Paco Alcacer’s recent form shows high demands of Barcelona’s system

The Spanish striker has spearheaded Borussia Dortmund’s strong start to the season which sees them top the Bundesliga.

Borussia Dortmund maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a chaotic 4-3 win over Augsburg. They had substitute Paco Alcacer to thank though as it wouldn’t have been possible without his hat-trick. His loan from Barcelona has proved to be an astute move by the club so far because he has contributed seven goals in 171 minutes. He has only started one of the four games he has been involved in.

Alcacer’s loan move to Dortmund also has an option to sign him permanently at the end of the season for 25 million euros. This is increasingly looking like for a bargain for the Westphalian side. He fills a key role for the team, has room for improvement due to being 25-years-old and could even be sold on for a higher price due to his form.

His form has raised eyebrows among Barcelona fans over why he was allowed to leave as well as why he wasn’t played more often. There is no doubting his quality as shown by this spell and his time with Valencia, but he wasn’t able to show that at Barcelona. He wasn’t rotated in enough for Luis Suarez last season, however, it’s highly unlikely he would have replicated his current form for the Catalans. The difference in quality between the leagues and Barcelona’s system plays a huge part in that.

At Dortmund, he has more space to work in and is often on the end of moves rather than being heavily involved. In contrast, teams deny space to Barcelona so quick passages of play involving short passes are needed between the attackers to open up the opposition. Interplay and movement are just as important as a clinical edge for a striker at Barcelona.

BVB’s reputation means teams can afford to take more risks against them than they can against Barca while the spacings between players aren’t as accurate due to the lower quality of the league with part of that being due to the commitment to bring through youth prospects among most teams.

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His goal against Eintracht Frankfurt showed how easy it was to generate some space because he exchanged multiple passes with Jadon Sancho after a short corner before firing a curled effort into the opposite corner from the edge of the box. He is growing in confidence every time he plays due to his prowess in front of goal which is creating a cyclical effect that Dortmund are benefitting from as shown by the decision to take the free kick he scored for the winner against Augsburg.

Being a proven goalscorer isn’t enough at Barcelona and there is no guarantee that a striker will be on the end of most chances due to Lionel Messi’s goalscoring ability and heavy influence on the team, which makes him the focal point of the attack as well as the chief creator. Alcacer has already scored a few goals after being in behind the defence; this is rare for Barcelona due to how they dominate possession with few counter-attacking opportunities as well as the fact that teams usually sit in a low block against them to deny space in behind.

They have essentially sold him for a low fee, but the decision to get rid of him wasn’t a bad idea. Sometimes players don’t fit into a system at certain clubs and thrive in others. That is just part of the complexity of football. Barcelona short passing possession-based style rooted in positional play has high technical and tactical demands so the players suited to that system are rare. Players such as Alcacer can still become top players even though they don’t fit in there.