martes, julio 23, 2013

Gerardo Martino in Barcelona

Gerardo Martino is the new coach of Barcelona. His landing in the Nou camp has been more rather an unexpected fact that a planned strategy. The old player of Newls Old Boys, who played in the squad of the coach Marcelo Bielsa in the starting of the 1990s, has had a successful career as a coach in South America.Beyond journalist labels, which have defined him as “Bielsista”, Martino is a smart and pragmatic coach, with an enormous passion for the football and that guides his steps under the ethic umbrella of his main reference: Marcelo Bielsa.
             In tactical terms, Martino has been a flexible coach. In the Paraguayan soccer he leaded Liberty to develop a kind of play based on the strength of external midfielders, the capacity of any Paraguayan center backs, and the fire power of any Paraguayan center forwards. He also understood deeply the nature of the Paraguayan soccer, using its main characteristics through a great generation headed by experimented players such as Roque Santa Cruz and Justo Villar, and young players as for example Edgar Barreto and Tacuara Cardozo. The results were successful. Martino gioded Paraguay to South Africa 2010, getting quarterfinals and being beaten by Spain in extra-time..
              In Newls, Martino took the challenge of raising the institution. Martino reorganized the team, got a new championship, and disputed a good Copa libertadores. Martino was also closer to his principles as coach in comparison to his experience with the Paraguayan National soccer team. From the starting, Martino organized a team to control the ball and attack quickly. In the last games with Newls, in Copa Libertadores, Martino used a 1 4 1 4 1, with two external midfielders, Maxi Rodriguez y Pablo Perez, who were incisive in the moment of attacking and very active in the moment of recovering the ball. These transitional midfielders were the seal of Martino in Newls. Against Atletico Mineiro, in the Marcelo Bielsa Stadium, Newls showed the best of this kind of play during the second half of that game.
              Is Martino a copy of Marcelo Bielsa? Yes and No. Martino is different to Bielsa when he thinks the game. Martino is less vertical (direct play), more pragmatic (adaptive), and less interested in forcing players to occupy distinct positions in the field. However, Martino is equal a Bielsa insofar as he is the most radical follower of the ethic umbrella used by the loco. Martino deals with players and soccer environmental in the same way that Marcelo Bielsa does. At the same time, Martino has the same passion for the football that Marcelo Bielsa, and the same hard energy to organize work. In this case Martino is the most "Bielsista" of all those that follow to Bielsa.
              How is Martino going to work in Barcelona? From my perspective the Argentinian coach will reinforce the kind of playing through the possession of ball and attack quickly.In this point a big question is if Martino will prefer to attack through sidelines or attacking through the center channel with Messi. Second, he should retake the high pressure on the first third of the opponent, having as main aim the recovering of the ball the closest of the opponent's goal. Third, Martino will state a similar regimen of relationships with players that we can see in any Bielsista coach: transparency, respect, and demanding hard and intense work.



     
                                      ▲ Alba                     ▲ Neymar
             
                             ▲  Pique                   ▲   Cesc     
                        ▲ Valdez                        ▲ Busquet                          ▲ Messi
                   ▲   Pujol                       ▲ Xavi
                                    ▲    Alvez                      ▲ Iniesta