Why İlkay Gündoğan is perfect for Barcelona

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After a UEFA Champions League winning campaign, a considerable loss for Guardiola’s Man City becomes a remarkable gain for Xavi’s Barcelona. İlkay Gündoğan had been a stalwart in the treble winners’ eleven for the past season, and for good reason. He’s one of the most technically and tactically gifted footballers on the planet, and became a surprise threat in front of goal in his final three seasons at the club.

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Gündoğan came up clutch for City in countless moments, most recently the volleyed brace to win his side the FA Cup against Manchester United. For Barca, his versatility should be enough to shoehorn him into most matches despite the elite competition of Gavi, Pedri and Frenkie de Jong. Here is why Gündoğan might be perfect for the Catalan giants.

Positioning + Role

Despite his close control class, the German should be viewed as a different midfield option to what Xavi already has at his disposal. Not only does he add age and experience, but he adds a level of off-the-ball intelligence that few others in the world can rival.

Gündoğan has played possession-heavy football in a 4-man box midfield shape for a lengthy chunk of the latest season in his career. In Barcelona, Xavi’s principles potentially correlate. The 3-2-2-3 in-possession formation may be the same, but the tempo of La Liga and the Spanish climate will likely see the German fulfill more emphasis on-the-ball in helping to set the tempo.

Gündoğan still made himself a useful build-up option alongside Guardiola’s use of an ‘Inverted Fullback’ alongside Rodri. But his role became more about receiving the ball higher up the pitch as the season went on. We may see something similar at Barcelona, but there’s no reason why Gündoğan wouldn’t be extremely effective playing in a slightly deeper role as he did for Borussia Dortmund.

The key will be in ensuring someone else plays even deeper. The pace of the Spanish game should suit the German well, but limiting him to a strict ‘6’ role would miss out on the quality he brings forward into the attack. In an ideal world, Barca’s new midfielder will be given license to roam between an ‘8’ and ’10’, playing on either side of their midfield.

Fluidity and freedom between the advanced midfielders will allow the German to roam from his position, uncovering spaces as they become available. This may also offer Gündoğan the chance to get involved in every phase of possession, benefitting Barca greatly as he is brilliant from the build-up all the way into the final-third.

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There’s no doubt that Gündoğan has the versatility to play any of the midfield roles, suiting Xavi’s needs of positioning and perception. Yet, he needs to find the most effective setup for his team. This should involve the German veteran playing further forward to utilise his goal-scoring quality.

Preferably, the German will be allowed to take more of a backseat role in any intense pressing Xavi sees as essential. This will not mean he becomes unimportant in pressing; just that be becomes more important in shuttling and shuffling, rather than being the one to actively lead the moment. This would benefit his high IQ off-the-ball, while mitigating his physical hindrances.

Regardless of role, it’s clear that Xavi has signed a gem in Ilkay Gündoğan, who can nicely fit into the Spaniard’s tactical plans anywhere in the midfield.

Attacking principles

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Joining such a highly demanding ball retentive team, Gündoğan should fit like a glove. He’s played exclusively under managers that require control each and every single match. Man City and Barcelona shared the top two spots for average possession in Europe’s top five leagues last season, further emphasizing some of their similarities.

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The German is the ultimate possession player, with excellent decision making stemming from his elite tactical IQ. He keeps the play simple where necessary, not forcing it through gaps but allowing them to open up in time. This patient style kept his pass completion at 87.1% for the season, only beaten by de Jong in Barca’s new midfield.

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But he’s not just a sideways passer, there is range to his passing, able to switch the play with disguise and without hesitation. He can play progressively, short or long and dictate the tempo with bundles of composure, even in the more attacking spaces he takes up. Often looking to get into the left-half-spaces to work his magic at City, Gündoğan played an underrated creative role.

More importantly though, it’s his first touch and close control between the lines that remains so impressive and this only becomes possible once Gündoğan has positioned himself with ample room to navigate space through that intelligent movement. This combination of a fabulous perception of space, elite agility and a strong core to turn defenders without losing balance, creates an almighty midfielder that is perfect for quick interplay scenarios in the final third. It’s no surprise he leads his new midfield teammates in assists per 90, with 0.15.

Barca’s new number 14 doesn’t carry the ball excessively, instead selecting moments where a dribble suits better than a pass. This leads to less progressive carries per 90 than Pedri and Frenkie de Jong, the two most similar midfielders at Xavi’s disposal. Instead, Gündoğan keeps it simple. He’s rarely dispossessed (1.03 times per 90) and miscontrols the ball just 1.07 times per 90, less than either of the infamous duo of Gavi and Pedri, highlighting his press resistant strengths.

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However, the major difference between Gündoğan and his new midfield teammates is the untracked late runs he makes into the penalty area, whilst maintaining the composure and elegance to finish them off superbly. Only Pedri can get close to Gündoğan’s 8 league goals scored last season – a drop in the German’s numbers from previous campaigns. As Erling Haaland captivated the attention, the 32-year-old made a habit of floating into vacated space completely untracked.

All four of Gavi, de Jong, Kessié and Romeu combined for just seven goals, signifying what a massive coup the 32 year-old may be in front of goal. He even ranked in the top 4% of Europe’s midfielders for touches in the opposition’s box per 90, illustrating all the more potential for Xavi to accelerate his attack with Gündoğan in a free role.

Given how well Gündoğan played as a foil for Erling Haaland, we can expect the German to nicely reunite with his former Borussia Dortmund teammate – Robert Lewandowski. Lewandowski led La Liga in scoring last season, but his numbers could take off back to those Bundesliga heights with one more midfielder capturing some of the attention inside the box.

But that’s not all, the midfielder also provides defensive stability in a team expected to feel the loss of their tenured ‘number 6’, Sergio Busquets.

Defensive principles

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Gündoğan’s slight lack of physicality has never been a real problem for Guardiola, and it actually made the Spaniard’s decisions easier on the defensive end, as the German became an obvious selection for blocking central channels from deep, rather than pressing from the front.

He doesn’t possess the athletic physicality to press aggressively from the front and so finding Gündoğan a more reserved role when out of possession is important.

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He can engage in a counter press, follow up a high press from the second line and track runners in transition. But Gündoğan is most effective at covering space, blocking passing lanes to the opposition’s central players and orchestrating the press from behind. We even saw Rodri take on a more advanced pressing role at times last season, due to the lack of aggressive edge from players like Bernardo Silva and Gündoğan himself.

This is where his leadership comes into its own. From a deeper double pivot role, Gündoğan can see the game in front of him, including the gaps and vulnerabilities within the opponent’s shape. From here, his vocal side shines through, barking orders into the ears of his teammates that have been assigned a role within the press.

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It helps to have a destroyer type of ‘number 6’ alongside him, which may lead to Romeu having a consistent role in Xavi’ tactics this season. This gives Gündoğan less responsibility in an area you wouldn’t necessarily call a strength, being in the bottom 5% of Europe’s top 5 leagues for tackles won per 90, and middling for possession-adjusted interceptions (4.73).

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At times though, the German can catch an opponent off-guard, snatching the ball off them before they’ve even realized. This isn’t due to extreme physicality but his intelligent tactical awareness to read his opponent’s movements, which could suit Spain even better than the highly-physical Premier League.

Conclusion

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İlkay Gündoğan has spent seven incredibly successful years in Manchester, but the time came to move on. After winning the Champions League, he finally completed the set, amounting 14 trophies and 3 trebles, not to forget the four honours he attained in Dortmund. Barca fans can look forward to many more goals scored and assisted by their new midfielder. His exceptional spatial awareness, dictating the tempo and pass selection will stand out alone. But his invaluable experience and leadership should encourage a young midfield to only continue to grow their games. With all this in mind, İlkay Gündoğan is perfect for Barcelona.

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