Barcelona squad fits a 4-2-3-1 formation well
It is the system that best fits the players Ernesto Valverde has at his disposal
The closure of the market leaves Barcelona's squad set, and it is one which is capable of winning everything. How to do it is up to coach Ernesto Valverde.
Barcelona for a while would never switch from 4-3-3, but the philosopher's stone has worn down a bit and a 4-4-2 has been used at times, although once again, with Ousmane Dembele's good form, the 4-3-3 is in action again.
However Arturo Vidal seems like he will be the first player on, which changes the structure, and gives Valverde options. And looking at it the 4-2-3-1 is the formation which best adapts to the characteristics of the squad.
Thanks to Sergi Roberto, whose mutation to a right-back is almost finished, the back-line is fairly set, with Umtiti, Pique and Alba. Lenglet and Vermaelen back up the defence with Nelson Semedo another right-back option. There is no option to replace Alba at left-back after Lucas Digne's sale.
Valverde has nine central midfielders, not counting Messi who plays where he wants - Busquets, Samper, Rakitic, Rafinha, Coutinho, Arturo Vidal, Denis Suárez, Arthur and Aleñá. There are three pivotes, Busquets, Vidal and Samper, three right interiors Rakitic, Rafinha and Aleñá and three left interiors Denis Suárez, Coutinho and Arthur.
The problem is that Arturo Vidal cannot play alone in the pivote position; whenever he has done he has had a team-mate by his side - Sergio Busquets. The profile of Denis and Coutinho, like Rafinha and Alena, is more attacking than defensive. The 4-2-3-1 formation seems a more natural fit.
Munir and Luis Suarez are the two centre-forwards the team has. That is indisputable and what Valverde should worry about is how to get the best out of those around him. The 4-2-3-1 would allow two men on the wings to add depth and goals like Coutinho or Denis and Dembele or Malcom.
Guardiola converted Messi into a false nine in the 6-2 win at the Bernabeu in the 2008-09 season. He destroyed Madrid with his movment. But Messi can adapt to any system, or better said, the system can adapt to him as the best player on the planet.
Messi would have even more freedom as the central attacking midfielder in a 4-2-3-1 than on the wing in a 4-3-3 or up front in a 4-4-2.
It's hard to know if the squad was constructed with a certain system in mind. What is clear is that with the players available a 4-2-3-1 would suit better than the traditional 4-3-3 or 4-4-2.
