Barcelona power rankings from World Cup Matchday One
9. Ousmane Dembele
The young winger was largely ineffective in his first World Cup game, but Didier Deschamps’ set-up didn’t help in the slightest. They lacked any cohesiveness as a team and kept getting stuck against a well-drilled opposition. The service was poor up to the forward line, with a lot of play being direct which left them isolated. Australia were able to crowd out Dembele and the others.
Deschamps deserves his fair share of criticism because he seems to be unable to get this talented team firing consistently. The majority of their best attacking play is on the counter because they lack effective passages of play in the final third when in possession. However, Dembele is supposed to be the difference-maker in the team even if he is only 21-years-old.
His replacement, Nabil Fekir, also struggled to have an effect on the game. Therefore, he may keep his starting place, but he needs to improve or else he will lose his place. France are blessed with talent in forward areas, so competition for places is strong.
8. Paulinho
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The draw with Switzerland was disappointing and Paulinho had little influence on the game. He moved possession around effectively, but struggled to impose himself on the opposition along with the rest of the midfield. His late runs into the box were rarely on show as Switzerland shut down Brazil’s combination play well.
He was taken off in the second half for Renato Augusto because he provided more penetration from deep with his passing. This was an accurate representation of an average display because he wasn’t bad, but did little offensively or defensively. Tite may be worried about the lack of creativity in the side from midfield even if they were against a formidable defensive side. Therefore, Paulinho’s place might be under threat.
Brazil weren’t up to their usual standard, so it wasn’t just him that underperformed. They are likely to improve as the tournament goes on, which should be worrying for other teams because their attack was scary at times in the first half.
7. Gerard Pique
Pique was one of the poorer players for Spain, but he still contributed a substantial amount. Spain’s high average position up the pitch meant that him and Sergio Ramos were key in denying Portugal an outlet. They were up against Cristiano Ronaldo, though, so that was much easier said than done.
Ronaldo won a number of aerial duels as well as laying off the ball perfectly for teammates, which allowed the counter-attack to keep momentum. Crucially, Pique gave away the free kick that Ronaldo scored near the end, so he was at fault for allowing them to snatch a draw. However, Ronaldo has a really poor record with free kicks, especially with the national team, so he was unfortunate in that regard.
There were good areas to his game, though, because his passing was crisp and his positioning was good for the majority of the game. The first two goals can be largely blamed on individual mistakes by Nacho and David De Gea. Therefore, this was a fluke result, and Spain should be seen as the clear favourites after the first round of games.