5 problems that Barcelona need to fix urgently

“Barcelona are not the team they used to be” - an obvious but really insightful statement which sums up their condition right now. Even club legend Johan Cryuff recently said that they have lost some of their sheen. Now, many Blaugrana faithful may say that Barcelona’s losses are being blown out of proportion, and I am an ardent supporter of not drawing conclusions too soon. Losses and wins are a part of the game, that’s well and good, but what is a source of concern are their displays in the matches they have lost. At times, it has seemed like the players are disinterested and are just going through the motions. The current Barcelona side is a far cry from the teams that reached dizzying heights from 2008 to 2011. However, if they even want to become similar to the side that once dominated Europe and captured the imagination of the fans and purists alike, they need to step up and they need to do it quick. So here are 5 key problems which Barcelona need to fix:

#1 They must accept they no longer intimidate opponents

Teams are no longer intimidated by Barcelona like before

Back when Barcelona were the epitome of beautiful football and were steam-rolling every team that came their way, most of the teams they faced were perennially in damage-control mode, best exemplified by Chelsea’s infamous parking the bus in the Champions League semi-final in 2012.

However, it is now time for Barcelona to accept that they no longer intimidate teams like they once did. They can no longer just show up and expect half the battle to be won. Teams have now discovered that there are rewards if you take the game to them, and looking at their relatively weak defence, Barcelona are bound to concede goals. The first half in their game against Ajax showed that, with the Dutch side dominating proceedings.

Even in their El Clasico match, Real Madrid took the game to Barcelona and reaped the dividends. Barcelona must now accept that they no longer have that intimidation factor going for them so they have to work much harder as a team. It would be a good first step in a journey to regain their pride and earn back the tag of being one of the most fearsome sides in the world.

#2 Regaining control in midfield

Barcelona needs to improve their midfield to gain hold of matches

This was the area of the pitch which had never come under question for Barcelona until this season. Last season, to counter the declining effectiveness of Xavi and Iniesta, Tata Martino tried to add an extra midfielder in Cesc Fabregas to help out. However, that led to Messi being more isolated up front and slowed them down during transition.

However, this season, Luis Enrique has tried to fix their midfield problems by altogether reducing the importance of the midfield in his system. At times, it seems like Barcelona is a team of forwards and defenders, unlike a few years back when they even fielded a team with nine midfielders. Of course, both are not good for the team and a balance has to be reached.

Barcelona’s midfield has continuously been outmuscled and over-run by good sides, case in point being their losses to PSG and Real Madrid. The most famed part of their game is now raising more questions than providing answers for the front-men.

That is when the individual performance levels of their midfielders come into play. Their famed midfield duo of Xavi and Iniesta have been the conductors of their domination for many years but Xavi is now past his prime and going by his recent performances, Iniesta too is not far away. Xavi, for all his quality on the ball, has not pressed the opposition effectively when they’ve lost possession. Iniesta just appears off-colour and there have even been claims that Barcelona sold the wrong midfielder.

The sale of Cesc Fabregas, who has been magnificent for Chelsea this season, seems all the more strange now. His replacement Rakitic gives them a more direct approach but sometimes, Rakitic appears to be fighting a lone battle in the middle of the pitch. Busquets has been average, never too bad but never too good either, and injuries have seen a dip in his form.

We saw how PSG completely nullified the influence of Barcelona’s midfield in the Champions League clash and how Enrique’s men could not hold the ball and recycle possession effectively against a rampant Real Madrid side.The players need to up their performances and their understanding. Right now, the Barcelona midfield looks sluggish and the their link up play looks laboured.

#3 Off the ball movement needs to improve

Barcelona need to press effectively as a team

One aspect of Barcelona’s famed tiki-taka under Guardiola which does not receive due credit is their off the ball pressing. Barcelona hogging the ball for the majority of the match was also made possible due to their quick recovery of the ball. That is one area where they have gone down many notches in the past few seasons.

It is not that they are not pressing, but they are not pressing as a unit. In recent matches, it has been seen that as the midfield pressed higher up the pitch, the defence stayed back, leaving a huge space between the lines which could be easily exploited by their opponents on counter-attacks.

Barcelona must improve their off the ball movement and revive their hunger to retrieve the ball, and the whole team should press as a unit.

#4 The defence needs improvement

Despite signing Vermaelen and Mathieu, their defence continues to be their weak link

The talk about Barcelona’s defensive woes is so old that accusing them of having a weak defence is like accusing Arsenal of failing to win Championships - you just have to accept it and move on. The Catalans seem to be suffering from one of these three problems: 1. defending does not appeal to them, 2. they have been plain unlucky developing players in that position, or 3. they have failed to acquire them in the transfer market.

This season, however, they did show some concern towards their defensive department and brought in Vermaelen, who is still down with injury, and Mathieu - not exactly players who inspire hope but definitely an improvement. That just shows the dearth of talent in their defence. And to compare that to the quality of their blockbuster signing in attack - Luis Suarez – just shows you where their priority lies.

For the first couple of matches, the new-look defence looked encouraging, with them even going the first four matches without conceding a goal. However, the quality of the opposition had a part to play in that. As soon as they faced a decent opposition in PSG, they shipped in 3 goals. Then came Real Madrid, and their defence was exposed.

Without the guidance of Puyol, Pique is a shadow of the player he once was. Mascherano must be commended for his versatility but we have to accept that he is not a traditional centre back. Even Mathieu has looked out of depth in some matches, especially in the match against PSG. Bartra too has been susceptible to errors despite playing reasonably well overall.

Too many individual errors are being committed by the backline and that is not acceptable for a club like Barcelona. For all their fire-power upfront, their defence looks woefully out of depth and they can get easily carved up on fast counter-attacks. The discipline of the defence needs to improve because the attack may not always be able to bail them out, especially against bigger teams.

#5 Figure out the perfect combination of MSN (Messi Suarez Neymar)

The combination of the trio will have a huge bearing on the fate of the Blaugrana this season

Pardon the acronym, but it does seem that Barcelona’s fate this term will rely heavily on their front three. A front three consisting of South America’s finest attacking talent has left most of the Blaugrana faithful salivating at the impending goal-fest, but history also tells us things do not always go according to plan.

Just having the best attackers does not guarantee you goals galore. A balance has to be struck. Suarez has just returned from his ban and it is funny how his return has coincided with a dip in Barcelona’s form.

Not that he is any way responsible for that. In fact, he has already set up four goals for his team-mates and given time, he is bound to develop an understanding with Neymar and Messi and they could form the most fearsome trio in world football. The front three need to be given more time to adapt to each other’s game and even though they might not have been in sync initially, the understanding will come eventually.

Another crucial conundrum which needs to be solved is finding the perfect position for Messi. No disrespect to the other strikers, but Messi is still the focal point of this Barcelona side. Owing to his superior all-round abilities and the surprising lack of creativity in Barcelona’s game, the coach can be tempted to play him in a quasi-playmaker role, but Messi is too good to be playing in a deeper role.

Luis Enrique needs to find a system with Suarez starting as the centre forward while simultaneously getting the best out of the prolific Argentine. In this aspect, the midfield also needs to step up as Messi has been seen dropping deep to collect the ball on too many occasions. Messi should be lurking just outside the box so that he can do what he does best - create and score.