Soccer – La Liga – Barcelona – Then and Now…and Later
With 4 games left to go in the La Liga schedule, the most important aspects of the season for FC Barcelona are settled: they cannot win a trophy this year but will qualify for Champions league next year. All that’s left is playing for the pride of coming in second in La Liga in the 2021-2022 season and after a dismal start of only 4 wins in it’s first 12 games under former Manager Ronald Koeman that could still be viewed as quite an accomplishment.
It was difficult to watch Barca early in the season. The team lacked any sort of energy at all and though they maintained a high possession rate, their lack of a quality finisher and any ability to mount a serious attack left us frustrated and angry. How many games did we watch Barca blow a win or a draw in the last 10 minutes of a game resulting from a spirited counter attack from their opposition? How many times did we not see any goals at all against teams headed for relegation? How many times did we see them dominate possession but come up short on the scoreboard? It was a difficult time to be a fan of a super team that normally dominates. Sure, maybe we all matured a little bit, but it was tough.
Certainly, it wasn’t all down to Koeman, injuries plagued Barca early in the season and in fairness, it was the first season in 15 years that they started the journey without the best player to ever play the game. It had to be a major adjustment for the squad not having Messi patrol the middle and pull off feats of magic every single game. Koeman might well be coach today had Messi been able to stay. But he could not and he isn’t and it was a relief when Xavi was hired and instituted more of an attacking style of play. The team never did end up with one dominate goal scorer this season but scored more by committee whoever needed to whenever it was needed.
Still they faltered in the Europa League and coughed a few games in late April early May to fall out of a last gasp effort at the league championship, ending up with a trophyless campaign. The teams’ issues are mainly age which translates to speed and stamina. Barca as constituted have little of either. Dembele has the youth and speed but is mercurial; can he stay healthy, can he stay focused and involved? Outside of him on attack, Barca fans can only hope that Gavi continues to develop. He needs to be a little bigger, a little faster and develop a little more finesse but all the potential is there at only 17 years old. And in mid field, the 19 year old sensation Pedri who will be instrumental in the Barca rebuild is another reason to feel positive about Barca’s future. Still, too many are old and need replacing and this will be the focus of Barca’s off season.
Expect more fight and more youth and more attacking style football from Barca in the 2022-2023 season.