Why are Barcelona failing despite having a balanced squad?

Barcelona have a lot of depth in the squad after last summer’s signings

Ever since Luis Enrique’s second season in charge, the Barcelona squad has suffered from lack of depth. The right-back and left-back positions had been especially problematic when it came to backup, and the same with the midfield.

The departure of Dani Alves triggered a crisis which was only solved by shifting Sergi Roberto to right-back, and Jordi Alba had been without proper backup since the departure of Lucas Digne. In midfield, Sergio Busquets never had adequate backup.

Also, Xavi’s decision to leave Barça meant that the squad was without a player incapable of losing possession. A creative crisis caused by Andrés Iniesta’s departure was also left unsolved after Philippe Coutinho turned out to be a massive flop.

But all of these issues were solved by Éric Abidal. Arthur has turned out to be Xavi’s successor, but with more of Iniesta’s attacking finesse. Frenkie de Jong is emerging as Sergio Busquets’ eventual replacement in the first-team.

On the other hand, the experienced duo of Ivan Rakitić and Arturo Vidal have proven themselves invaluable as squad players due to their versatility. New signing Junior Firpo is yet to adapt to the Barça style, but he has a lot of potential.

But the biggest changes have taken place in attack, with the void created by Neymar’s shock move to Paris Saint-Germain being slowly filled by La Masia sensation Ansu Fati. Academy graduate Carles Pérez has also shown glimpses of his talent this season.

Antoine Griezmann has been an utter failure till now, but he has the ability to break this rut. Overall, the squad is looking in very good shape. Apart from Samuel Umtiti’s recurrent injury problems, there are few personnel issues to worry about.

Clearly, Ernesto Valverde has no dearth of options. But then, why are Barça so inconsistent? A variety of options means that the manager can juggle about with the starting lineup in accordance with the nature of opposition and the form of the players.

But no combination seems to have worked successfully. The midfield trio of Sergio Busquets, Frenkie de Jong and Arthur has been an astounding failure. A partnership has been forged between De Jong and Arthur, but one which fails with Busquets in the lineup.

With De Jong moving into the holding role and Arturo Vidal coming in as a typical box-to-box midfielder, Barça have been much more productive. But the natural passing lanes inside the midfield have not opened up properly.

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Barça have been prone to losing possession due to pressing from the opposition, a phenomenon without a precedent in the last decade. This is particularly worrying, as Barça’s goals have not originated from the playmakers at all.

But the biggest problems have been in defence. Injuries have crippled the Barça defence. In the last few weeks, Jordi Alba, Samuel Umtiti and Junior Firpo have all been on the treatment. This has meant that the likes of Nélson Semedo have been spread out too thinly.

This has led to poor co-ordination at the back, with Clément Lenglet also losing the golden touch which had earned him a call-up to the France national team. Valverde was also reluctant to give playing time to Jean-Clair Todibo, who made his first appearance of the season against Sevilla.

Barça have had to depend on Marc-André ter Stegen bail the team out after mistakes at the back, with the biggest example being the goalless draw away to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League opener. Another issue from that awful performance was a lack of creativity up front.

Ansu Fati has proven himself as a future superstar, but he cannot be counted upon to deliver under pressure. At 16, he should ideally be playing for Barcelona B. But older, established stars have failed to deliver too, especially €120 million signing Antoine Griezmann.

Apart from scoring two quality goals in the 5-2 thrashing of Real Betis, Griezmann has been invisible on the pitch. France’s World Cup hero may just hold the record for the lowest number of touches for any outfield player at Barça.

His passing play has been off, and his movement off the ball has been ordinary at best. When it comes to finishing, Griezmann hasn’t been able to get into proper positions to find the back of the net. Most of his recent contributions have been defensive in nature.

As for Luis Suárez, ‘El Pistolero’ has returned from injury with a bang. He has scored 4 goals in the last 3 games, but has failed to bag any assists. In other words, Suárez’s finishing has been on point, but he has done nothing out of the ordinary outside the box.

Carles Pérez has shown glimpses of his talent, but is yet to make a lasting impact on any match. Lionel Messi and Ousmane Dembélé have only just returned from injury, and got onto the scoresheet against Sevilla. But their goals were on individual merit, not teamwork.

Needless to say, the attack is facing the same problem as the midfield. There are plenty of options for Valverde, but none of the combinations have managed to come together as a unit. This needs to change if Barça are to stop depend on individual skill to find the back of the net.

In many ways, it has been a failure on the part of Valverde. Barça have won emphatically against good sides like Real Betis and Valencia, but have struggled to perform against the likes of Granada. This inconsistency points to a confused strategy.

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Barcelona have an enviable squad, but getting all the stars and the starlets to work together is a task for the head coach. Unless Valverde can get his team to function as a unit, there is a lot worse than a loss to a newly-promoted side, waiting on the other side of the international break.