Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman watched his side win their first match under his tutelage, a 3-1 triumph over Gimnastic, and confirmed that he is thinking of toying with the team's formation for the forthcoming season.
Barca have traditionally operated with a 4-3-3 formation since the days of Frank Rijkaard, but with more attacking options at his disposal, Koeman is looking at the potential of lining up with a 4-2-3-1 instead.
Speaking after the match, he said to Barca TV: "“The system is a bit different than in previous seasons, but the team has the quality to do that and it does it well.
"We are looking for speed with the high ball rhythm to overcome the lines, create spaces and bring danger to the area to score goals."
Koeman also rotated his entire starting XI at half-time to make sure that all of the key members of his squad were given minutes, while promising young Portuguese international Trincao impressed from the bench.
Antoine Griezmann and Philippe Coutinho were also able to slot home confidence-boosting penalty kicks, and Koeman is wary of how important it is that his squad are fit ahead of the new season.
READ MORE:
Mo Salah: Player Rating and Performance v Leeds
Kylian Mbappe 'informs PSG that he wants to leave in 2021'
He added: "It was our first pre-season game and that was the reason that everyone played the 45 minutes, to pick up pace and play with intensity, which was a little better in the second half than in the first.
"Not having had any injuries was very important, and we wanted to have intensity in the game. All the boys have come out well, and we have seen players who had not played. There are always things to improve, but in general we are very happy with the work of the players in these two weeks of work. ”
The start of Barcelona's season has been delayed to allow the teams who featured in European football at the end of the season more time to prepare for the new campaign.