Barcelona v. Manchester United: Tactics vs. Talent – Part II

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Back by popular demand is Part II of Correspondent Ed's analysis of the UEFA Champions League Final:


Let’s start right in and continue our analysis of Tactics v. Talent.

The Problem of Mascherano

There is one player who plays for Barcelona whose abilities we already know from his stint at Liverpool – and that is Javier Mascherano.  Mascherano wasn’t a bad player for Liverpool, where he played at holding midfielder, but he certainly wasn’t very dangerous or dominant. 

For the Champions League game, Mascherano was inserted at center back for Barcelona.  One would suspect that this would be a terrible problem; however, in those few opportunities that United created, Marchiarano handled himself reasonably well.  Central defense was really not a problem for Barcelona throughout the game, and this is large part because United never had the ball.  Plus, the Barca system allows for and almost requires smaller defenders who are better at handling the ball than United’s big two in the middle. 

This is not to diminish the contributions of both Pique and Busquets, who were outstanding both defensively and handling the ball.  That said, I would think United could never hide Mascherano in the center. 

Verdict on Mascherano: Tactics cover up lack of talent
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