Gerard Piqué is not getting any younger
Gerard Piqué is ageing, and has already started to decline, as is evident from his last two performances for Barcelona. He has been directly responsible for 3 goals conceded in the last two games, with his latest blunder resulting in the first defeat of the season for Barça.
Against Girona, the 32-year old former Spain international was very poor. But he made up for his mistake with an equaliser off a brilliant header. But his mistake against Leganés was inexcusable, showing a clear lack of intuition on his part.
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Piqué was slow to react to the aerial ball played in, and hence, did not have time to pick out the correct pass. He cleared the ball in a general direction away from the goal, and passed it straight to a Leganés player, who scored easily.
It is now becoming clear that Gerard Piqué is no longer the player he was. Last season, he had a bit of a revival after a poor season with Luis Enrique, where he was largely overshadowed by his partner in central defence, Samuel Umtiti.
But this season, he has deteriorated yet again, with Barça conceding a total of 7 goals in the La Liga in 6 matches this season, the highest among the top four. Gerard Piqué needs to work harder if he is to unquestionably retain his spot in the first-team.
If Piqué’s performances do not improve, Ernesto Valverde should reconsider the veteran’s place in the squad, with new signing Clément Lenglet always being a viable option, despite the fact that he got sent off in his first start for the club.