Paulinho is good because he’s bad.
Much like the play of the man himself, the eight goals Paulinho has scored for Barcelona have not been easy on the eyes. They’re a scrappy, accidental mish-mash of rebounds and deflections that somehow end in the ball hitting the back of the net. But, even without the goals, the Brazilian’s much scoffed at transfer to Barcelona has been widely hailed as a success. With the super club supposedly in crisis at the beginning of the season after being forced into the transfer of Neymar to PSG, the ‘Culés have done pretty well for themselves when you look at their eight point lead at the top of the league table and the fact that they’ve lost a grand total of once all season.
Paulinho, with twenty three appearances to his name, has been a large part of their unexpected success. And though he’s not exactly setting the world alight with play we generally associate with Barcelona, the ex Chinese Super League star does seem to play a very specific role for Valverde’s new look Blaugrana. That role in it’s entirety can be more craftily be explained by Mike L. Goodman in his great ringer piece, but what we’re looking at today is how Valverde chose to use him in the first leg of their round of sixteen game against Chelsea.
Context
Chelsea under Antonio Conte look to employ a counter-attacking strategy in the vast majority of games where the opposition is of similar quality. Their ability to burst forward with players like Willian and Eden Hazard after winning the ball in advantageous positions through the talents of N’Golo Kante and his supporting defensive cast is where Chelsea believe they are strongest. However, as their fifth-place position will tell you, they haven’t been as successful of an attacking team as they might’ve hoped for. Though there are many reasons why the blues haven’t been able to recreate their title-winning form, some of which comes down to a rather significant drop-off in finishing, their preferred approach against opponents who look to dominate the ball is still the best chance they have to excel against teams that are quantifiably better with the ball.
Barcelona, on the other hand, are a far more flexible outfit when it comes to tactical approach under Ernesto Valverde. Much like the change in style brought by his predecessor, Luis Enrique, Barcelona don’t just look to suffocate teams with possession. An ability to be comfortable off the ball and thrive in the mistakes other teams are susceptible to make once they’ve over-exerted themselves is exactly what has allowed them to play a much more expansive style of football than Atletico Madrid, their closest league competitors, but concede just once more. Of course, they’re still Barcelona, they still have Messi, and they’re still an excellent side when it comes to breaking down packed in defenses, but the duality of effective styles they can employ when facing a variety of opponents is part of what has made the pre-season furor of crisis at the club look so stupid.
It’s a trap
With a passive insistence from either team to be the ones without the onus of possession, it was Chelsea who were more dedicated in their approach to playing on the counter. Without a recognized striker in the lineup, their intention to use every bit of Hazard and Willian’s pace in a counter-attacking manner was clear. Equally so, Paulinho’s inclusion from the start was a sign that Valverde had prepared for the eventuality of Chelsea’s defensive approach. Through selective pressing and clever positioning, Conte’s outfit would try and catch Barcelona in progression of the ball. As they moved forward in possession, the center of the pitch was set up to be more congested. They sat compact in midfield with a high line in support to force the ball wide, which subsequently created better pressing opportunities for their players who could use the sideline as an added weapon.
In possession, Valverde’s use of Paulinho came in handy. Though the Brazilian seemed to have little positive, impact if at all, the purpose of his deployment was as bait.
Chelsea, as any team would, identified the Brazilian as Barcelona’s weakest on-ball player. So any time Paulinho touched the ball when Barça were settled in their possession shape, they took the opportunity to press him aggressively. To a direct effect, Chelsea were somewhat successful. Paulinho completed one forward pass, and the majority of his meaningful actions were backwards and sideways. Hardly an individual performance worth remembering. However, what it did for the team was invaluable. By provoking Chelsea’s press, Paulinho was able to open up space for others to exploit.
Amongst others, Lionel Messi had an influential game on the ball, and although it would be statistical malpractice if one were to suggest both his and Barcelona’s dominance of passing statistics was solely down to Paulinho’s role in the match, the top six players for passes completed in their attacking third were all from Barcelona. As a general rule of thumb, you don’t want Iniesta, Rakitic, and Jordi Alba completing a lot of passes in your final third and it would be disingenuous to say Paulinho was not a significant factor in allowing those players more space to affect the game.
Furthermore, though Chelsea’s approach was extremely defensive, it was not a park-the-bus type of performance. In order to negate the off-ball ability of players like Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba, Chelsea ensured their compact formation was pushed and pulled from both ends. Their use of a high line shows that the high volume of passes in their defensive third wasn’t down to the dynamic of one team actively trying to defend more than the other. Barcelona might not have created a myriad of high-quality chances, but their prominence in areas Chelsea would ideally like to avoid them having the ball is a testament to Valverde’s use of their ‘worst’ player. The lack of more chances is likely explained by some exceptional individual defending given Barcelona’s prominence in their half of the pitch.
It is in this genuine use of Paulinho where Valverde gained valuable space for his team. By deploying a player that could act as a trigger for the press through his inability to cut through the opposition, Valverde displays his full understanding in the art of using a weakness as an advantage.
In the span of a year, Barcelona have gone from utilizing the talents of one of the best players in the world, to, at the very least, winning a La Liga title with the -insert whatever slightly derogatory descriptor you think is adequate- of Paulinho. This isn’t to suggest that the Brazilian currently sporting the Catalan crest is better than the one who used to, that’s an insanely stupid idea, but it does say something about the perception we have of players as a whole. Even those who could barely get a kick in a Tim Sherwood Tottenham side can, when used correctly, fit in amongst the worlds best as the quirky, accidental half-star whose career was supposedly done and dusted not too long ago.
