Barcelona showing chinks in their potent but knackered armour

Thiago Alcantara has rejoined his former boss Pep Guardiola at Bayern

Yet, those players as a unit most bear the pressure of being a Barcelona and Spanish player. Right now those are major story lines in world football as both sides are playing at legendary standards and are heavily followed. Xavi, Pique and Inesta not only have had to answer for the 7-0 Champions League loss to Bayern, but also the 3-0 thumping by Brazil. That’s a lot of mental strain on the players, yet another thing the club could do without. Nobody likes to deal with great disappointments they just wear players down.

Getting a defensive player seemed like it was going to be the top priority for the club in the summer transfer window, but the club decided that their first priority needed to be convincing Neymar to leave Brazil a year earlier than planned. Barcelona got their man, but the acquisition of Thiago Silva at centre back has not gone as well.

My read on the situation is Silva wants to come, but maybe not this season. The losses of president and manager at PSG indicates to me that maybe things are a bit shaky in Paris at the moment, but Silva seems unmoved for the moment.

Regardless, one would have thought Barca would have resolved this situation well before the start of pre-season so the player was engrained into the team before the first meaningful match. Yet, we are all still waiting to see what happens.

Thiago Alcantara is not the next Leo Messi, but he does have still have a high ceiling to reach. At times he looked like a dangerous attacking midfielder.

He was tipped to replace Xavi in the long term or shift roles with Iniesta. There is a certain rhythm that Barca often achieves where they hold the ball up in midfield with Xavi that causes the other team chase and burn energy. Barca stay on the front foot and if the early goals don’t come, the late ones often do against the worn down defences of the opposition.

When Thiago started for Barca they seemed more scrambled in the midfield. He brought more of an attacking exuberance, but it came at the cost of sacrificing their clean possession and being exposed to swift counters. I think that was a reason that he didn’t see the pitch as much as many had hoped.

I often thought he should start upfront over Pedro and Cesc because he was dangerous going forward and might provide more attacking flair. At the end of the day he is a wonderful talent and that is why Barca, Man U and Bayern fought over him. You hate to lose quality players to good sides especially when it’s to the team that smoked you in the Champions League last year and is now fronted by your former manager.

All teams come under fire. The combination of bad luck, a few decisions not panning out, and just maybe some else is doing better right now. What you never want to see is a pattern of poor decision making that leads to bigger problems and rifts down the road. I think at this point in this Barca era the club needs to take a breath and regain its focus. It’s not time to panic.

Everyone will hope that Neymar pans out, but I put expectations a year away from him truly gelling with the team. This club plays a brand of football that is unique and if it was easy to learn and adapt to, everyone would be doing it. Not having gone through the youth system means he will need time to adjust, maybe a year or two, similar to Alexis Sanchez.

If Barca are to be successful this season, it will be because Alexis has a true break out year, Messi maintains his pace, and the back line functions better. Anything Neymar can bring will be a major bonus.

Tito will have his hands full with many tough decisions as some players are getting up there in age and the replacements have seen very little consistent time. Management will need to step up and get a centre back to sure up the back line and restore confidence in the defence. Players will have to focus on remaining healthy; yes you can control it to some degree.

There are lots of questions and I can’t wait for the fun ride to start. I just hope the train stays on the tracks.