Barcelona in the midst of an identity crisis

Andy West 04:22 05/12/2016
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  • Concerns: Gerard Pique.

    As they come to terms with the disappointment of Saturday’s Clasico draw against Real Madrid, Barcelona are facing mounting complaints that their famous possession based style of play is being sacrificed.

    Even though he has led the team to eight trophies since taking charge in the summer of 2014, many fans are accusing manager Luis Enrique of betraying the club’s principles by turning away from a reliance upon dominance of midfield for an approach which relies almost exclusively on the front three of Suarez, Neymar and Lionel Messi.

    Saturday’s first half did nothing to dispel those concerns as Barca’s midfield trio of Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Busquets and especially Andre Gomes appeared entirely incapable of influencing a game which was being controlled by visiting midfielder Luka Modric.

    The situation markedly improved after the break as the opening goal and Andres Iniesta’s emergence from the bench helped open up the game in Barca’s favour, with the captain playing a key role in allowing his team to establish a firm grip for the first time.

    Gerard Pique is among those believing Barca should get back to their old playing methods, saying: “It all depends on ourselves and how we play football. If we recover our style, we are unstoppable and can turn things around.”

    And he believes the return of Iniesta will be vital to that process, adding: “He gives us more control to create chances. When he played, you noticed the difference.”

    Iniesta appeared shortly after Luis Suarez netted the opening goal early in the second half. From that point the Blaugrana appeared to be on course for a much-needed victory which would have allowed them to cut the visiting team’s lead to just three points at the top of La Liga.

    But despite having failed to muster any meaningful goal attempts in the second half, Madrid grabbed a late leveller when Sergio Ramos met Luka Modric’s free-kick with a header in the very last minute.

    And the frustration at coming so close to victory was impossible to hide with Iniesta capturing the mood as he said: “The feeling is a painful one. Until the equalising goal we had done enough to win. We had a dangerous opponent in front of us but we controlled the game.”

    The outcome was Barca’s third consecutive 1-1 draw following ties at Real Sociedad in La Liga and lower league Hercules in the Copa del Rey, and was also a continuation of a worrying inability to win at home. The reigning champions have now failed to win in four of their 10 home games in all competitions this season, with Madrid joining Alaves, Malaga and Atletico in escaping the Nou Camp without being beaten.

    Remarkably, that total is the same number as the entirety of last season, when Barca won 26 of their 30 games at home, drawing two and losing two. And the Nou Camp was even more of a fortress in the previous treble-winning campaign, when Barca won 26 of 29 home games, drawing one and losing twice.

    The fact that a ‘failure rate’ of around 10 per cent has suddenly increased to 40 per cent is a big cause for concern, and something they will look to rectify immediately, starting with tomorrow’s Champions League tie against Borussia Monchengladbach.

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