Abidal Comfortable With New System

Guardiola’s decision to tinker with the playing system and formation almost back-fired spectacularly last weekend when they came close to losing the Trofeo Joan Gamper at the Camp Nou.

Two injury time goals, the equalizer from Puyol and the winner from Eto’o, saved Pep’s blushes but his 3-4-3 formation against Boca Juniors in that game has found an unlikely backing.

Frenchman Éric Abidal has come out in support of the new system, despite the likelihood that he would have to sacrifice the most to make the formation work. With only three players at the back, he would either have to be forced out of the line-up completely or switch into a more central position in defence.

But the former Lyon star is quite comfortable with the adjustment and he describes it as a good alternative to the 4-3-3 system that the team used so religiously last term.

“When we play with a back three, we can play with an extra man further up and that will help us score goals,” he explained to Marca.

“I don’t mind abandoning the left back role because I’m quite happy to play as a centreback.”

The 29 year old then confessed that countryman Thierry Henry has made it a point to be more “selfish” this season in order to rediscover his insatiable goalscoring appetite.

“Last year, ‘Titi’ contributed a lot to help out defensively. But this year, his main objective is to score more goals.

“We have to defend the forwards from the back so that they have more freedom to focus upfront,” Abidal concluded.

KS Leong