suggest you should ...... like this."

-----------------

Here, Ancelotti and Pan Yi are discussing tactics, and Barcelona is not idle over there.

"I heard that Ancelotti went to London, and I suspect that he went to give Pan Yi advice."

Luis Enrique's hoarse voice rang out in the manager's office.

In the office, there is another person, it is Juan Carlos, the assistant coach of Barcelona.

Papers were scattered on the table and chair in the room, while the computer on the desk was playing footage of the Chelsea game.

It is clear that Enrique is also taking a hard look at their last and most important opponent of the season.

Of course, in Enrique's mind, this is also the most formidable opponent!

"When we played Bayern Munich at home, Pan Yi and his assistants were found in the stands, and they should have seen our tactics a long time ago." Juan Carlos said, "Even if Ancelotti goes to help Pan Yi, there shouldn't be anything new, right?" ”

Enrique shook his head: "Real Madrid have beaten us in the league after all, and that one was a complete victory. Carlo Ancelotti knows where our weakness lies, so Pan Yi will definitely learn from this. ”

Juan Carlos disagreed: "The whole world knows that you can't stop MSN, so they will cut our midfielder and steal our Sergio Busquets. I don't think we have too much of a problem as long as we take the initiative to shrink the formation and let Rakitic and Iniesta withdraw to protect Busquets. ”

Chelsea's midfielder's ability to tackle is clear to everyone.

N'Golo Kante, in particular, faced Barcelona when he was in Milan and made a significant contribution to help them beat them.

This time Chelsea play Barcelona, Pan Yi will definitely let Kante cut off Busquets from his team-mates in front of him.

And for Juan Carlos's judgment, Enrique has no doubts.

Sergio Busquets is the most unassuming and well-known of Barcelona's midfielders, but he plays an extremely important role and can be said to be the metronome of Barca's offensive and defensive transitions.

Therefore, the protection of Busquets is a very important part of Barcelona's tactics.

It is precisely because of this that Ha Wei, whose running ability has declined in recent years, has gradually emerged from the main lineup, and has been replaced by the younger and more capable "group leader" Rakitic.

Of course, this Croatian is not just a famous "Meibui", he is very good in his own right.

He is a versatile midfielder who can play almost anywhere in the attack.

Rakitic also has a wide field of vision, a great ability to read the game and an excellent passing ability, and has been an excellent assister throughout his career.

Otherwise, how can he occupy a main position in such a star-studded team, replacing Xavi, the former brain of Barcelona?

'Actually, I'm not too worried about whether our midfielders can cope with their pressing, I'm most worried about the full-backs. Enrique said.

" means...... Alba or Alves? "These two are the main left and right full-backs of Barcelona now.

"It's hard to say."

"Can't say?"

'It depends on which side Hazard plays.

Juan Carlos understood.

Eden Hazard, a breakthrough player with no backfoot on both feet, can indeed play as a left winger or a right winger in the Chelsea team.

And now Enrique is worried that neither Alba nor Alves will be able to prevent Hazard's breakthrough.

Enrique added: "Can you imagine Messi coming to break through our defence? I feel like Hazard isn't much worse than our Messi, at least in terms of dribbling ability. ”

"But......" asked Juan Carlos, puzzled, "I think he's not in good shape lately?" No goals, no assists. Moreover, his shooting ability is far worse than Messi's. ”

Enrique looked at his assistant and shook his head and smiled.

"There are players who don't show their impact through data. Let's talk about Eden Hazard's game against Real Madrid, although he didn't score or assist, but it was because he was heavily targeted by opponents in the game. He has restrained a lot of defensive forces and drained the energy and physical strength of many Real Madrid players. How do you think Ramos got cramps? ”

Juan Carlos was momentarily speechless.

Awakened by Enrique's point, he really realized that things did not seem to be as some media and fans said.

They just focus on goals and assists, but in the game, the impact and harassment caused by Hazard's ball and breakthrough on the opposition defence is not something that can be summed up by simple statistics.

'Of course, if there is only one Hazard, we can still get him through regional defence. But the problem is that neither Bernardo Silva nor Romelu Lukaku will be difficult to deal with. Enrique patted the table lightly, even a little indignant.

When he said this, he didn't seem to expect that how many people were also scolding him for having Messi + Neymar + Suarez at the same time......

"So what are we going to do?" Juan Carlos asked.

"If it really can't be solved, then it won't be solved." Enrique suddenly showed a strange smile:

"In football, as long as you can score one more goal than the opponent, you win, right?"