Hansi Flick's board: The false nine, the new reality for Barça?

The FC Barcelona once again showcased overwhelmingly offensive and overwhelming football. This time, Manuel Pellegrini's Betis was the victim, facing the unstoppable culé machinery in Montjuïc. With a masterful performance that culminated in a resounding 5-1 victory for the Blaugrana, the Catalan team left no room for maneuver for the Andalusian side, which was completely overwhelmed and unable to resist the gale of play displayed by Barcelona.

Regarding the purely sporting aspect of the match against the Betis team, a tactical detail stands out that serves as a new masterclass in the repertoire of tactical variations of coach Hansi Flick: the use of the false nine. This experiment has demonstrated its power in offensive terms and presents itself as an option to consider, given the breadth of resources it brings to the attack of the team from the City of Barcelona.

In a starting eleven without Robert Lewandowski, a reference center forward, and without a player of his profile in the German coach's scheme, the big question arises: who would take on the role of being the culé spearhead? The most logical answer was perhaps the inclusion of Dani Olmo in that position, a player who has occupied that spot before and was the German coach's choice to perform it in the tactical system presented against the Andalusian team.

Dani Olmo, the perfect interpreter for the false nine idea

However, in terms of game development, the story was different. Despite the outstanding performance of the player from Terrassa, who shone by providing a couple of assists, he was far from behaving like a traditional '9'.

This raised an important question in the defensive structure of the Andalusian team. With Dani Olmo performing more as a 'playmaker', closer to what a '10' does, the supposed center forward of the team, theoretically responsible for occupying that position, retreated to act as another midfielder, being extremely versatile. Given this situation, who would now occupy the completely free '9' position?

This tactical tweak enhanced the culé offense

The answer is known but very complicated to counter. With total freedom of action in that area of the pitch, this allows practically any player from the midfield to join the attack, especially when, for example, with a true 'road runner' like Gavi.

Thanks to his great physical deployment, it is effortless for him to appear in goal-scoring positions, despite starting the match as a left midfielder and significantly contributing defensively. The same happens with Pedri González, who, although he appeared less in the '9' position, mainly focused on pulling the strings in the midfield, made some sporadic interventions in that area.

Not only that, in that area, without an established center forward, Raphinha also sometimes joined, who, although he theoretically starts as a left winger, has the freedom of movement granted by Hansi Flick, which has led him to play as a false nine on more than one occasion. All of this, besides generating some confusion in the opposing defense, has led to another argument that can support this tactical idea: Lamine Yamal's isolation.

Lamine Yamal, another major beneficiary of the implementation of the false nine

Indeed, with a concentration of players attacking through the center, making it difficult to mark them, there was a lot of space to free the flanks, particularly the right side, where Lamine Yamal, who tended less to move to the center, was able to take advantage several times by receiving the ball without much defensive pressure.

This offensive situation was skillfully exploited by him and could be one of the answers to the authentic great match played by the '19'. The Blaugrana right winger was completely unleashed, capable of annihilating rivals in open spaces. The right wing, by the way, was also effectively utilized by Jules Koundé, who was relentless in his offensive incursions, being a true train.

The only 'inconvenience' behind the implementation of the XI with a false nine

Undoubtedly, this is an interesting offensive variant that will need to be closely observed once Hansi Flick gives it more continuity and puts it into practice in matches against 'top' rivals with the aim of destabilizing the opposing defense.

However, it should be noted that a proposal of this kind practically implies dispensing with an asset like Robert Lewandowski, who perfectly masters the role of a classic nine, playing up front and fixing central defenders. Although he is capable of retreating in his position, it may seem not very viable to see him perform Dani Olmo's role by embedding himself as another midfielder, leaving his position for another player to suddenly appear in that area.