Newton wasn’t really hit on the head by an apple when he started his 20 year-path towards his theory. There mere fact there were apple trees on his garden and he often saw them fall towards the earth’s center, made him question what he knew about nature, and caused him to work hard to discover what he could.

Luis Enrique saw a lot of apples falling on the Camp Nou yesterday. His 343 plan, in theory, is exactly what we need to fit in Suarez while keeping our own system and philosophy. Cruijff himself used to apply such system in a team that not only gave us our first UCL, but was called The Dream Team. Diamond in the midfield, 2 wingers, 1 striker and a 10 behind him. But it wasn’t perfect. Luckily, the apples were there to help him and us see what is needed ahead.

First of all, it seems Lucho remains on his crusade to prove the media wrong. Happened several times already this season, especially when he took Messi out against Ajax, but it seems he has to prove he can make Mascherano-Busquets works. Definitely he can’t in a 433, but it was better in a 343. Still, gotta drop it for good, at least in starting lineups. While we did have a 4-man diamond in theory, Busquets could not muster up enough positioning awareness and actual playing time to be a CM in the molds of Xavi.

Besides that, the back three (how good it feels to type that) still needs a lot more training and time actually using the 343 system to get used to it. The center channel was blocked and both Zlatan and Cavani did very little. Meanwhile, Matuidi and especially Lucas Moura ran riot through the flanks. PSG could have gone 0-2 up if Lucas was a better finisher.

But we won, even after the awful first 20 minutes of the second half, where he achieved nothing. So let’s count how many apples Luis Enrique should count, notice and use to get his brave plan yesterday working better.

1st Apple: Bartra. While several people still blame him for that Bale goal (Alves was the culprit, and he was in RM’s first goal that night), Marc rarely plays badly for us. His tenacity, focus and pace are refreshing. So with Pique apparently back from his 2-year poker tour and Mathieu doing well as CB (which didn’t happen at all yesterday), how do we fit him in our starting line-up? As the tall, fast, focused fullback we have missed since the glorious Eric Abidal left and took our defensive balance with him. Alba has been one of our most regular players this season, and we missed him dearly in the months he lost due to injury in 13-14. Neymar, Alba, Iniesta/Rakitic on the left should be our focus now. Alves hasn’t actually been a RB in over 2 years, Montoya is leaving and very few people know why, and Douglas should never have been bought. So, right now, our best starting back four is Bartra, Pique, Mathieu and Alba. Balance, height and actual meritocracy in place.

2nd Apple: Xavier Hernandez Creus. Using a double pivote in the middle for a 4-man diamond midfield in a 343 was not a good choice. But not starting the best Spanish player of all time in the one match you’re trying such system is pure madness. We won and were decent, but with Xavi on that first half we would have controlled the match with calm while creating way more chances than PSG (we had the same by the end of the match yesterday…). I understand he will not start every match, but in big matches where we should look for control and not chaos, not starting Xavi to field a double pivote is just a waste of everyone’s time. Nothing is gonna happen, he’s gonna have to come on and save everyone’s asses yet again. 4 minutes was all it took for us to score the 3rd after Xavi came on yesterday. Coincidence?

3^rd Apple: Luis Suarez is a striker. The man should never drop to the wings to merely stretch up play. He made a great assist yesterday, made Sirigu pull a great save and finally scored at the Camp Nou (after Messi was gracious enough to leave the rebound to him). He gave Thiago Silva a lot of work and used the space David Luiz left behind after his usual charges very well. With Messi being fed behing him (and not starting plays besides Bartra, like it happened yesterday due to the double pivotes…), we are gonna see some great football coming our way.

Luis Enrique got points with me yesterday. Tried the 343, trusted in Bartra then took him out so the Camp Nou could applaud him and was very active, gesturing and telling the players what to do the whole of match. He was actually more focused and vibrant yesterday. That’s what we need: someone to see which system will suit us better, to have the balls to put the players we actually need and to be with the players while we do it.

I find it very, very odd he experiments on the UCL and is very rigid with his La Liga line-ups (apart from the disaster at the Bernabeu). First the crazy lineup against APOEL, then what happened yesterday. He could have tested the 343 against Espanyol, for instance, than actually  put in the place against PSG. La Liga has a lot of weaker teams that allow us the chance to experiment, to achieve a better version of ourselves. Testing a 343 after 20+ games against PSG in a match he HAD to win was a bit extreme. I just hope he is taking the UCL seriously enough and not taking risks in La Liga due to priorities. Cause our priority shouldn’t be winning La Liga: should be developing this young team, having the system work the way we need it to, with an actual midfield running the show and a balanced backline. There were apples falling yesterday to show Luis Enrique the way. I only hope he noticed them, otherwise, it will all come crashing down over his head.