I would like to start by saying that I am about as ardent a Barcelona supporter as you will find outside of Catalunya. I am no fair-weather fan who who jumped on the bandwagon when Barcelona signed Ronaldinho and started winning trophies. I became a fan as a small child in the early 90’s when the like of Romario, Stoichkov, Hagi, and Pep Guardiola were shown ever so briefly on Canadian television back then on Soccer Saturday hosted by former Scottish international Graham Leggat. I say all of this so there is no confusion, I do not want my comments to be misconstrued as simply the words of a bitter Barca fan; they are definitely not that. Should you read the entirety of this piece, you will find that I am very fair with respect to both teams. As a spectacle, the 2nd leg was everything you hope for from a football match and was a great advertisement for what football can provide in a way that no other sport can. There was passion, drama, excitement, a villain, and a shocking finale.
Let me first congratulate the Chelsea players on their individual defensive performances, to a man they remained disciplined and focused through both legs of the tie. Petr Cech, Ashley Cole, and Ramires for me deserve to be singled out as stellar performers. Ramires’ chip of Barcelona keeper Victor Valdes was quite stunning, Cech made some extremely crucial saves in both matches and dealt well with anything in his area, Cole ensured that Barcelona achieved little to no success on his side of the field. Many have hailed the fitness of the Chelsea players having conceded over 70% possession in both matches, but I choose not to overstate that and for good reason. When the whole team is camped within 20 yards of your goal while Barcelona knock the ball around, they are simply shifting from side to side and in fact getting quite a bit of rest without the ball. Any open Premier League match would have been more physically taxing. I will address the tactics employed by Chelsea,a bit later on, but I want to state that even before the semi-final, former player and interim manager Roberto Di Matteo deserved to get the job full-time and have this team for a full season regardless of whichever big name manager should come available.
As for Barcelona, they alone are responsible for their crashing out of the competition. Say what you will about Chelsea’s defending (insert hyperbole here), had Barcelona finished even two of the five clear goal scoring chances they had in the 1st leg (Fabregas 2, Sanchez 2, Busquets 1) the 2nd leg would have been irrelevant. Add in another shank in the box from Sergio Busquets and Messi’s penalty miss from the 2nd leg and it becomes clear that they had ample opportunity to wrap up the tie in comfortable fashion. Not to mention that had even one of the seven chances I just listed been finished, it would have forced Chelsea to step out and attack, which would have suited Barcelona quite nicely. Another area in which Barcelona must be criticized is in their lack of defensive discipline. Conceding a goal on the stroke of halftime in both matches in simply unacceptable; particularly in the 2nd leg when they were leading 2-0 in the match and 2-1 in the tie. Right before halftime is the period of the match where, unless you’re losing, you must stay disciplined and not concede. Barcelona failed to do so and it cost them dearly. It is difficult to analyze individual performances when they barely had to play, it was essentially a football version half-court basketball. I suppose the only thing that could be said is that more risks should have been taken and a more shots sent Cech’s way. Far be it for me to question a manager who has led the team I support to so much success in such little time, but his use of young winger Cristian Tello must be questioned. Between his display against Real Madrid and his cameo in the 2nd leg against Chelsea, it is clear that he was the wrong choice. Tello is a player with quite a bit of upside, but at the moment lacks a second dimension to his game that is required when faced with the likes of Real Madrid and Chelsea. The difference between Isaac Cuenca and Tello is that the Cuenca can pick a pass with both feet, Tello is unable to do so as yet. Injuries and form be damned, Pedro should have been used instead of Tello. He has his critics but he has proven big for Barcelona in crucial moments and a few different facets to his game that would have served Barcelona better. So in this instance, and there are not many, Pep Guardiola got it wrong. Defensively, Eric Abidal is really missed, and Gerard Pique going off injured was a big blow as he would have been useful as a makeshift centre forward when Barcelona got desperate.
Time to address the regrettably celebrated and sensationalized tactics of Roberto Di Matteo. Even at the peak of Italian ‘Catenaccio’, no team ever played this defensively. John Terry’s foolish red card should not be cited as a reason for Chelsea setting up camp in front of their penalty. Chelsea “parked the bus” from the moment they were drawn against Barcelona after the quarter-final. Much was said about Chelsea not being the team of old and not being able to play with Barcelona, we still don’t know if that is true or not because they never played. Certain media types will defend Chelsea’s tactics and argue that there is no one set right way to play the game. To be fair, that statement is true. However, there is a right way and a wrong way to play the game, Chelsea played the wrong way. The Barcelona “Tiki-taka” style is not the only right way to play, though it is the most beautiful to watch without doubt. This next statement will make me vomit in my mouth a little as I am writing it, but in their win over Barcelona last weekend, Real Madrid showed the right way to go about playing football and managing to beat Barcelona. Another two clear goals missed from Xavi and Tello aside, Madrid defended well in numbers, won battles in midfield, and attacked well as a unit. Other teams are examples of football played the right way yet have different styles. Athletic Bilbao has set Europe alight this season in the Europa League with their compact team defending and sweeping attacks. Borussia Dortmund has won the Bundesliga title for the second year running playing their own brand of positive and effective football. So no there is no one set way that football should be played, but there are ways it should and should not be played. Just like the violent displays by the Netherlands in the World Cup final against Spain or some Real Madrid displays against Barcelona last season, Chelsea playing exaggerated levels of negative football is the wrong way to play the game and should not be praised. It was indeed unfortunate to see a side with the proven quality of Chelsea resort to the negative route instead of playing Barcelona straight up, something they are capable of doing. Could you ever see Sir Alex Ferguson setting up his team so negatively? He has enough pride and respect for the game to go out and play, regardless of the opponent. The question must now be asked, will Chelsea employ the same tactics in the final? Perhaps not against Bayern Munich but if Real Madrid make the final, they just beat Barcelona, so logically the same reasoning must be used as they could not possibly play them straight up either.
Many have been hoping for Barcelona to slip up because many have grown somewhat bored of Barcelona simply steamrolling opponents and collecting trophies. Understandable. What is unfortunate is that the desire to see Barcelona lose has made people very shortsighted and caused them to incorrectly celebrate negative tactics. Imagine for a minute the tables had been turned and it was Barcelona with the one goal lead to defend. If Pep Guardiola had employed the tactics Di Matteo did, he would be condemned “from Boston to Budapest”, to quote John Travolta in Swordfish. Remember that this is a manager who is lambasted for being too defensive should he ever start Sergio Busquets and Seydou Keita in the same midfield. If Barcelona played the way Chelsea did, the utterly professional and unbiased to a fault British media *sarcasm* would label Barcelona as cowards, claim a lack of confidence, and insinuate all manners of tomfoolery about a Barcelona downfall. This is where I take issue with the media’s reporting about the events of this semi-final, those who are paid to speak about the game with authority should know better. Aside from the matches themselves, it is the media’s analysis of all that transpires that most influences the public’s point of view. This is why Chelsea’s tactics should not be celebrated, what is it saying to football fans everywhere? Are we claiming it is ok to employ negative tactics out of fear for your opponent? This is the message being sent to young kids everywhere, it is ok to play in fear of your opponent and be negative to accomplish your goal. Anyone who believes that to be ok should have serious look at themselves. From a young age kids are taught by their coaches and parents to not be scared, to have confidence, to play positively, etc. The same Chelsea players who have their own children will have told them to go out and play with confidence, get your foot on the ball and play; so how can they then on Europe’s biggest stage go out and play so negatively? I do however believe that less can issue can be taken Chelsea than can be taken with the media. Chelsea did what they felt was their only way to win, Di Matteo did what he felt he needed to do to ensure he gets his interim tag dropped. The problem is that the media should have highlighted that. The distinction should have been made between Chelsea doing what they felt was required and it being negative football that should not be glorified. Other teams playing against sides not named Barcelona are torn apart in the media every week when they play negative or ugly football, so why was it ok this time? The answer is simple, professional writers let their desire as fans to see Barcelona lose cloud their ability to analyze the situation as a whole and offer unbiased reporting.
The Score’s Footy Blog Editor Richard Whittall wrote a very interesting piece stating, “It’s not enough for Barca to lose because their players have aged or have had a dip in form--Guardiola’s tactical system must be defeated so that football can progress.” Even as a Barcelona fan who wants to see this team win forever, I know Whittall’s claim to be true. Where more distinction is needed is in how Barcelona’s tactical system needs to be beaten. Do not be fooled, Chelsea did not beat Barcelona’s tactical system, they won a tie over two matches in which all manners of good fortune that eluded Barcelona and fell to them. Even the way in which Real Madrid defeated Barcelona cannot be said to have completely provided to answer to Barcelona’s tactical question, though they are the only team so far to have taken a giant step in that direction. In order for football to truly progress and evolve, one of two things must happen. Barcelona need to be overtaken by a side who play complete football with dimension that decisively negate the Barcelona way, or Barcelona themselves need to add a new dimension to their game and take the level of play even higher.
I will finish by restating that I would like to take nothing away from the individual performance of every Chelsea player, they defended like titans. The club, as well as the fans, should be very, very happy. It is a day, and win, that will go down as one of the greatest in club history. But I advise caution for football writers and pundits, be careful of glorifying the wrong aspects of the game simply because of your bias as a fan of the game. Draw a line in the sand, separate you the fan from you the professional.
