Barça borders on excellence in the offside maneuver. There are already 99 times in which the Barcelona team has canceled out rivals in this way. A figure that is not a coincidence and that responds to the sum of many magnificently executed details.
1. Avoid rivals between the lines
The first detail, little mentioned but very important, also affects the midfield line. The starting point for activating offside is that no rival sneaks between the lines. And, for this, the defense and the middle have to be very close. Of course, without losing the desired height. Therefore, the defensive line has to be very high and two of the three midfielders a little further back than what they are in attack.
2. Gain height with a back pass
Once the block is established, the defense has to advance meters forward with each pass behind the rival. This movement has to be done jointly and in synchrony. This further compresses the team’s structure and forces the opposing forwards to retreat, focusing on their goal. Basic action that Barça has extraordinarily mechanized.
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3. Covered or uncovered ball
This is perhaps the most important point of all. It is essential to identify when the opposing passer is under pressure (called covered ball) or when he has no one on him to prevent him from doing so (uncovered ball). In the first case, the defense must remain firm on top. In the second, the line has to gain a few meters backwards until the opponent activates the pass or until help arrives. This aspect requires a lot of daily work and this Barça has it. Flick’s Barça is identifying the covered and uncovered actions with maximum success.
4. A center-back marks the height
In the opponent’s normal attacks (which are the most numerous) there is always a player who marks where the three remaining defenders are positioned. For several reasons, the person responsible is the central defender of the wing where the ball goes. First, because the winger on the side has to be more focused on the ball and, second, because the two furthest defenders can perfectly visualize where the reference teammate is since they are facing the game.
5. The moment of freezing
The end of the process is completed with a moment of choral immobility of the four in back. The defenders are ordered to “dive” for one second at the moment the opposing passer makes the technical gesture. This allows Barça to gain that small distance with respect to the opposing forward, since he does not stop his career. Therein lies the main explanation for the fact that there have already been 13 goals disallowed against the opponents and that seven of them have arrived after the VAR review. And many times the anti-regulatory position is by centimeters.
6. Communication, coordination and courage
But all this would be of no use if the players did not have constant communication, surgical coordination and unalterable courage to always maintain it on all lines but, above all, on defense. Communication has to be an obligation for the entire rearguard, coordination belongs to daily work and courage, to the belief in this way of playing
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