Sergiño Dest can succeed at Barcelona — but he has a lot to learn
Should Culés keep faith in the American?
Without a doubt, right back is the weakest position in the Barcelona squad.
With the unceremonious exit of Dani Alves, the only ‘definitive’ right back at Xavi Hernández’s disposal is Sergiño Dest. The Dutch-American, for all his sparks of quality, has been inconsistent and troubled with injuries.
It would be a concern if he were the only option going into the new season.
Of course, he probably won’t be. Not only is Sergi Roberto still knocking around, but the signing of César Azpiliqueta from Chelsea looks likely. A vastly experienced and very capable option.
But, at 32, ‘Azpi’ is not a long term solution. Neither is Roberto. So Xavi’s decision on Dest must happen now.
Give him an important role this season and hope he can become the world-class right back that Barca need? Or lean on the experience of Azpi and Roberto, and look for a new solution next season?
I’d go with option one. Today I’m going to explain why.
Xavi’s Inverted Right Back
Firstly, forget what you think you know about Sergiño Dest. Sure, he’s an explosive, attacking right back with a flair for dribbling.
Sure, his final delivery from a wide right position has been dreadfully inconsistent.
But none of that will be what defines his success or failure at Barcelona. Why? Let me explain.
Under Xavi, Barca’s fullbacks are ‘inverted’. If you don’t know what this means, here’s a short explanation. If you do, skip over it.
An inverted full back is a wide defender that comes into the middle of the pitch during established possession. Rather than remain as a wide outlet, overlapping their winger, they’ll come into midfield, creating a numerical advantage. This also allows them to be positioned centrally to prevent opposition counter-attacks.
For Barca specifically, Xavi’s full backs only ‘invert’ when the team has established possession in the middle to final third. During early buildup, the fullbacks are still expected to take up wide positions. Here are a couple of snapshots illustrating the difference:
There are several reasons for this second shape. Without going into the depth, there are three major advantages:
- Busquets isn’t isolated in the centre of midfield
- It gives the winger (Dembélé) the freedom of the wide areas
- There are enough numbers behind the ball in central areas to deal with counter attacks
Right back vs left back
Now, you might be thinking “but isn’t Jordi Alba still bombing forward from left back?” The answer is yes. And that’s because ahead of him is a winger that likes to drift inside: Ferran Torres. Through rotational movement, Barca create overloads on the left wing, often leading to a cross from Alba.
On the right wing it’s a different story. Rather than drifting inside, Dembélé is always hugging the touchline. There, passing combinations are less valuable, Barca simply want to isolate him against his opposition full back — taking advantage of his imperious 1 vs 1 ability.
That’s why having an inverted right back is so important. By overloading the left flank, and putting your right back in midfield, you completely free up the right flank of opposition players. Usually, only the full back will remain there.
By combining passes on the left, and then quickly switching to the right, Dembélé gets his 1 vs 1 situation. The right full back very rarely overlaps the winger.
Thus, Dest’s role is far from a typical ‘overlapping’ full back, who uses pace and skill to become a threat from a wide area. If he’s to succeed, he’ll have to shift his mindset about what a right back does.
Starting with a simple principle:
Let the ball do the work
You might point to inconsistency to explain why Dest hasn’t established himself. In fact, most of his problems have come from inexperience; not fully understanding what Xavi wants from him.
Remember, an important objective on Barca’s right flank is to isolate Dembélé against his full back. Give him space to attack and create danger.
Dest, however, is young, exuberant, and likes carrying the ball. In this example, his inexperience creates a problem.
Rather than zipping the ball out to Dembélé, Dest carries the ball into the same space that he’s occupying, thus dragging a second defender. When he finally releases it, Dembélé has far less space, and is in a 2 vs 1 situation.
Dest should recognise his winger in space, and find him as soon as possible. The data shows that this is a consistent problem. While he’s in the upper 98 percentile for progressive carries, he’s down in the 69 percentile for progressive passes (source). This is to his detriment.
Speed of decision making
Because these principles might be counter-intuitive to what made Dest desirable to begin with, he doesn’t execute them with confidence or conviction.
In other words, he makes decisions too slowly.
Here’s a prime example of that. Again, he should look for Dembélé immediately. Instead, he carries it a while, realises the space has gone, and gets himself into trouble.
The good news is, this is not a problem of technique. With more games in this system, and a greater understanding, these actions should happen faster, with more confidence.
For reference, Pep Guardiola did exactly the same thing with Kyle Walker. Once a marauding wing back, he’s now learned to release quickly, hold his position, and let the ball do the work.
It’s worth nothing that this was an inherent problem in Xavi’s first season at Barcelona. The players are learning the system, so they take longer to make decisions. This is normal, and it will improve.
A lack of partnership
There’s another detail holding Dest back that is worth covering. And that’s the lack of a specialist ‘right interior’ (right centre midfielder).
On the left flank, there’s excellent balance. Ferran drifts inside, Alba pushes up. The left interior (be it Pedri, Gavi or Frenkie de Jong) is very comfortable dropping and becoming a deep-lying playmaker.
There’s a reason why the left is where we see all the overloads and passing combinations.
On the right, nobody is yet to establish themselves as the premier option.
That’s partly because it’s a specialised role. Remember, Dembélé is always wide, so there’s less rotational movement on that side. Whoever is playing right interior needs to make that right half-space theirs.
That means making runs beyond the defence, becoming a goal threat, and delivering into the box. Think Kevin De Bruyne.
Until now, Pedri and de Jong have been sharing that role. Neither have fully cemented it as their own (both prefer the left). It would help Dest immensely to have a regular presence on that side. Someone to form a partnership with, understand their movements, and know instinctively when to burst forward and when to hold position.
After all, it’s easy to forget that Dest is only 21 years old. For his struggles (and injuries), he’s shown a lot of raw quality. And, ultimately, it’s his quality that makes all of this worth it.
Technical excellence — A reason to gamble
“If he has so much to learn, why not just buy someone else who gets it?” It’s a valid question. But if you look at Dest’s raw attributes, you see a player that’s worth betting on.
Undoubtedly, his pace is an asset. To reference Kyle Walker again, his sprint speed gives Manchester City a major get-out-of-jail card against pacy wingers.
But I’m more concerned with his quality on the ball. Dest is, when he’s not overthinking things, technically gifted. He has excellent close control, a tight turning radius, and his passing is surprisingly expansive. That’s on top of his exceptional dribbling ability.
When you put it all together, you have an ideal profile for an inverted right back. Or even an inverted left back, which, considering Jordi Alba’s age, makes his development all the more tempting. In glimpses, he’s shown that he can be reliable, decisive, and an intelligent mover.
The other good news is that his most obvious deficiency, crossing from the byline, is almost a non-factor. In this system, he’ll rarely get into those positions. That will suit him.
All that’s left is time and understanding. If he can stay injury-free, he’ll improve immensely under Xavi’s guidance.
Conclusion — Give him time
Nobody is saying that Sergiño Dest should be Barcelona’s undisputed, first choice right back. Not yet.
But, this season, he has a fantastic chance to develop. The signing of Azpiliqueta will be essential; giving Dest a supporting role and the opportunity to grasp exactly what Xavi wants from him.
Further down the line, it’s entirely conceivable that he could make this inverted right (or even left) back position his own. Just don’t expect it from him just yet.
For now, treat him like young players should be treated. With patience and support. There’s reason to believe Sergiño will come good.
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