Miralem Pjanic in 2022 - What can he offer to Barcelona
How can the 32 years old Bosnian still provide a positive impact despite not playing much in the past two years.
Miralem Pjanic is one of the best midfielders of the last decade, without a doubt. Playing his best football from 2015 to 2018, being valued very highly by his club and others.
However, the past is not the subject here. Pjanic is going through a hard time; from not playing much at Barcelona to being loaned at Besiktas, his reputation certainly fell off a cliff.
Despite all those problems, Pjanic still possesses a certain quality. While also having his limits, let’s analyze how he can still provide a positive influence on this Barcelona side.
Role
Miralem Pjanic, the regista
Miralem Pjanic is a regista, he has been placed there in his last two seasons at Juventus, and it is now his best position. He is used to receiving the ball in the first phase and dictating the play from there.
Generally operating in a 4-3-3 or 4-3-1-2, Miralem Pjanic always occupied the deepest position on the pitch at the end of his Juventus career. He formed a great connection with Matuidi and Bentancur during that time, constituting a balanced and efficient midfield. Although the central midfielders were not particularly great individually, they were perfect for allowing Pjanic to flourish in his preferred role.
Miralem Pjanic is a very calm midfielder, not troubled by pressing, and can set up the tempo of his team effortlessly.
Misprofiled (2020-2022)
However, Pjanic has played in many different setups in the past two seasons. From operating in a double pivot with Busquets or De Jong at Barcelona and Souza at Besiktas; to playing as an offensive 8 and barely occupying the lone pivot role. He was rarely used as a first-phase progressor which reduced his impact. Both teams didn’t try to understand his best position, which didn’t help his integration and got him the label of "flop".
Pjanic used to play as an interior in multiple phases, for instance, with Roma when De Rossi was the lone 6. However, Miralem doesn’t possess the same physical abilities and is more suited to playing as the deepest midfielder or partnered in a pivot with a more physical or offensive profile.
Koeman was the main reason why he was so poorly used. Miralem talked about his situation with the Barcelona manager to Marca just as he left on loan to Besiktas :
He [Koeman] never told me or asked if I wanted to play as a two or in front of the defense. I reached a Champions League final playing as a double pivot with [Sami] Khedira. I’ve played everywhere, but he never saw me in any of them. I didn’t have a position, I got five or 10 minutes, or would warm up for 45 minutes but not play.
Xavi’s profiling
Miralem Pjanic has played four games since coming back to Barcelona. Despite all of them being friendly matches, a clear pattern is visible in the new utilization of Pjanic. Often replacing Busquets at half-time to occupy the deepest role on the pitch, Miralem was allowed to showcase his true talent in his favorite position, and Xavi understood that. This function is where he should be used for the rest of the season.
Attributes
Ball retention & buildup play
Miralem Pjanic is a calm footballer, insensible to pressing intensity, and can get you out of very tight situations with his passing range and vision. Last season, Pjanic completed 72 passes per 90 minutes, more than anyone else in the Turkish Super Lig; he finalized them at a rate of 87%, very high for a midfielder who attempts a lot of long passes. Data from Wyscout.
Defensive phase
During the transition phase, Pjanic likes to ask the ball in between the defenders. He possesses a great habit of constantly scanning multiple times before receiving the ball, allowing himself to find an option easily by quickly turning around or even just directly playing a pass back to the opposition goal without being pressed.
Pjanic has excelled in those situations during his entire career; I am forced to use unofficial match clips due to Miralem not being placed as a first-phase progressor in defensive zones. Here is an example of Pjanic evading the pressure last season, but it was an exceptional situation, Souza being mainly in charge of that role.
Controlling phase
During offensive phases, Miralem can operate very deep and dictate the play from the center circle. Pjanic shines whenever he is given the responsibility of dictating the game's flow. He barely ever loses the ball from these situations, making him a very reliable controller in a possession side.
Last season, there was one occasion where Souza wasn’t playing, and Pjanic was given the regista role against Kayserispor. Miralem was partnered with Hutchinson and Bozdogan, who were playing way further up the pitch, allowing Pjanic to control the game's buildup. It is one of Pjanic’s best performances with Besiktas, just as he kept a pass accuracy rate of 96%, according to Wyscout. Maestro.
Ball progression
In addition to being a calm press-resistant midfielder, Miralem Pjanic is a highly progressive creator. Last season, only Fernando (12.0) completed more progressive passes p90 than Pjanic (11.5) in the Turkish Super Lig, according to Wyscout. All of this despite being rarely played in his prominent position. Pjanic possesses multiple passing variations, which allow him not to be too predictable in his play.
What makes Pjanic so unpredictable is how he can completely change his mentality from conservative to progressive multiple times during a game. You can’t tell if he’s going to calmly switch the play to his full-back or attempt a 40-yard pass to his attackers, both scenarios with impeccable success. It is a quality not many players have, e.g., Elneny and Kovacic, who only excel in one type of mentality respectively.
Pjanic is a master of long passing, and it is no wonder that only Kroos created more chances from long passes than him since 2009 (Whoscored). He possesses a brilliant vision to pick up runners easily and has the perfect technical ability to succeed in defense-breaking long passes at a very high rate.
He is also capable of executing ground-line-breaking passes with ease. For example, in the recent friendly against Juventus, he was associated with Gavi and Pablo Torre and was in charge of the first buildup phase. Miralem was very progressive in that game, picking up 13 successful forward passes in only 45 minutes, as per Wyscout.
Pjanic’s quick reaction time to find a teammate and play a pass during the right momentum is the main reason why his ball progression is so great. For example, in his Besiktas debut where he found Batshuayi in a good pocket of space and played him a one-touch pass that the Belgian probably wasn’t even expecting himself.
Defensive involvement
Pjanic is not known for his defensive presence, which is somewhat true. He is not very physical and doesn’t press much. However, what makes him apt defensively is how easily he is capable of reading the game and placing himself in potential passing lanes. Last season, Pjanic intercepted passes at a rate of 1.80 p90, according to Whoscored, more than any other Besiktas midfielder.
Combine his defending intelligence with brilliant press-resisting qualities, and you got yourself a midfielder capable of transforming defensive phases into counter-attacking periods in less than 5 seconds.
Despite his defensive intelligence, Pjanic still needs to be partnered with someone who could cover for him in defensive intensity.
Resume of main attributes
Qualities
++ long passes
+ progressive passing
+ ball retention (calmness, reaction time)
+ defensive awareness
Flaws
- ball carrying
- defensive intensity
To simplify, Pjanic is excellent at everything related to technique and intelligence but not so good at anything related to physical attributes.
What can he provide to Barcelona?
Midfield variety
Barcelona currently have seven midfielders, all quite different from each other :
Creative 8: Pedri, Pablo Torre*, Marc Casado*
Box to Box: De Jong (offensive), Gavi (balanced), Kessié (defensive)
Single pivot: Busquets, Pjanic
*: Registred as Barcelona Atlètic players.
Even though it is not perfect due to some players like Pedri being capable in a multitude of roles, it shows the current functions covered by Barcelona midfielders quite well.
If Xavi keeps using a 4-3-3 setup, he will probably play one of each category to build his midfield. Hence, the depth is currently acceptable, and Miralem Pjanic is necessary, considering Barcelona have no other backup defensive midfielder since loaning Nico Gonzalez. The only concurrence for the deep midfielder role is between Busquets and Pjanic.
It makes no doubt that Busquets will be the favored one to start, having more than 15 years of experience as a starting Barcelona defensive midfielder and offering everything you could want from a fashion midfield anchor. However, Pjanic is a slightly different profile that provides more creative variety at the cost of less physical presence. Busquets will probably keep playing in the big games, for example, against Real Madrid or in the UCL knockouts. Still, Pjanic will surely be more interesting if Barcelona play against a weaker team that’s hard to break as Miralem can unlock defenses more efficiently than Busquets.
Possible lineup
With Pjanic in the lineup, different possibilities are available to accommodate him. My favorite pair of interiors would be Gavi - Pedri as both are quite active in pressing, ranking respectively at the 90th and 94th percentile in terms of pressures p90 in the last 365 days, according to FBref. To complement the Spanish youngsters, Pjanic possesses the ability to control the flow of the game on his own and knows when and where to slow or accelerate the play perfectly, something that Gavi and Pedri are yet to master. Despite playing Busquets’ role quite well last week against Real Sociedad, I doubt that Pedri would be able to be a constant tempo controller throughout the season when he is better used further up the pitch, in my opinion. De Jong is also an interesting option to play in Gavi’s role as both players are quite similar on the ball.
Considering that Pjanic would mostly play against lower-level teams, it could be possible for him to be partnered with Barcelona Atlètic players to occupy Pedri’s role, such as Pablo Torre and Marc Casado. Miralem built an excellent connection with those two teenagers during the pre-season, and it would be interesting to see them lined together, especially Pablo Torre. Kessié could also start in the midfield as he is more capable defensively, a characteristic that could be needed in higher-level games.
Phases of play
To get the best out of Pjanic, Barcelona must give him the best conditions to shine. This procedure starts by giving him responsibility in different phases of play.
Transition
In a classic offensive transition where Ter Stegen has control of the bal, Pjanic should be the one dropping between the defenders to ask the ball at his feet. In situations as such, Pedri and Gavi will naturally make themselves available like they’ve been doing with Busquets for the past two years. Obviously, football isn’t rigid, and the exact same scenario won’t be repeated for the entirety of the game. Still, it is essential that Miralem is the one asking for the ball in priority.
Attacking phase
Possessions in the opposition half are the most crucial scenario for Pjanic, considering he would probably mostly play against deep blocks. The best way to use Miralem against this type of opposition would be as a sort of 3rd central defender able to see the whole pitch, thus allowing him to change the creation side quickly by sending long balls to the wingers or full-backs. This is what a classic Barcelona shape would look like against a 5-3-2 deep block. Note that the position of the full-backs and wingers can completely change depending on their profile. I put the right winger and left-back as inverted players in the picture below, but it is not fixed.
Conclusion
Xavi has plans for Pjanic and has shown to be understanding of him as a player so far. The only concern for Miralem is that Barcelona have to pay a bonus to Juventus for each of his appearances; it is why the Bosnian is yet to take part in any LaLiga game despite playing in every friendly match during the pre-season. Barcelona will hopefully solve this problem, but if they don’t, it won’t be Xavi’s fault, who is a brilliant manager.
Pjanic’s role will certainly be secondary. However, he could be extremely useful for the rotation, especially during October when Barcelona will play nine games, including matches against Bayern, Real Madrid, Valencia, and Inter Milan twice. Busquets definitely won’t start in all of these games.
It is effortless to fit Pjanic into this Barcelona side. I mentioned it for the entirety of the article, but the only real need to get anything out of Miralem is to play him as the deepest midfielder; apart from that, he could thrive in any possession system. However, Pjanic is not a perfect footballer; he has flaws like everyone else. He simply needs to play in a system that will cover most of his weaknesses, and it just happens to be relatively easy to do so.
Pjanic’s level has not really decreased since his Juventus period; maybe his intensity, but his technical ability and reading of the game are just as good. Performances against Kayserispor and Finland last season show that Miralem can thrive whenever he is given the basic conditions to succeed.
Miralem Pjanic 2022/23, redemption season?
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