Barcelona losing their lustre as Enrique hints at leaving

There is something lethargic about FC Barcelona’s play this season. For a club that defines itself through its love of the ball, it was notable that Real Sociedad had more of it than Barça during their 1-1 draw in La Liga last Sunday.
The Basque team enjoyed 52 per cent possession. It was only the second time since May 7th, 2008 that Barça ceded more of the ball to its opponents in a game. That May day is an ignominious date in Barça’s history. Its players had to form a pre-match pasillo – or guard of honour – for the newly crowned league champions, Real Madrid, at the Bernabéu stadium, this before Lionel Messi & Co were thumped 4-1. Real Madrid won the league that season with 18 points to spare on Barça in third place.
The Catalan club was in freefall. After years of plenty – including back-to-back league titles and a Champions League win in 2006 – decadence had set in. The team’s star players, Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto’o, were fighting with each other. Ronaldinho was offloaded during the off season; Eto’o left a year later.

The team’s manager Frank Rijkaard was stressed out and had fled the bosom of his family to stay in a hotel near the Camp Nou. He, too, was gone in the summer, to make way for Pep Guardiola, who subsequently won 14 trophies in four seasons.

Luis Enrique, Guardiola’s old team-mate, has scaled similar heights as manager over the last two years, emulating Guardiola’s treble feat, for example. Cracks in the edifice have, however, started to appear this season.

Enrique, whose contract expires at the end of the season and whose mop of curly hair has greyed visibly in a couple of years, has yet to commit his future to the club. He has openly fed the gossipmongers by discussing in his press conferences the merits of candidates who might replace him.

Among the names being touted as a successor – including Everton’s Ronald Koeman – are Real Sociedad’s coach Eusebio Sacristán, a member of Johan Cruyff’s “Dream Team” of the 1990s and a former Barça B coach.

Real Sociedad are fifth in the table and were unlucky to only tie with Barça at San Sebastián’s Anoeta Stadium. Enrique said it was a “miracle” that Barça managed to escape with a point. A legitimate goal for Real Sociedad was ruled offside, which would have made the difference.

Poorest start

The Catalan press have been feasting on the entrails of several recent lacklustre performances. Barça are enduring their poorest start to a season in over a decade. “Barcelona are embarrassing,” wrote La Vanguardia in despair the morning after the Real Sociedad match; and this from a newspaper that is normally conservative in its editorial tone.

Most galling of all was that Real Sociedad overran Barça. “Change the shirts and you wouldn’t think that the other team was Barcelona,” said Enrique, adding that it was the worst Barça performance of his time managing the team. Gerard Piqué was also brutally frank in a pitch-side interview after the full-time whistle, saying it was down to his team-mates’ poor “attitude”.

In the first half, Barcelona lost the corner count 8-0. Remarkably, they failed to get inside Real Sociedad’s box until the 41st minute. By the half-time break, Barcelona’s goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen had completed more outfield passes than any of his outfield team-mates. That Barcelona are resorting to the long ball from its goalie is instructive.

Enrique has overhauled Barcelona’s playing style, favouring more direct – or “vertical” as it’s described in Spain – play. It was born out of necessity. Barcelona’s keep-ball play had become stale and predictable under his predecessor, Tata Martino (who left the job after failing to win a trophy), and when you have Messi, Neymar Jr and Luis Suárez playing up front it’s sensible to get them the ball as quickly as possible.

The trio are part of the problem now, though, just like free-scoring Jonah Lomu’s inability to turn quickly in defence used to expose the All Blacks rugby team. Real Sociedad striker Carlos Vela identified them as a weakness for Barça after last weekend’s game, mentioning: “Three of their players work less.”

Vela’s team targeted their poor appetite for defending. Barcelona’s style is built on two fundamental principles: when you have the ball, look for space; when you don’t have it, get it back quickly. The second part comes from tigerish pressing, which starts high up the field with its front three players.

When MSN – as the Messi-Suárez-Neymar axis is called – abdicate their defensive duties, the team are debilitated. Messi has always ambled about during games, but a player who has scored more than 40 club goals a season in seven consecutive years has licence to kick back if he so cares.