Letter to Jose Mourinho: How to beat Barcelona

Dear Mr. Mourinho 

I came to the realization that for the past year or so you have been experiencing problems with FC Barcelona and it seems no matter what you try they just keep on beating your ass. Well I’ve been a keen observer of Barcelona and in this time I have acknowledged that they do have weaknesses especially at the back. In this letter I’ll be giving you free advice on how to be victorious against Pep Guardiola and his men at the Camp Nou on Wednesday night.

There are a number of tactics you can use against Barca so let’s go through a few of them:

1. ‘Parking the Bus’ and Counter Attack

Okay so it’s public knowledge that you are the master of ‘parking the bus’ because you a great defensive coach. So I don’t know why you haven’t really tried this tactic like you did at Inter Milan because it’s clear to everyone that your players aren’t good enough to play their normal game against Barca.

Pros

• The Barca defense is slow and your quick attackers will have the advantage on the counter.
• Ronaldo works better with space and you have a good enough passing midfield to pick him out on a counter.

Cons

• Your attacking players don’t seem to be the ‘willing to defend’ type of attacking players
• You go a goal down you have to change your tactics

High Pressure with High Defensive Line (Off side trap)

I like this tactic against Barcelona and in your last two games it almost worked. Having Ronaldo, Benzema and who ever else is playing in your front three put pressure on the Barcelona defense and the midfield staying tight to the Xavi and Busquets. This tactic has worked for a lot of La Liga teams this season against Barca e.g. Espanyol, Sevilla etc. and like I said earlier it almost worked for you because in the last two games when you employed this tactic your team scored first but your players, somehow, messed everything up in the second half of these matches.

Pros

• Barca never wants to clear their lines so with the high pressure one of your attackers can knick the ball off a defender and eventually score.
• Their midfielder will be limited when they are without space.

Cons

•  Just one mistake with the offside line at the back which will result in the Barcelona attacker playing at a one-on one-with your keeper.
• Fatigue later on in the game after chasing every ball down.

Final Conclusion

After contrasting both tactics I have picked on which is parking the bus and counter attacking, why? Because firstly, you have done it before and you know how to defend and counter attack, Secondly, it’s the safer option.

Do’s

1. Defend deep so that you have the liberty abandon their through ball option.
2. Play Ronaldo on the left, this will hamper Dani Alvez going forward because we all know how dangerous he could be.
3. Play with two established defending defensive midfielders namely Khedira and Diarra, this will give you an extra passing alternative rather than putting a defender in there.
4. Play Callejon, he is in great form, he is fast, skillful, he can finish and he doesn’t shy away from defensive duties.

Don’ts

1. Don’t play Pepe in the midfield; as a matter of fact don’t play him anywhere.
2. Don’t play Alvaro Arbeloa or Hamit Altintop at right back please! Arbeloa is slow and I don’t know why he is at Real Madrid really and you tried the Altintop at right back thing and it cost you the game last time out.
3. And don’t play Pepe... oh wait is this the second time I say this? Well… GOOD!!

I really hope your fortunes change this Wednesday because it’s really starting to look like you have ran out of ideas but anyway good luck and Buena suerte!

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely Yours,

Mr. Zonke-Bonke Sports

Zonke-Bonke Sports

1 Sports street.

Sports Town, some where in South Africa

Email: zonkebonkesports@yahoo.com

Cell: 082 ZB SPORT