Iniesta, Left or Center?

Being the hot topic of the week, I think it’s a good time to raise the issue of Iniesta Role in the team. where can he help the team more this season, as a midfielder or as a Left wing?

For the start, there are some points to make clear before getting in-depth:

The Henry/ Iniesta rotation on the left offered us lot of possibilities. Henry usually takes the Left wing seat in the selection, while he plays more as a second striker. Iniesta plays on the left wing, but at the same time while working on the offense build up, he still have the midfielder genes that helps him a lot to link with his team mates in the field, and generate assists. None of them has to be the one and only option. It depends on the games played. The same as Henry must not be considered only as the striker who take the left wing position. We also need to see more Henry as a striker in Eto’o place, with Iniesta on the left wing.

One of the reasons of the drop in form we passed through is that we limited and squeezed our options in some positions. That’s why, while discussing the Iniesta case, I will pass on the methods we can apply to enrich our options and show more depth in the squad. The following months are the most important and we need to learn lessons from the past.

We all know that Iniesta can play on the left AND the center, based on every game needs. This is not the case. The question is: While we are seeking balance between performance and effort to keep our players as fresh as possible till the end of the season, where can Iniesta serve the team most?

To go directly to the point-too late: in some games where possession is a priority, the Xavi + Iniesta partnership is a must. yet, I still believe Iniesta makes the team better when he plays on the left. May be it’s a wrong time for me to raise this issue. The team started to perform well, and it happened to be when Xavi and Iniesta are running the show in the midfield. I think if I mentioned this last summer (and I actually did and no one complained), or may be after our first game against Numancia it would have been better. Simply because the partnership didn’t click back then. But here is my reasoning for preferring Iniesta the wing, over Iniesta the midfielder. Noting that when I say Keita as a third midfielder, its also applied for the other options there, based on the game played. So here we go:

1) Shallow Non-symmetric structure: Having Henry on the left wing and Iniesta as a midfielder creates a system chaos in a way. If Iniesta stick to his midfield role, we play without a left wing. Henry will be cutting into the box too often as a forward. Thats where and how he helps the team most. Instructing Iniesta to move to the left when Henry cuts inside means you will only have Xavi at the center and with only Yaya behind him. Messi cover up for that offensively when he cut inside helping Xavi with ball distribution and penetration. But when the ball is lost and dropped or cleared behind the offense line we create on the edge of opponents box, then: counter counter!


2) Cannibalization: it’s a system analysis, Marketing and project management expression. I tried to explain it using my own words, but then I found on Wiki a great explanation and here it is:

"Cannibalization is when companies, particularly retail companies, open outlets too close to each other. Much of the market for the new outlet could have come from the old outlet. The potential for cannibalization is often discussed when considering companies with many outlets in an area, such as Starbucks or McDonald's.

In project evaluation, the estimated profit generated from the new product must be reduced by the earnings on the lost sales." (Wiki)

In english it means: having players on the field who eat from each others Role. With Iniesta + Xavi in midfield, Henry + Eto'o in the crouded box, we actually have lot of that. For sure Xavi plus Iniesta is better than Xavi alone. But if Xavi Added value to the team is (A), and Iniesta added value is (A), then Xavi + Iniesta added value in the midfield is not (2A), it’s (1.5 A). Some may think we upgraded the midfield with half an (A) having iniesta there, while we actually lost half of the (A) added value that Iniesta can inject in the team if he played little further than Xavi and in a different role, like left wing. You get an (A) in midfield (Xavi) and another (A) on the left wing (Iniesta). I believe thats a bigger loss than benching one of the strikers, using a third midfielder who add physical balance in that department, and starting Iniesta to attack the left flank of the opponent.

3) Resources management - 1: In our case here, it’s important to see the added value of Iniesta in the midfield, his added value on the left wing, then compare. Iniesta is a player any team will die to get and hire to orchestrate the ball distribution. No doubt. But isn’t he too good to be employed as "an outlet" for Xavi? From the left flank he showed almost every time he played there that he can lead the team from the left to the box and take the game on his own. As much as I believed at the beginning of the season that he can play as a left wing, against all odds back then, I also believe he can actually score many goals through being a left wing. He proved it when he reached his peak and before he got injured. At least Iniesta penetration from the left with Keita running to the box can score enough goals to cover the loss of goals that may happen if we benched Henry, or played him in Eto’o position.

If you can have a Messi-type player on the left (Achievable), why will you give up on that to drag him to serve as a Xavi outlet? You need an outlet, start Hleb, believe it or not he can do the passing passing passing thing beside Xavi. Start Keita, Gudjhonsen or the best option for the future of that position, Busquets. And put on the left a player who can dribble two defenders while moving the ball in a 2 cm space near the baseline (remember?). A player who can open the field. And instead of playing beside Xavi who is suffering from a crowded defense in the center, play him on the left to stretch the defense wide. Thats how the midfield will be less crowded for Xavi to operate.

Xavi is the best playmaker in the world, he is not easy to contain. It may sound practical to have Iniesta as a distribution assistant beside him but it sounds more practical to create the playmaking Chain I mentioned once before: Alves on the right, Messi cutting inside the box from the path between Xavi and Alves to get advantage of the space made by Henry or Eto'o, and Iniesta on the left with Keita between Iniesta and Xavi Crushing into the box to catch opponent defense with surprise and dropping back to play beside Yaya when needed.

Possession is a key principle in Barcelona Ideology, that’s well known. But there is another principle that is as important, but rarely discussed: Stretching the field wide. You cant focus on one principle and neglect the other, the whole system will collapse.

4) Resource Management - 2: Lets take Barcelona selection in the game against Lyon and imagine it didn’t click for a reason or another (this is football u know?), Lyon parked a bus and we failed to score for the first 60 minutes. What are the options we had on the bench as "game changing" cards? Who are the added values for offense? The 19 years old unused Bojan?

Coaches always need to put themselves in the position of keeping control on the game destiny, not to throw all the cards and wish wish wish and pray for luck. When you reach the second half and everyone is tired (Both teams), getting Eto'o into the game from the bench to run over the opponent exhausted defense can change the game. Same for Henry, or Iniesta. But when you have them all on the field, then the ones you install from the bench during the game are not better than the ones you already employed in the start up selection.

Its not easy to explain it, but its a deciding factor in football. its about the strategic approach you plan for the game, not just the tactics and selections you start with. And it includes lot of "what if? What if? What if?..." the more of them you have and know the answer for, the more you will be seen as a coach who master reading the games. Now without being critical, how many times the team was passing through troubles and we ended up only making one substitution at most? Guess why...

5) Resources Management - 3: Based on the points mentioned above this is another way to show more depth in your squad. It’s like the cheque’ financial role of showing the presence of more liquidity in the market than there is for real.

Employing Iniesta in the midfield means having only one big performer to serve on the left wing (Henry), and it block any possibility for other options in midfield. The depth of the squad Auto-squeeze. Make a slight change in the way the system function to activate the options available, and here you are!

In another hand, Keep some key players out if you can (and with the quality of our players we always can). Start Bojan-Eto'o-Messi against Almeria for example, with Yaya- (Busquets/Gudi/Keita/Hleb/Ramzi...) and Xavi as midfielders. you think this is not a good enough line up to win? Excuse me! They definitely are! They are better than any other team start up selection in the liga.

I know we can use better selections, but this way you have Henry and Iniesta among others on the bench. Not only as winning cards but also to save some batteries for what comes later. We were rotating at the beginning of the season even when the team lacked chemistry. Lot of fans were critical and demanded fixed selection. Hopefully Guardiola can overcome public opinion pressure, and -most importantly - the players ego and return to the policy that he knows its a need for the team. We needed to get back the balance after the shaky performance in recent weeks, now back to the basics!

6) Efficiency: by description, it’s the ratio of the useful energy delivered by a dynamic system to the energy supplied to it. If our system does not work unless if the best of the best of the world wide players are installed in, then this system is screwed. Why will you need a system if its solely based on individuals collective effort and not on the synergy created by the entire group? I don’t think our system is that dummy. It is definitely flexible enough to blind the potentials diversity of all our players in a well customized package. Injecting the less vital players in the mix for the starting up roles, if with the right doses, earn u results and keep you fresh.

Most importantly, efficiency in football also means to measure the amount of effort burned in the game to get a result. The system with lot of back and forth transitions already killed us before. We all enjoyed the beginning of the season when players were leaving traceable marks on every field they invaded back and forth, pushing themselves to the edge. But we didn't notice the amount of biological fuel that style demands, till the players' bodies screamed the "enough is enough" complain.

Now we are little more fresh than two weeks ago, we need to learn from the mistakes and do better in that mean. Keita/Busquets who drop back when needed to act as a gap filler behind Xavi and beside Yaya will serve this goal. It decrease the space the rest of the offense need to run through while switching between offense and defense. They will be closer to the opponent area, which means a better offense return, and less defense effort. Thats a kind of total quality management. So the player we install in the midfield for doing the dirty job actually enhance our offense. Iniesta can do it as well? Well...do we really need to exhaust our most skillful players to do the job that demand physical effort, while we have players who are physically better?

7) Seeking perfection: Having Iniesta in the midfield and Henry on the left, is a very rigid structure that is hard to customize during the game, based on the match conditions. To give you an idea about what that means let me pick the other option and explain its mobility:

-- Yaya Keita Xavi in midfield plus Iniesta on the left:

a) Iniesta on the left already create an outlet for Xavi, but instead of being an outlet between Xavi feet so they bounce on each other, he is a wide outlet whom the opponent defense get stretched to track.

b) If Xavi needed serious help in the midfield, assuming that Messi -keita-Yaya help was not enough, its easy for Iniesta to hurry for help dropping to the middle but just as often as needed to operate the game, then he bounce back to do his job. based on the previous cannibalization analysis, this way u get Xavi(A) in the center+ Iniesta(A) playing on the left +Iniesta (0.5A) assisting in the middle when needed.

c) While dominating the game, Iniesta on the left and Alves on the right stretch the opponent defense, making it less crowded for Xavi in the center, more lethal for Keita to run into the less compact Box to meet Iniesta and Alves crosses and create more gaps for Messi to penetrate through.

d) During the game we felt a need for more cover because the defense is little bit shaky at a certain period, no problem! Keita move to play as a second Defensive midfielder beside Yaya till things are more settled. More dominance in the midfield needed? just ask for it! Keita +Yaya as defensive midfielders, Iniesta+ Xavi attacking midfielders, Messi on the free role around the striker (Henry or Eto'o). Things going fine, we go the opposite way regarding the midfield-offense structure:2-2-1-1--->1-2-3.

Now imagine the team applying that. In one year from now the switching between the mentioned scenarios will become a second nature for the players. So the group systematic work will make us play a water like tactical structure that keep reshaping itself during the game based on the on-time needs. Now who can contain that? No team in the whole world!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

For those who like Statistics (something I am not the best with), here is a report summarizing Iniesta status in the liga till now.

A) Iniesta games on the left:

Betis Sevilla-Barcelona 2-2
Santander-Barcelona 1-2
Barcelona-Mallorca 3-1 (Iniesta entered the game Min 66 and scored a goal Min 75)
Malaga-Barcelona 1-4
Athletic-Barcelona 0-1
Barcelona-Atletico 6-1
Espanyol-Barcelona 1-2
Barcelona-Betis 3-2
Sporting-Barcelona 1-6
Barcelona-Santander 1-1 (entered in the 39 th minute)

Briefing: 10 games- GF 30 goals (3 goals per game), GA 11 goals (1.1 goal per game) , gathered 26 points out of 30 points available 87%.

B) Iniesta games in the center:

Barcelona-Athletic 2-0
Barcelona-Sporting 3-1
Barcelona-Numancia 4-1
Barcelona-Almeria 5-0
Numancia-Barcelona 1-0

Briefing: 5 games- GF 14 goals (2.8 goals per game), GA 3 goals (0.6 goals per game) , gathered 12 points out of 15 points available 80%.


C) Without Iniesta(someone else in the midfield with Henry on the left):

Atlético-Barcelona 4-3
Barcelona-Espanyol 1-2
Barcelona-Deportivo 5-0
Osasuna-Barcelona 2-3
Villarreal-Barcelona 1-2
Barcelona-Real Madrid 2-0
Barcelona-Valencia 4-0
Sevilla-Barcelona 0-3
Barcelona-Getafe 1-1 (henry entered the game min 55)
Recreativo-Barcelona 0-2
Barcelona-Valladolid 6-0

Briefing: 11 games- GF 32 goals (~3 goals per game), GA 10 goals (~1 goal per game) , gathered 25 points out of 33 points available 76%.


You can do your conclusions based on the data listed above. There is one important thing I wanted to point, and it is related to section (C), its not true that we need Iniesta in the midfield simply because the other options sucks. It is obvious that with the other options in the midfield beside Xavi, we played the most difficult games this season we scored the same rate of goals and if you neglect the last two games played with this status against Atletico and Espanyol where the whole team had a drop in form so its not fair to hook it on the third midfielder, you will easily find that:

In the previous 9 games, the team: Scored 28 goals (3.1 goals per game), GA 4 goals ( 0.44 goals per game), Gathered 25 points out of 27 points possible 92.6 %

So Allow me to stick to what i wrote long time ago about: Guardiola favorite, not the fans'

When I show dissatisfaction, it’s not because we are not good, or very good, or very very good. But because I believe this team can seek perfection, creating a different level of football, that had never been witnessed before.

Ramzi Tanani