Barcelona lost 5-3 to Arsenal in their first pre-season game of the US tour. In a feisty encounter which saw 34 fouls, or one around every two and half minutes, we’ve got three takeaways to share.
Concern for the fullbacks
Over the course of the 90 minutes, Barcelona played four different fullbacks and three of them were often exploited by the wing play of Arsenal.
Alejandro Balde was on a different level, he was arguably our best player on the night. He defended well and his attacking play was outstanding, he linked up well with Ansu Fati, got into the box on a number of occasions and even hit the woodwork. I have absolutely no concerns about the left-back position at all.
Marcos Alonso who played LB in the first half was tidy enough on the ball, but his lack of pace was constantly exploited by Saka who could have done more damage. He was easily shrugged off the ball in the lead-up to the second goal and didn’t look to have an answer to the speed Arsenal offered. Hopefully, Balde stays healthy and we don’t need to use Alonson as a left-back this year.
On the right side, it’s easy to see why Xavi is insisting on bringing in a new player.
Sergino Dest didn’t receive much playing time last year on loan with AC Milan, and the USMNT defender is hoping to solidify his place in the squad ahead of the new season, I imagine he had aspirations of being the starting RB in Xavi’s favoured XI. He’ll have to do a lot more.
Defensively he got caught up-field far too much, which is strange considering he offered little to nothing in attack. He was wasteful on the ball, often panicking when closed down and losing possession as a result. It’s got to a point where I think the damage is done with Dest, I’m not sure he’s good enough to play in this Barca side, especially when you consider what we have at LB.
Captain Sergi Roberto took Dest’s place in the second half, and while he was better than Dest, the 31-year-old has his limitations and is not the answer as a full-time RB.
If Barcelona fails to make a signing in that position, I think we’ll be seeing Jules Koundé start there, which isn’t his favoured position as a natural central defender.
Oriol Romeu is no Sergio Busuets
This was obvious to begin with, but watching Romeu play that pivot role occupied by Busquets for all those years, really hammered home the point.
Romeu did absolutely nothing wrong, but he really wasn’t involved in the game. A lot of the play-through midfield starts in that pivot. While Romeu was happy to go sideways, he rarely attempted passes through the lines, which is something Busquets was so good at.
Romeu also didn’t look as comfortable with the ball at his feet. Barca like to play in close quarters despite their obsession with space, and Busquets always had his head on a swivel to quickly move the ball on.
It’s near impossible for someone like Romeu to replace Busquets, let’s not kid ourselves, it’s like David Moyes trying to replace Sir Alex Ferguson as Manchester United manager.
It’s unfair to judge him based on one game and having arrived from Girona late, but Romeu is a tidy but limited footballer. He’ll do a job for you defensively, but he’s not going to make those kinds of cutting passes that Busquets used to.
We’ll see how this one progresses, but based on what we saw against Arsenal, if we want to maintain and dominate possession, but with an end product…Romeu is going to have to improve.
Barcelona’s wing play is going to be elite
Recently there was a report that Xavi had asked Barca management to not sell Abde, last night we saw why.
For the first goal, he won the ball back, used his speed to run away from the Arsenal midfield and then found Raphinha with the cut-back, his shot was saved but Lewandowski put in the rebound. Abde won’t get an assist for that, but it was all him.
If Balde was the best player on the pitch, Abde was certainly Barca’s best player in the first half. He showed off his close control and even used his strength to hold up the ball. He constantly drew fouls from an over-aggressive Ben White playing right back.
I’d hate to see Barca move him at this point considering his trajectory and ability on the ball.
Ansu Fati looked confident and dangerous when he came on, and his linkup play with Balde was very good, if he can regain some confidence after his long injury lay-off, he can hopefully get back on track as one of the world’s premier talents.
Dembele was as dangerous as he always is, he had an effort come back off the post and another that landed on the roof of the net. He also hugged the touchline which created plenty of space for him to attack the full-back.
Raphinha didn’t have his best game but he still scored on a deflected free-kick and although Ferran played up front as a false-9, he also got on the scoresheet and that will really help is confidence.
Barca have a lot of options when it comes to their wide forwards, maybe too many options.
Arsenal Vs Barcelona player ratings
Barcelona kicked off their pre-season with a 5-3 loss to Arsenal. Here are the Barcelona player ratings from the game tonight in California.