Enemies....beware....
Without Joe Hart, this would have been seven. That is no exaggeration or me trying to crack a joke. Just a cold hard fact that you have to accept. Barcelona CUT CITY OPEN, and Hart just kept on stopping shot after shot from Neymar mostly, but also denied the Cannibal and Lionel. If not for Hart...I repeat....this would have been the bloodbath that we all expected.
I don't know how it happened or where it came from. Out of nowhere, Enrique has transformed this team into THE most dangerous attacking force in the world. They ain't resolute at the back, but that philosophy of scoring more than you do seems to hold sway with these boys. Because with those three, there is just so much creativity, movement, individual skill and deadly finishing to beat ANY team that you throw at them. And you have to credit Enrique.
Nothing lasts forever. It's probably one of the reasons that Pep thought it was time to move on. His philosophy was a dominant force for so many years, but he saw that playing at such a level was just not feasible with the current players. And Guardiola is out to prove himself as a coach rather than a one-team manager. So he moved, and now it was a case of how to carry on that philosophy...or....CHANGE THE GAME FOR THESE.
Vilanova, may he rest in peace, got lubricated with that setup by Bayern and thus was the beginning of the end of it. Then Martino came and could not really figure out how to change the philosophy to a new and better one. Finally, Enrique was given the job and they started out not really looking like they knew just what the hell they were doing. But a few changes, some work on the training ground, and Enrique has unlocked that door that was closed and solved the mystery. It was all about how to get these three talents connecting well, and keeping the team as solid as possible to concede as little as possible whilst recycling the ball a lot quicker to make it harder for teams to defend.
What you have is a Barcelona who can go to their slower passing game, but now have that counter-attacking threat they never had. Before, under Pep, they had no Neymar and thus no outlet to release the ball quickly. It was all about possession and slowly creating a chance whilst frustrating and tiring out the opponent. With Neymar, you have one of the sharpest and best off-the-ball players in the world. A dude that understand where and when to run, and with a passing maestro that is Messi, what you have is an extremely lethal combination. So if a team wishes to their stupidity to throw men forward and attack Barcelona, it just takes one good pass down to Neymar and he is away and bearing down on the keeper.
HH
