Of second and third efforts, by Joan Golobart

There are three elements that, if a team knows how to combine them at the same time, is very likely to be a champion of something: quality, commitment and the appropriate roadmap. And I have the feeling that Barcelona has all three. And that means that there will surely be games in which you will disappoint your fans, the seasons are very long and we are talking about a team that competes almost every three days. And therefore physical and mental wear and tear can accumulate. Furthermore, I think it is appropriate to admit that the youth of these players should favor their evolution toward greater capabilities, although sometimes, like yesterday, an error of inexperience is committed, such as the penalty.

I am not going to question the quality of the players since it would extend too much, but it is clear that it is indisputable. As a collective we can analyze what commitment means. There is individual commitment and collective commitment. Individual commitment is reflected in the intensity of his game. When they are capable of covering more meters than any other team and all this at a significant pace. If you want to assess how much commitment a player has, don’t get carried away by the emotion that comes with seeing a footballer doing a sprint. The key is to see what he does after this sprint. There are players who stop and recover and there are players who do something great. Which is what we call the second and third efforts. That is to say, despite this first effort to uncheck, instead of stopping they make another effort to offer a solution to the teammate who has the ball, that is the second effort. That usually weakens the opponent. But there are players capable of the third effort. The teams that achieve this demonstrate that the sum of committed players does not add, but multiplies. And I won’t tell you anything if you observe players at Barça who make a first and second effort aimed at the offensive phase and then there is a third effort directed at a defensive task.

Collective commitment disciplines you before the roadmap to follow; Barça knows that route well

Collective commitment makes you disciplined about the roadmap to follow. And the Blaugrana have a very clear and defined roadmap: if they follow it, success is just around the corner. And no matter what happens, you have to believe in the roadmap. If there comes a time when it is not so reliable, it will be the task of the technical services to generate the relevant variations. Either when the rivals are already trying to tickle you with the second line players to avoid offside. Or when wear and tear requires recovery and there cannot be second and third efforts and you have to understand how to manage the game without taking the initiative. We’ll see if they can grow all three elements.

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