Pep Guardiola of Barcelona fears speed of Arsenal's Theo Walcott
Sunday morning, Sant Just Desvern. Pep Guardiola walks into the dressing room at Barcelona's new training HQ armed, as ever, with information. The coach is mindful, though, not to overwhelm his players with detail. He gets straight to the point. "Everything he does is for a reason, he never says things for the sake of it," Xavi Hernández says. This time is no different: "Theo Walcott," Guardiola tells his players, "runs 100 metres in 10.37 seconds."
And there in a nutshell is the danger that awaits Barcelona, one that appears greater for the suspension of their first-choice centre‑backs, Gerard Piqué and Carles Puyol. Guardiola was tight‑lipped, but Gabi Milito will start and he is likely to be partnered by Rafa Márquez, although shifting Yaya Touré remains a possibility. The way Barcelona play offers the Gunners some hope; an unfamiliar and slower partnership at the heart of their defence increases it.
The argument that Barcelona are weak at the back, however, is false. They have Spain's best defensive record; Arsenal will have to score at Camp Nou, where Barça have conceded only eight league goals this season. Stuttgart and Internazionale could not score there. But Rubin Kazan did. Twice. There is a lesson there.
Parsimony comes through possession. For Guardiola, defending is not about building a wall or launching into heroic challenges – although his players are capable of doing that. It is about keeping the ball. To attack Barça, you have to have the ball; rarely will they let you have it. When they lose the ball, they fight to get it back, asphyxiating the opposition.
Last summer Guardiola spoke at a conference. Forget pass and move – the title was "Recovering Possession". Compromises have been an attacking tactic – in last season's Copa del Rey final, he ordered Piqué to receive on the by-line, making the pitch long, in order to suck Athletic Bilbao forward before moves could be built.
That brings its own risks. If the attack is the first line of defence, the defence is the first line of attack. The back four must build – Barcelona's first three goals against Athletic Bilbao on Saturday were created by full-backs – and the front three must destroy. Lionel Messi has committed as many fouls as Puyol; Pedro and Zlatan Ibrahimovic have committed more.
But Guardiola believes there is nothing more risky than never taking risks. He accepts the risk in the way Barça defend as something of a short-blanket syndrome – you can cover your head or your feet but not both at the same time. His commitment is steadfast. Dani Alves is more attacker than defender and Eric Abidal says, "I prefer defending, but here you have to attack too." That could prove profitable for Walcott's pace.
Barça take risks near to their own goal and their high back line leaves space behind. It does not necessarily take a particularly accurate ball to get men behind, especially if they are quick. And Walcott is "faster than all of our players together", Guardiola says. But he also says: "Football is not just about sprinting; you have to be able to do something with the ball, too."
Barcelona have conceded eight league goals on the break this season. Others have come from straightforward balls into the space, through the middle and the channels beyond the full-backs. The few chances they concede tend to be one‑on‑ones. Walcott's goal last week was not especially unusual in its construction; nor was Bilbao's on Saturday. Against Rubin Kazan, in the only match in which Barcelona have conceded at home in Europe, the score was 2-1 to the Russians. Barcelona had 23 shots to three. The first Kazan goal was an outrageous long‑ranger, the second a breakaway.
Barça's vulnerability is heightened by the presence of Márquez. The Mexican is slow and has started just five league games. His appearance as a substitute was followed almost immediately by goals against Atlético Madrid and Zaragoza, both on the break. Even without a slower centre-back, that is Barça's Achilles' heel.
There is a flaw in plans to exploit it, though. Barcelona were without three of their first‑choice back four in last season's Champions League final in Rome. And once they got hold of the ball and refused to let it go, no one seemed to notice.
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