After a summer of several arrivals and departures. Its all been back to square one for the club. For both its fans and the board of directors. The club is looking to make progress after a season not up to the recent heights reached over the past 5 years. Finishing as runners up in both la liga and copa del rey while getting eliminated at the quater finals of the champions league.
Ending the season without any major trophy for the first time since 2008 was something unusual for all the club people. Several moves have been made. New signings, departure of fringe squad members, promotion of new players from the team b. Loaning out of some youngstars. It was clear didn't want a repeat of last season again.
The incoming transfer dealings was a record setting one. A new manager also took over.
New manager Luis Enrique who is a former coach of the club s team b has been drafted in to take the club back to its old heights. His choice based on the fact that he is a barcelona man all through. After the apointment of Tata Martino (Who did a fair job given the circumstances ) who will be considered an outsider last season. The club has made this choice as it looks for an evolution in the playing style while maintaining its tiki taka core.
The teams defense which could be said to be primarily responsible for the failure of the season past was taken care of with new central defenders signed taken the numbers of central defenders on the clubs book to four. This is in contrast to the seasons past when the club has had to had to line up with several make shift backlines with the likes of Adriano, Song, Mascherano, Busquet playing in the centre of defense ( may it never happen again ). Now the club has a depth that only few clubs can match - Yes I Said it!
The three performances so far has seen the club pick up the maximum points while also keeping clean sheets in those three matches. While Elche wasn't expected to be a difficult one in the first match of the season with the quality of its players - it should be noted the club drew the corresponding fixture last season- it still remained a tricky tie. But at the end of full time, it was three goals and three points for the club.
Goals from Messi(2) and Munir ensured it was a good day with players like new signings Rakitic and Mathieu shining too. his ensured the team went straight to the top of the table. Next up was away to Villarreal. Always a difficult fixture in the calendar. It ended with Barca winning by a single goal after breaking villareal s stubborn defense with Team B graduate Sandro getting on the end of a Messi assist after the Argentine had placed the ball through the goal keepers legs. In a match that required patiance and aggressiveness to compete the Catalans competed well against their opponents with Rakitic again shining alongside Busquet in midfield as they made sure the team wasn't prone to Villareal s counter attacks. While Messi was Messi.
The most recent fixture was Athletic Bilbao at the Camp Nou. Against an Athletic Bilbao side who are always competitive and aggressively press high. Barca performed admirably. The team was clearly aware of their opponents strengths Limiting their counters and controlling the game. Just when it looked like it was heading for a draw two Lionel Messi assists lead to two Neymar goals who came off the bench for youngstar Munir who should have scored at least once after fluffing several chances.
So far some constants have emerged: Rakitic is a real gem. He provides the team with athleticism, endeavour, passing and versatility. Messi is still the go to guy with two goals and three assists in three matches. Munir looks like a potential starter in the future.
Coach Luis Enrique has done a good job so far. Shoring up last season s leaky defense with three clean sheets so far and better coordination in the team. The team plays each match according to each opponent not like last season when the play was obviously play tiki taka and let's hope we win. The three strikers re starting from inside positions compared to the season past when the left and right strikers would hug the touchline all the time. This made breaking through defenses more difficult as they had to take on full backs all the time. With the new systems the possibilities of through balls from Messi has increased. Also the defense have been good par Mathieu who has looked suspect with clearances of crosses from the right wing. Bar that aspect all has been good.
We haven't seen Ter Stegen in play as Cladio bravo has kept his place in the line up after starting the season. Bravo has been good so far dealing with everything that has been thrown at him ( long may it remain so).
While its still early in the season and the team doesn't look aesthetically pleasing as the Barca of 09-12. It has been an effective team getting the results and reducing the dangers it faces each match. That has to be the base of the team after last season s disaster. The other aspects of the team s play should return as the season progresses. So, so far so good it s been alright.
This article was written in the early weeks of the season.
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