Jonathan Wilson: Barca's 3-4-3 formation another tactical weapon for Guardiola

[Jonathan Wilson]

Sometimes soccer can seem a very simple sport. The great Dutch coach Rinus Michels, the father of the Total Football school of the late sixties and early seventies and the man who took that style of soccer to Barcelona, believed that his side should always play one more defender than the other team had attackers. If the opponent played three up, Michels liked four back; if two up, then three back. To an extent, that has been the theoretical orthodoxy ever since.

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[Andy]

Barcelona have so many options. There squad is simply outstanding and it allows them to tweak things. We saw against Villareal that Xavi, Villa and Alves didn't make the first team yet they still fielded such a quality side. Mascherano has been outstanding when he has dropped to centre back and certainly can do a job there.

One thing that has been said in recent years about Barca is that they don't have the strength in depth but with the signings of Sanchez and Fabregas with the development of Thiago they have sorted that.

The options they have is just frightening unfortunately for every other team in Europe.