Whats wrong with our offside trap?

Every time I see the offside trap executed perfectly against us,I cant help but think of our offside trap which has been a joke recently.
Every game our forwards are caght offside a lot.I look at thier line and it looks very good.Everyone in a line,everyone stepping up at the same time.
Compare that to ours and the difference couldnt be more obvious.Total confusion.All 4 players in different positions.One steps forward,the other back.Just a complete mess.A stark contrast to a couple of seasons ago when we used to play it very well.
Now one obvious reason for the poor execution is that we havent been able to play with a regular backline.
Both Pique and Puyol have been out a lot,Alves has been out.Plus Alba,a new player has come in.So the required level of communication is just not there.
But even when Pique and Puyol have played together,our trap has been far from perfect.Still haphazard and disjointed.
So what are we doing wrong tactically and who is responsible?What can be done to rectify it?
Another thing I have noticed regarding Pique.I agree that in general he has put in much better performances compared to the last season and a half.
But he has been a bit slow in pushing up on the second ball of a setpiece.I have noticed this a few times in the past few matches.We clear a setpiece,everyone pushes up,Pique reacts slowly and on the second ball in plays an opponent onside.

Players are making individual error, mostly Mascherano.

But Alba, Montoya and Adriano have all been guilty of not being aware and not pushing up.

The entire back 4 (or whoever is back at the time) has to do it in unison...some players are falling asleep.

I think part of it might be due to not playing games in a row, the back line is contantly changing. If the centerbacks arent injured, one of the fullback are.

Another issue which might be just as big has been pressure on the ball, not to be confused with pressing.

The offside line works much better of the passer of the opponent is under pressure. If he has all the time in the world to analyse his options he can play the right pass at the right time, he could even choose not to pass and make a sideways ball out the flank, keeping possession and waiting to pick a better moment to make a pass.

When the passer is pressured, he doesnt have time to think of all these options and he has to release a pass.

If under pressure, we are controlling this action. We are making them pass in a hurry and we can time the offside line.

When the man on the ball isnt under pressure, they are controlling it.

A few times I have seen passes get put in and the player has ample time on the ball to make a pass.

There is nothing worse than playing a high line, doing an offside trap where the players arent in unison and the passer of the ball has time to pick a pass. Its a recipe of disaster.

The players need to coordinated better, but maybe more importantly there needs to be pressure on the passer.

Interesting observation dani.I think all players in midfield bar Busquets are guilty of that.
Building on from that,I think partly it again boils down to us not pressing from the front.One of our midfielders,typically Xavi has to go forward to press.
When they escape the press there is one less player in midfield.So its a bit easier for the opposition player to play the final ball without pressure (assuming that once they escape the press and get the ball into midfield they play the final ball quickly enough before our midfielder can get back into position).
Not saying this happens all the time but could be one reason.

Could it be that it wal long time ago since we had a regular back 4? So many players switched positions and played defense that it screwed the order IMO. So it will take some time until the defense line stabilizes a bit.

eelir wrote:Could it be that it wal long time ago since we had a regular back 4? So many players switched positions and played defense that it screwed the order IMO. So it will take some time until the defense line stabilizes a bit.

Just this! you can point out thousand reasons but this is the most logical and guaranteed truth. You need a good level of understanding to make this happen. its not a skill its understanding among the defenders. so even the poor teams does perfectly vs us. So anyone if to blame are the defenders who can do this together.

alexjanosik wrote:Interesting observation dani.I think all players in midfield bar Busquets are guilty of that.
Building on from that,I think partly it again boils down to us not pressing from the front.One of our midfielders,typically Xavi has to go forward to press.
When they escape the press there is one less player in midfield.So its a bit easier for the opposition player to play the final ball without pressure (assuming that once they escape the press and get the ball into midfield they play the final ball quickly enough before our midfielder can get back into position).
Not saying this happens all the time but could be one reason.

Yes, perhaps. But honestly, if the first midfielder comes out to press, they opponant should never be able to pass their way out.

I dont have a big problem with Xavi coming out if the rightcenterback has it (or Iniesta/Cesc) if the left centerback has it. It is a feasable move matching them 4 v 4 across the back line, the issue is if we do that, they shouldnt ever pass their way out, ever. If they do the exact thing you said happens, midfielders further forward have more time and space to make those passes.

I'm not sure if this is related to the offside trap or not, but last season Barca conceded an average of 6 shots per game. I'm not sure if it was 6 all season. It was around 6 every time I checked.

This season Barca have conceded an average of 9.8 shots per game.

As long as the defensive injuries do not return, you'll probably see that number go down again as the season progresses. I'm not worried about it at all considering the circumstances.

Very interesting subject. Really enjoyed reading the thread.