The Frenkie de Jong tactical experiment that could take Hansi Flick’s Barcelona to the next level

The Frenkie de Jong tactical experiment that could take Hansi Flick’s Barcelona to the next level Barcelona can do almost everything right against a low block and still spend long spells trying to break it down. Most teams that the Catalan club face in La Liga are keen to sit back and not give Barcelona any space to be at their most threatening. Barça can still move the ball. They may still play sublime football through midfield. They can pass the ball to Lamine Yamal and ask him to solve the problem. Even then, it is far from easy. Hansi Flick has built a side that knows how to control games and score goals for fun against their opponents. However, they are constantly in search of the perfect structure to break down a low block. One answer might be hiding in a position Frenkie de Jong has never really called his own: right-back. Not the conventional version. Nobody needs the Dutchman sprinting to the byline or pretending to be the second coming of Dani Alves. The idea is to start him there, then allow him to spend much of Barcelona’s time on the ball where he belongs: in midfield. Barcelona already have the blueprint Barça’s current structure under Flick suggests that this experiment may not be as far removed from reality as it initially seems. Eric Garcia has already shown the value of having a player with midfield instincts play in the defensive line. He constantly steps inside to form a back three in possession and uses his prowess on the ball to keep it moving and find line-breaking options further forward. A new role for De Jong that could elevate Barcelona? (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images) On the other side, Xavi Espart, being a natural midfielder, often finds himself making runs centrally and through the opposition midfield, forming an axis between the left-winger and the rest of the midfielders. Flick has also found ways to bring Raphinha deeper, even if he starts as the striker in the system. Add Rodri’s presence at the base and Pedri’s ability to find pockets, and more often than not, Barcelona have a 5v3 advantage in midfield against La Liga teams. The opposition are outnumbered before the ball even reaches the final third. That said, numerical superiority is not the same as penetration. Most of Barcelona’s midfielders right now try to progress the play through passing and combination play. De Jong, though, offers a completely different way of progressing the ball. The carry that changes the picture A lot of midfielders can receive the ball, turn and find the next pass. De Jong’s special quality is what happens before that pass. There is no midfielder in the current Barça squad who is more comfortable travelling with the ball than the Dutch maestro. His 2025-26 numbers put him in the 96th percentile for progressive carries. Frenkie can receive deep, glide past two defenders like they don’t exist and suddenly find himself with all the space in the world. Imagine the Netherlands international taking control of the ball near his own penalty box. If he looks up, he can see Rodri in a metronomic position, Pedri in the pockets ahead of him and Lamine out wide. If the opposing left-sided player steps towards De Jong, Pedri suddenly has room to receive. If the winger follows him inside, Lamine can be found in a very promising position with a bounce pass. How the formation could look on paper with Frenkie de Jong at right-back If nobody comes out, as teams often tend to do when sitting in a low block, the Dutchman can drive up the pitch until someone from the other team commits. That is the point. Barça would not be adding another passer for the sake of it. They would be adding a ball carrier who can make the passers even more effective. A short drop of the shoulder and a run from Frenkie can suddenly achieve what 10 passes failed to do. How the shape could work On paper, Frenkie starts at right-back. With the ball, he moves in alongside Pedri. Rodri can remain deeper, with Pau Cubarsi and Gerard Martin. Barcelona then have a 3-2 rest defence: three players protecting the space behind the attack, and two midfielders screening in front. Variation 1: Rodri drops to form a back three, Frenkie inverts into midfield and can drive further up. It gives De Jong license to move forward, but not license to forget what is behind him. Then there is the more aggressive version because, let’s face it, Flick’s Barça love to take risks. Rodri stays in midfield alongside Pedri and De Jong, allowing Espart and Dani Olmo to move into the left and right half-spaces and form a front five alongside Gordon, Raphinha and Lamine. Now, Barça’s rest defence resembles a 2-3. The difference is not just that one extra body in midfield. It is what he releases further ahead of him. Pedri can operate like he always does with the security that Rodri is alongside him to mop up any danger that comes his way. Raphinha can pull defenders around, while Lamine maintains the width that makes his one-against-one so dangerous. Variation 2: More aggressive, Rodri moves up to make a midfield 3, freeing up Pedri and Frenkie. Because De Jong can switch play as well as carry it, Barcelona could draw opponents towards one side before playing the diagonal ball to Gordon on the left wing. Of course, these movements have to be timed right. If Espart and De Jong both advance without cover, the shape stops being clever and starts being vulnerable. Why Rodri matters and why the risk is real The only reason this idea is even remotely imaginable is the presence of Rodri. He gives Barcelona a holding midfielder who reads danger early and knows when to hold his position and when to go behind the ball. When De Jong carries beyond the first line, Rodri can hold the centre and protect against the first counter-attack. However, it is worth noting that the ex-Manchester City superstar is not Superman and cannot protect the whole pitch. The moment Barcelona lose possession, De Jong is still the right-back. A quick diagonal into the space behind him could isolate Cubarsi or force Rodri to do something he is not comfortable with. There is also the matter of defending like a full-back. Tracking runners at the far post, judging when to engage wide and recovering into the back four are not the same as defending as a midfielder. Although De Jong’s natural intelligence should allow him to overcome some of the shortcomings, it is not going to be an easy task. More importantly, with the Dutchman returning to the squad in October following a knee injury , this is hardly something to throw at him before he has his rhythm back. It could be an option, but it may have to wait. De Jong has only recently returned from injury. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images) A specific weapon for a specific game against a specific kind of opposition Nobody is suggesting Barcelona should use De Jong at right-back against every opponent. That would be a lazy argument to make. There are matches where Jules Kounde’s robustness or Eric Garcia’s positional discipline is exactly what Flick needs. However, imagine a league game in which Barça are camped in the opposition half. The visitors leave one forward high, defend their box and let Flick’s men have the ball. Does the right-back really need to behave like a traditional right-back for ninety minutes? Absolutely not! De Jong could inherit Eric’s starting position while offering something different once possession is secured. He could help Rodri control the game, free Pedri to play higher, and make defenders choose between covering space and tracking a man. That does not make Flick’s Barcelona unstoppable, but it gives the manager one more way of finding a solution to a constant problem. Barça already know how to create the spare man, but Frenkie could enable them to find him more regularly, and that may be the next stage of evolution for Hansi Flick.