Väga hea ülevaade hetkelisest situatsioonist Barcelonas
ajakirjaniku Martin Perarnau poolt, kes meedias tõenäoliselt klubisisestest toimingutest kõige rohkem teab ja rääkida oskab:
A disoriented Barça
Bayern ran roughshod over Barça, but that was not the worst of it. Barça is a pale shadow of itself. That is the worst. Without a doubt the match in Allianz Arena was a disaster for Tito Villanova’s team: they played poorly and didn’t compete. Perhaps it wasn’t the worst they’ve played in the past five years, but it was definitely their least competitive showing, although the team they faced was excellent and powerful.
The match can be explained in few words: Barça was outplayed in every aspect. In the predictable (such aerial play) and in the unimaginable (control of the ball). It was evident from their lack of confidence early on that they felt inferior, quite unusual, but that clearly reveals the state of the changing room.
Since it was an important match and a castostrophic defeat, the trend is more transcendent. Barça has been disoriented for some time now. We have explained it before: free from Guardiola’s pressure, the squad has showing signs of wear and tear. None of them transcendent. Barely details. Every day another. And when they realized what was going on the compass no longer was pointing in the same direction as the past few years.
That is the underlying current. The waves can crash on one point of the coast or another, but it is the underwater current that counts. And that current has lost its way. First we could see the symptoms with Barça B. Later it was the first team. The way the squad was managed is an example.
The first objective of the year was rightly for the coach to make his mark. With Pep’s iron hand gone, the players began to enjoy themselves playing more freely. Since they always scored one more goal than they conceded, everything seemed to go well, until the elite teams showed that this was not the case.
With Tito sick, the second objective agreed upon was to win the League in January and February, a period that usually serves other purposes: to give playing time to the reserves to improve their form and allow the starters to recover their physical condition. This year that was completely turned on its head: the over-exploitation of the starters and the lack of playing time for the substitutes. The league had to be won early.
The consequences began to be seen just as early: Milan, Madrid, PSG? To obvious not to see it. And at every step the starting XI began to lose its components: first due to the performance of Cesc and Alexis; later Puyol and Mascherano due to injuries; later Pedro, Alba and Xavi for muscular injuries; finally, the cherry on top, Messi. Every day the substitutes were more entrenched as subs and a growing number of starters were unavailable.
Munich is just a reflection of that management. A very complex task, because it was the start of the post-Pep era and because Tito didn’t exactly have a tooth ache, but a very serious illness, which couldn’t be taken lightly. It has been an extreme and difficult situation, which allows these mistakes and difficulties to be understood. But Barça has lost its way and is lost in the woods.
Many people are wondering, what now? Probably the best path is to be smart. Guardiola left us much more than a winning team. He left a blueprint for competiveness and effort in all areas. Return to that path seems intelligent. Much more intelligent than to prematurely bury a team with players such as Messi, Iniesta, Busquets or Piqué.