Okay, so we’re around a month away from the most anticipated game of the season so far, the El Clásico. This one’s a first in a series of articles to analyze who deserves more preference and more importantly, in what position. I’m starting off with a position I feel is extremely crucial whilst playing against Barca – the defensive midfielder’s position. Like seen in the previous season, we had to make a change from the usual and put Pepe up in the DM role and that switch gave us a much much better defensive display. This season, we’ve got a few more reinforcements with Sahin, Coentrao and even Altintop (whose position I’m still not sure about) so there are plenty of options to choose from.

So, like the earlier season, should our preference still stick to play Pepe in the DM role? Pepe’s main advantage is that he can help thwart the presence of Messi (to an extent atleast). Okay, let’s be straight forward here, When you’re against Messi on a 1 on 1 there are more chances that he’s going to beat you than you stealing the ball from him. But, when you have Pepe playing ahead of the defence, you’ve got somebody who follows him like a hound. What this does is that it more or less prevents Messi from finding teammates as he’s more concentrated on ball retention. Pepe can easily chase him down rather than get beaten and play catch up thereafter. Another important thing to notice (and one that has happened quite a few times last season) is that Pepe more often than not helps push Barca’s game further into their own half or onto the flanks. His physical attributes and no nonsense game are one of the main reasons why I’d prefer him to play in this position again. On the down side, we all know the side effects of Pepe’s eccentricity and it’s imperative that he keeps those in check.

The other options at DM include Coentrao – who’s quick with the ball at his feet, has better ball control than Pepe but doesn’t have too much of a defensive prowess. Then there’s Lass who inadvertently leaves gaping holes cause he’s gone out chasing the opposition, wherever they go, so it’s not the best option to play him in that position either. I haven’t seen Altintop or Sahin play enough so I’ll reserve my comment about them but Sahin seems more like a replacement for Xabi than be paired with him.

As a personal preference, Pepe should continue with the DM role because if he keeps his cool and doesn’t make any mad tackles, he can play a crucial role in spoiling the effect of their attack. Also, he brings a certain craziness to the game that sometimes throws tactics out of the window, which could spell a boon for us. The last time, there was this period in the game where everybody was just going frenzied making rash tackles, Barcelona were hoofing the ball up due to our constant pressing and they were getting suffocated – yes, that’s exactly the madness he can help provide in that position. Obviously pressing isn’t just because of him, it’s a collective team effort, but Pepe’s a beast and I’d definitely prefer a beast guarding the walls of our defense and St. Iker!