Vitor Roque’s Misfit at Barça: Straying from His Natural Role

Vitor Roque’s stint at Barça has been minimal, and he’s been played out of position. It will be a month since his last appearance against Cádiz on Monday. Since then, he’s been relegated to the sidelines, illustrating the challenges of his adaptation process and the lack of confidence shown by Xavi.

The management of the Catalan coach with the only winter reinforcement raises eyebrows, especially from a tactical perspective. Comparing Tigrinho’s heatmaps from his last year at Athlético Paranaense with his current ones at Barça reveals striking differences, extending beyond just the footballing culture practiced by both clubs. At Furacao, where he played under several coaches, Vitor Roque always had tactical freedom, either centrally or starting his moves from the right flank, seeking diagonals or the shortest path to goal. However, Xavi has chosen to deploy him from the left, in the vertex of his faltering square, where he has been ineffective. Perhaps the coach believed that the Brazilian could help address one of the team’s deficiencies throughout the season, which is the left flank. This tactical fit has severely hampered Vitor Roque’s adaptation process.

Insisting on seeing him as a forward starting from the left vertex, in the hope that he can hypothetically benefit from playing on the wrong foot, is putting him in a dead-end and minimizing his strengths.

If he ends up leaving Barça in the summer with a return date (as Xavi wishes) or, worst-case scenario, transferred (his agent André Cury does not accept a loan), wherever he goes, he surely won’t play where the Catalan coach has chosen to place him.

Barça signed the Brazilian as a center forward, adept at operating in tight spaces within the box (where he scored all but one of his goals in 2023 at Furacao), and in offensive build-up, he doesn’t demand the ball at his feet but plays better attacking spaces. The plan was never to turn him into a false winger, let alone on the left.

In recent weeks, there have been at least two different game situations that favored Tigrinho’s characteristics, but the coaching staff preferred not to exploit them. One of them was the second half against PSG at Montjuïc. The game was suited for the Brazilian, with Barça down to ten men but finding spaces to attack.

Another was the second half, also at Montjuïc, against a Valencia with ten men who defended deep and eventually succumbed. Two tactically different matches, with the Blaugrana side forced to score, ended with opposing results and no sign of the Brazilian.