Barcelona's victory over Dynamo Kiev (2-1) is certainly not a surprise, especially when the 18-year-old goalkeeper of the Ukrainian team had an excellent day with 12 saves. But at the other end of the pitch, goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, in his first game back from injury, also had 6 saves, which was a problem for Barca.
From the defense...
Starting in defense, in his career, Gerard Pique has been one of the world's top central defenders. He was once very fast with his judgment, but now that is no longer the case. Pique is only experienced but not fast enough to appear in necessary positions as usual. He appeared in the position of scoring instead of the strikers.
With a defense with 2 full-backs who often move up high like Jordi Alba and Sergino dest, Pique and his partners in the center-back position are always placed on the right to face their opponents.
The most notable problem is that coach Ronald Koeman unexpectedly arranged Frenkie de Jong to play as a center back when Clement Lenglet, Ronald Araujo were injured and Samuel umtiti was out for a long time. De Jong was a great player with the ball in his feet, but when he was not a defender, he - as well as the whole team - was eliminated quite easily.
Dynamo can often switch to attack easily. There was no reaction to block and the away team's strikers advanced almost unimpeded.
In such a situation, De Jong had to turn around to chase the opposing player instead of keeping the army just because he lacked experience in this position. As a result, a pass over the line created an opportunity for Ter Stegen to make an excellent save to avoid conceding a goal.
...to midfielders
The situation became worse for Barca when Koeman deployed 2 shields, which were players over 30 years old. Sergio Busquets has experience playing as a centre-back but Koeman did not choose to keep him as a defensive midfielder with Miralem Pjanic. Like De Jong, they are very good while having the ball but not capable enough to defend.
Barca's squad basically has only 4 defensive players when the 2 full-backs are high. Therefore, Dynamo players have advanced to the attack position many times without real difficulties. It is just that poor decision-making makes them unable to create better opportunities.
For Barca, there was no defense and no smart decision to neutralize the attacks. This happens every week and it needs to be addressed.
And the upper line
While the defensive task focused on 4 players, the other 4 were not responsible for forming a defense right from the front line. That is expected to make Koeman's 4-2-3-1 tactic work. But remember, Koeman once required the players to operate as a unit.
And even when they are just on a task, they are mostly helpless. In fact, breaking a deep defensive system of opponents has become a problem at Barca for at least the past year.
The rotation of the ball from the left wing, into the middle, to the right, then back in the middle and back to the left was full of deadlocks. Because the ball was not brought close enough, while only Ansu Fati and Messi could leave the defenders vulnerable.
Then Lionel Messi, Pedri, Antoine Griezmann occasionally trampled each other, causing congestion...
Koeman has brought new things, but it seems unsuitable for Barca who are too familiar with old values. Therefore, it creates more chaos...
