B arcelona, once famed for being the
strongest team between 2009 and 2012
both defensively, have a growing problem
in their defence. Mismanagement from the
previous manager: Ernesto Valverde and
lacklustre signings by the board had contributed
to their problems. Along with a lack of depth of
first-team quality has led Setien to play sub-par
left-backs like Héctor Junior Firpo.
Now, Barcelona is going through a transition
phase with Quique Setien. The players are
somewhat struggling to shift from Valverde’s
pragmatic style of play to Setien’s possession-
based style, emulating Guardiola.
This scout report helps provide an in-depth
tactical analysis into Barcelona’s defensive
strengths and weaknesses. Also, we examine
the tactical differences between Setien’s and
Valverde’s style of play. Finally, we highlight but
a few key transfer targets that can be a suitable
fit for the Catalan giants.
Defensive Style
B arcelona plays with four at the back,
with Sergio Busquets playing as central-
defensive-midfielder yet dropping into defence
when needed. Gerard Pique and Clement
Lenglet start as a centre-back pairing, with Jordi
Alba starting as left-back and Nelson Semedo
completing the defence at right-back.
Sergio Busquets shields the four-man defence.
Setien plays the defence at a higher line, so to
50
allow the defence to win the ball higher up the
pitch. This is a jarring difference from Ernesto
Valverde, who played with an immediate
counter-pressing system, where the team wins
the ball back deeper and counter-attacks.
Here, the four-man defence stays intact, with
Busquets acting as a guard to blocking any
central through balls. The creative midfielder
(Arthur or Frenkie De Jong) presses the
opponents and tries to win back possession
from a higher position.
Setien plays a form of ‘total football’, where
the most important concept is the utilization
of space on the field instead of a disciplined
structure like those employed by Valverde. The
team presses incessantly to win back the ball,
meaning that they lose structure in trying to do
so.
This allows us to segue to ‘total football’s’
second feature; the fluidity of positions. The
role of each player is not strictly confined to his
position, rather he has to participate in both
attacking and defending duties.
This is a sharp contrast from Valverde’s style,
which focused on direct football, with a strong
defence and a lacklustre attack. A style which
did not conform to the famed ‘tiki-taka’ quick
football that Barcelona fans were used to. In this
system, there was Sergio Busquets sandwiched
between the midfielders and defenders, and the
centre-backs would only aid in switching the ball
around the pitch instead of being involved in the
attack.
One of the main transitions that have been
noticed under Setien from Valverde is defending
on the ball and defending under pressure. Like
in the game against Liverpool, Jürgen Klopp’s
incessant ‘gegenpress’ meant that Barcelona
was pinned to the back under pressure, while
Barcelona was happy to clear the ball out of
pressure. However, under Setien, the Catalans
were in control of the pitch and pressured their
opponents on all parts of the pitch to suffocate
them.
Counterpressing is an important aspect of
Setien’s side as that is the major way they
win back the ball when out of possession. A
transition from Valverde’s side to Setien is that
N elson Semedo arrived at Barcelona from
no player(especially Lionel Messi) is left alone.
The team applies a man-marking system, which
takes place when the attackers or midfielders
are interested in overloading an area of the
pitch.
Here, as soon as Messi loses the ball, the
attackers and midfielders immediately press
the man closest to them. Here, Isco chooses
to pass the ball to the keeper, Courtois, so that
he could clear the ball instead of risking the
Barcelona press.
A classic example of a game where Barcelona
had a weak defence was against Real Betis.
Barcelona won the game 3-2, but only won
51
because their attack was better than the
defence. Nabil Fekir, the attacking midfielder,
exploited holes in the middle of the midfield,
with one goal and creating the penalty for the
other. The team did as Setien’s tactics required
and they were strong, but it was individual
weaknesses that lead to the opposition scoring,
something we will explore later in this tactical
analysis.
The Players
Nelson Semedo
Benfica in 2017, and immediately fit into the
side. Valverde did not give him sufficient game
time worth his quality, opting to go for Sergi
Roberto instead. But, now that he is getting
sufficient game time, he is showing that he is
a complete full-back like Dani Alves, by being
strong in attack and defence.
Semedo’s heatmap shows his role is important
both offensively and defensively. Semedo tends
to play a lot of short passes instead of long
crosses and roams towards the centre as Messi
drifts centrally instead of remaining on the right-
wing. So, the entirety of the right side of the
pitch is run by Semedo.
Defensively, Semedo has his strengths and
weaknesses. He attempts 9.08 defensive duels
in a game with a success of 60%. This is a high
number for a right-back. His defending depends
on his aggression and pace. Semedo presses
heavily and makes most of his tackles in the
middle of the pitch. 40% of his defensive duels
won are by pressing and recovering the ball.
Semedo chases the Valencia attacker down
from the opposition half and then tackles the
ball from him. This is a routine that takes place
a lot of times in a game and can start an attack
immediately to catch the opponent off guard.
However, Semedo has one main weakness
that needs urgent improvement - Positioning.
When he goes up to attack for his team, he
leaves a lot of spaces behind him. This problem
takes place for any offensive full-back but is
even worse for Semedo. So, opponents tend
to exploit the space left behind in the right by
overloading the right-centre-back.
Semedo( in Yellow) is behind the winger against
Betis. This means that there is a huge space
for 2 Betis players to exploit, with only Lenglet
52
present to cover them. This causes problems
for Pique as well as he is conflicted as to who to
cover. This problem is minimized with Pique or
Lenglet covering for his absence at defence, but
Semedo might struggle to fit in elsewhere where
he is required to be defensively disciplined and
stable (Like Conte’s Inter).
Attacking wise, Semedo is a huge threat to the
opponents due to his dribbling skills and ability
to retain possession better than most players
in La Liga. He attempts 3.87 dribbles a game,
which is not a lot but has the highest success in
completing dribbles.
Here, against Real Madrid, Semedo attempts to
exploit the fact that the Real Madrid defenders
are drawn to Messi and thus has full space
ahead of him. An advantage of this is that if
Ramos goes hunting Semedo, Vidal is left with
a lot of free space. Semedo’s pace here is
very advantageous, as he can beat Ramos to
the ball and nick it past to play a pass to Vidal
or Griezmann, putting Barcelona in a 3-v-2
situation.
Another impactful aspect of Semedo’s attacking
is his link-up play and ability to play short
passes with ease. This complements Setien’s
tactics which makes Barcelona form passing
triangles and essentially do rondos around the
opposition defender. Semedo links up with the
right-central-midfielder and the right-winger,
which is generally Frenkie De Jong and Lionel
Messi. Semedo makes 7.79 progressive
passes in a game and plays one-twos with the
midfielder to break through deeper defences.
This is important to maintain possession, as
Barcelona prefer to remain in control of the ball.
Barcelona has an average of 62% possession
in a game, which is the highest in the league.
Semedo has one weakness in attacking:
Crossing. He has a 40% success in all crosses
in the final third, which is lower than his right-
back counterpart - Sergi Roberto. However, this
S amuel Umtiti was a breakthrough centre-
can be attributed to the injuries of Barcelona’s
target man - Luis Suarez. But, if he goes to
teams that play a direct style and depend more
on crosses, he may have difficulty breaking into
these sides as a starter.
Nelson Semedo’s weaknesses and strengths
compared to other full-backs on his level
is perfectly highlighted on the radar chart.
The most jarring stats are his dribbling and
passing skills, which adds a new dimension to
Barcelona’s attack.
Semedo’s problems are mostly improvable. His
crossing improves with practice and decision
making and positioning improve by playing
more games for his team and learning from his
experiences. However, the main problem in his
case is the board. The board is looking for every
opportunity to ship him out of the team. He is
linked to Juventus and Inter on swap transfers
with Pjanic and Lautaro Martinez respectively.
The realization needs to be made that Semedo
is one of the best in the world at his position,
53
and can even play and suit himself at left-back.
At 26-years-old he has a high ceiling and can
become the best at both the offensive and
defensive sides of the game.
Samuel Umtiti
back from Lyon who joined Barcelona
in 2016. After winning the 2018 World Cup,
his role in the French side and partnership
with Rafael Varane made him one of the best
defenders in world football. However, after bad
luck and misfortune, he is close to losing his
place in the Barcelona side.
The main problem that has led to his downfall
was his recurring knee injury. In the 2018/19
season, he played only 16 games and has
played 12 games this season. His first-team
spot was taken by Clement Lenglet, who started
most of his games as a baptism of fire for the
youngster in his first season. However, under
Setien, Umtiti has gone back to the starting
lineup, having started 6 games and coming on
as a substitute in 3. This thoroughly indicates
Umtiti’s technical and tactical quality and how
he fits into a side that most defenders find
difficult to play in.
Umtiti fits in well to the partial man-marking
system that Barcelona do. This means that
there is no consistent marking of players, but
instead, the defenders immediately press the
player when he gets the ball. This is crucial
for Setien, as even when the pressing is
unsuccessful in winning back the ball, the play
is delayed long enough for other defenders to
recover in an advanced position, and can also
draw midfielders into the defending process.
The process is indicated below:

After the right-back plays a long ball to the
striker, Umtiti is on hand to press and waste
some of the attacker’s time. If he wins the ball
back, it is a bonus for the team. But if he does
not, the rest of the team can come into position
to defend better.
In a 3-1 win against Borussia Dortmund this
season, he won 100% of aerial duels, made 1
interception and 1 clearance.
Attacking-wise, Umtiti is one of the elites. He
makes 67.9 passes on average, the most for
any centre back in La Liga. He has a pass
completion rate of 94%, which is the second-
best for centre backs in the world. Umtiti, like
Pique, has been involved in the attack more
with Setien than under Valverde as the play
begins from Umtiti. Umtiti is heavily involved
in link-up play with the creative midfielders like
Arthur or De Jong.
Umtiti’s qualities can be summed up easily
by this quote by Luis Enrique Scolari, ex-
manager of Barcelona: “He’s adapted well
because of his technical and tactical qualities,
not just his physical attributes. In looking at
his performance – it’s only something you can
find out when you come to play for Barca. In
overcoming different situations on the field and
the things that he’s done. You can only see
when he’s here.”
Sevilla and was so good that Barcelona paid
out his release clause. In his first season, he
had an initiating ordeal and had to play most
games in the 2018/19 season. That year, he
partnered well with Pique in Valverde’s system
as he was mostly static and didn’t require much
technical ability. He made 2 tackles per game, 3
clearances per 90 and 1 block in a game.
This season, however, Lenglet has been
struggling in Setien’s new system, where he In the annotated image above, Lenglet plays
is a lot more mobile and is required to pass a long ball to switch play across to Rafinha,
more. This new system brought out Lenglet’s who makes a run and creates havoc in the final
main weakness - Pace. He is not very slow but third. With Valverde, Lenglet made around 49.8
still loses out to pacey strikers and wingers, passes per game in the league. This season,
especially on 1v1s. Thus, he has committed however, Lenglet has 72.4 passes in a game,
more fouls in a game while defending against with the second-most in the league.
quicker opponents. The best way to compare
the 2 seasons would be by a histogram, which
is indicated below:

As seen in his recent games, Umtiti under

Now, the defenders have their man - right-back
on left-winger, central-midfielder on central-
midfielder and right-winger on left-back, with the
centre-back is ready to cover for any through
balls.
However, there is one particular weakness that
could be present in this move- The intensity of
his team-mates. This is not dependent on Umtiti
but still is an important weakness to address.
If the defenders do not mark their man on
Setien seems like a new beast. But, his
consistent knee injuries means that the board
is losing patience with him. Barcelona cannot
consider letting him go now because of his
performances when fit, but still require a
backup for Umtiti considering that he is injured
most of the time.
Clement Lenglet
In most defensive metrics, like clearances,
tackles and blocks, Lenglet has a clear drop in
the 2 seasons. He has also committed more
fouls, which is also indicated in the graph.
But, Setien’s new system has also allowed
Lenglet to bring out something he is very
talented at - Passing. Now that the centre-
As the graph above shows, Lenglet is a good
centre back but is not starting level for a team
like Barcelona.
The sharp contrast in passing numbers for all
three centre-backs in the new system shows
how dependent Setien is on these 3 as viable
passing options and shows how the 3 of them
are viewed as active participants in an attack.

time, or the opponent gets the better of the

defender, the results could be catastrophic. The
opponents can now launch a counter-attack
with ease and will overwhelm the defence.
Since his return from injury, Umtiti has had his
fair share of good and bad bays on the field.
T he final defender that regularly plays is
Clement Lenglet. Lenglet signed from
Sevilla in 2017/18 and was originally signed
as a backup for the centre-back with Thomas
Vermaelen. However, as Umtiti got injured
and Vermaelen got sold, Lenglet became a
starter for the side. Lenglet impressed with
backs are more involved in attacking and
playmaking, Lenglet can finally make more
passes, both long and short. This improves the
playmaking process for the team. Roles and
functionalities wise, Pique and Lenglet function
very similarly and can play interchangeably as a
centre-back pairing.
With Lenglet, he is very talented and has a
moderately high ceiling. But, for the next few
seasons at least, Setien cannot depend on
Lenglet to be a consistent starter due to huge
weaknesses in the essential playstyle for
Barcelona.

54 55

Youth Prospects
B arcelona has many youth prospects in their
team, out of which two to note are Jean
Clair Todibo and Moussa Wagué. Both of them
definitely have the chance to break through
Setien’s side, especially considering that they
have the tactical and technical ability to play for
Barcelona.
The main problem with the board is that the
youth talents are rushed through the side, with
Bartomeu wanting to sign more superstars for
the team than patiently developing youth talent
in the team. This means that the youngsters are
being ditched in terms of development in the
main team. But, Setien is trying to involve the
youth players in his team, and I will talk about
in detail as to why these defenders have the
greatest chance to break through the main team
and play regularly.
Jean-Clair Todibo
T he 20-year-old centre-back arrived from
Toulouse last season and has become
one of the most in-demand centre-backs like
Upamecano and Zagadou. However, due to
mismanagement, Todibo has been unable to
start games for Barcelona. Thus, he has been
loaned out to Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga,
for whom he has played eight games for. Even
though Barcelona lacked depth in defence, with
only two actual fit centre-backs, they chose to
loan Todibo out, which was criticized by the
public as well.
Todibo is a confident young ball-playing centre-
back that is good at tackling and clearances,
making him a strong ball-winning centre-back.
Todibo, despite being 1.9m tall, is impressive
at dribbling and has great potential at passing
56
the ball and improving his passing range.
Todibo makes around 65.6 passes in a game
and boasts a pass accuracy of 86.7%. This is
thoroughly impressive, but not yet at the level
of Pique or Lenglet. However, there is a long
time for improvement and is a technical ability
that can be improved by both game experience
and training. Another factor that puts Todibo at
a disadvantage compared to his peers is that
Schalke and David Wagner do not tend to play
from the back like Barcelona, meaning that
Todibo is not involved in build-up play.
Todibo’s strongest forte has to be his dribbling
skills for a centre-back. Todibo makes 1.83
dribbles on average and has a success rate of
80%. This is one of the best success rates for
centre-backs in the Bundesliga and shows his
quality in dribbling even at such a young age in
one of the best leagues.
While being strong in his ball-playing skills,
Todibo is equally strong in his defensive
abilities. Todibo makes around 2.2 interceptions
in a game and attempts 5.37 defensive duels in
a game. He is also fast and is able to intercept
passes with relative ease, allowing him to stop
attacking chances from the opponents.
However, he has a lot of areas for improvement.
One of these is his game awareness. He is not
great at awareness in the game around him and
can get caught out for being out of position or
in a bad spot. Even though he is very rapid, he
will get punished against quality teams in the
Champions League, La Liga or Bundesliga.
The chart above shows his tackling and
dribbling prowess, but also shows his areas to
work on if he wants to fit into FC Barcelona.
Todibo would be a great fit for Barcelona as
he already has the traits required to become a
ball-playing centre back. With an ageing Pique
and Todibo gaining experience in a high-quality
team at a high-quality league, Todibo should be
ready to replace Pique and pair with Umtiti or
Lenglet.
The decision regarding keeping Todibo
ultimately comes down to the board. He is a
quality player who definitely has the potential
to become one of the best centre-backs in the
world in the right partnership, coaching and
tactical setup.
Moussa Wague
M oussa Wague, the 21-year-old Senegalese
right-back that made the step-up from
Barcelona B to the main team this season. He
has always been an excellent full-back with
an all-round ability but has not shone for his
team or country yet. In the summer break this
season, Valverde declared that Sergi Roberto
would play more as a midfielder, and gave
hope to the youngster that required game time.
However, when Semedo was injured, Valverde
did not trust Wague and played Roberto at RB,
and Wague ended up becoming the third choice
right-back. Wague ended up playing only 2
games, one against Leganes, and another in a
Champions League clash against Inter, when
Barcelona’s qualification was confirmed. So,
Wague was sent on loan to Nice in the January
transfer window.
At Nice, the full-back made 1 assist (A very
crucial one at that) but failed to impact much
else for his team. This was mainly because he
could not fit into the first side. However, I would
57
like to make a case as to why Wague has the
potential to become a quality right-back, if not
one of the best.
The three most important things to note here
is his tackles won, passes into final third and
successful pressures. He is on the 100th
percentile for all tackles won. Even though the
sample size is not very large for Wague, the
number is still impressive considering his age.
This shows his defensive strengths as he is
good at pressurizing the opponent into getting
the ball back and is important in stopping crucial
attacks from opponents.
He is also talented in the attacking phase of the
game, having made 4.33 passes into the final
third. This is an indication of his ability to play
short passes to the midfielders and wingers and
his strength at link-up play. He also has a good
pass completion ratio of 81%, which is very
good for a player of his age.
All of these shows how Wague is an all-round
player who does not stick out in any department
of his game.
On the other hand, Wague is very weak at
aerial duels and is more likely to lose an
aerial duel with an opponent. This is a skill
that is crucial for a full-back as he needs to be
competitive in the air against wingers. Another
weakness of his is his ability on the ball in terms
of dribbling. He attempts a lot of dribbles in a
game but has only a success rate of 45.5%.
Wague definitely has room for improvement but Ultimately, it is a matter of continuing their
can play at the highest level in some time when legacy in football or run the risk of becoming
he gets some game time in another team and like AC Milan if the defence is not fortified or

DATA VIZ
allow him to learn the ropes in-game. kept fresh.

For next season, seeing that Barcelona is

aiming to get João Cancelo, Wague will mostly
get loaned out or sold. However, they must not
sell him seeing he is a talented and balanced
full-back who can fit well into the first-team.
Seeing that Sergi Roberto is not especially
trusted by Setien to play at right-back, Wague
could well become the starter for Barcelona as
Semedo might be shipped off to Juventus.

Getting to know Mikkel Damsgaard

The board needs to prioritize their ideas
and goals for the long-term. Teams like Real
Madrid are replacing their older players with
younger ones that bode well for the future. It is
absolutely paramount that Barcelona doesn’t
fall behind in youth development and stay up as
a European giant in the long-term.
ZOLTAN TOTH // @ZoltanKnows
Conclusion:
T o any team, the defence is paramount, but
the application of defensive tactics varies
M ikkel Damsgaard is one of the most exciting attackers of the class of 2000. Even though
Sampdoria secured his signature in the winter transfer window, he was loaned back to the
Danish Superliga where he has continued to impress and his name has grown in reputation as a
from manager to manager. Valverde brought
result. He is still relatively unheard of by the majority of football fans. So, who is he and how can
some short-term defensive stability in defence
we assess his abilities before we see him play?
with his tactics, but Setien is trying to apply his
own, more attacking and possession-based
In the data visual below we can see on the left that we have aimed to build his profile by
tactics in the team. The old guards need to
comparing him with players of the same position. We have included the Superliga and Serie A
learn to adapt to the new tactics and may have
wingers with more than 600 minutes on the pitch this season. The defensive winger area is only
to see themselves out if they cannot adapt
occupied by Danish league players meaning that in Italy, the tactics don’t require a player with
to new circumstances. It is also thoroughly
such a role. Damsgaard fits nicely in between the inside forward and the defensive winger roles.
important to create a balance between the
Despite his lean-build, he is able to provide a good option for Claudio Ranieri with his good work in
short-term goals involving superstars and long-
defensive scenarios.
term goals with signing and developing new
youngsters into the first team. Signing sufficient
On the right of the image, we calculated statistics per 100 theoretical passes and found two
and talented backups for every position is also
similar players to Damsgaard. Adnan Januzaj, the former Manchester United wonderkid, would
important as players like Neto or Junior Firpo
be a suitable comparison and he also has the same physical attributes as Damsgaard. Stuart
do not make the cut for Barcelona in case of
Armstrong, of Southampton, also scores similarly to Damsgaard - although with a slightly better
important games.
forward pass accuracy of his theoretical 100 passes.

58 59