It’s the same philosophy, roughly the same infrastructure, but it’s a whole different result that can be found in Barcelona and Arsenal
Pass and move
The philosophy of both Barcelona and Arsenal when they’re playing football. Both are amazing to watch, but Barcelona still are a class above in terms of this. But when you ask anyone, who are the two best teams in the world in terms of passing, the knowledgeable (or even some not so knowledgeable) will definitely say Barcelona and Arsenal.
So what’s the difference between the Spanish side and the English side? I think that one reason behind it: Barcelona take their time to carve out chances, Arsenal too often rush to making a pass or a shot from somewhere outside the box without really getting inside the box.
Which brings me to my next reason, the movement of the Barcelona players is incredible, the work-rate is high, and there is a lot of productivity coming out of the passes they make. Just look at the likes of Pedro, Villa and Messi, darting runs into the box, which really brings out why their passing is the best in the world, having the ability to pick out those passes. Arsenal on the other hand, don’t work nearly as hard as Barcelona do.
Barca have Xavi, Iniesta, Messi etc. Arsenal have Fabregas and Wilshere
All the players mentioned above all in some way or another went through their respective clubs’ academy teams and made it to the big time. So just how did Xavi, Iniesta and Messi turn out to be world beaters when Fabregas and Wilshere can be second-rate at best when comparing to Barcelona?
I think the reason behind that is that the Arsenal team simply changes way too often. Just look at how their team has changed over the years, Gallas left, Henry left, Vieira left, and a few others have left. The fact is, that they haven’t replaced those players properly, and they are still suffering the effects of not properly replacing those players.
Compare that to what Barcelona do, which is to actually bring in someone before selling someone. One example would be the Zlatan Ibrahimovic case, where Barcelona actually secured the services of David Villa before offloading Ibrahimovic to AC Milan.
Barcelona have already a basic outline behind the squad, with Andres Iniesta and Xavi dominating the midfield for years already, Puyol being a lynchpin in their defence, and Lionel Messi, simply being amazing. The fact is, Barcelona don’t lose their star players, they simply sell those off form and bring in better ones, and they actually splash the cash unlike Arsene Wenger. Another comparison would be in selling Ronaldinho, a bold but correct move. He was way past his best and it was exactly the correct time to sell him.
Submitted by Two Liverpool Fans
