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"No one is afraid of us anymore," the Spanish newspaper AS quoted Barcelona's dressing room as saying. "Any rival can beat us. We play without spirit." Many may discuss the possibility of inflating the Madrid newspaper with news about Real Madrid's arch-rivals, but what I have said reflects the worst version of the Catalan team in nearly a quarter of a century.
"The team's performance against Granada is worse than the Anfield disaster. The problem is not only the loss, but the team deserves it," the AS newspaper said after Saturday's 5-0 defeat to Granada.
But what is the connection of Liverpool's Champions League semi-final second leg match on May 7, which ended with a 4-0 win at Leicher and the Catalans being eliminated from the continental motherland?
Anfield disaster: the answer is simple : the team has not yet been able to get out of the swamp of Anfield, and coach Ernesto Valverde has not been able to work mentally on players who were close to the final of the tournament they have been dreaming of since 2015.
Moreover, Anfield's loss is put in the same box as the previous season's elimination from the same quarter-final by Roma. Instead of club president Josep Maria Bartumio declaring a state of emergency to remedy the flaw and dismiss Valverde, he “rewarded” the coach by hiring players like the Frenchman. Griezmann and Dutchman De Jong, was just around the corner from the restoration of Brazilian Neymar.
Valverde: Going back to Valverde, the coach started this season under the pressure of humiliating loss in Anfried and losing the King's Cup final to Valencia, Valverde has been in tactical chaos by adopting the principle of "rotating players" since the beginning of the season.
The Spanish midfielder was involved in six games: against Athletic Bilbao (Sergei Roberto, Frankie de Jong and Carlos Alena), Real Betis (Roberto and Young and Sergio Busquets), Osasuna (Roberto and Young and Busquets) and Valencia ( Arthur and De Jong and Busquets), Dortmund (Arthur and De Jung and Busquets), and Granada (Rakitic and De Jong and Roberto).
In addition, the players appeared to be recipients with no spirit or motivation to win, which made them make their worst start to the 1994-1995 season, winning seven points from five games.
The Catalan daily Sport has given low ratings to Barca, the left-back who missed the first goal for Granada, and performed so badly that there were voices saying he was not fit to replace Jordi Alba.
But does this justify Valverde's decision to replace him at the start of the second half, which Sport considered a "murder" of a young player? The worst was Valverde's decision to move Nelson Semedo to the left-back, until the team was unbalanced.
The punishment for the mistake was not only against Ferbo, but Valverde Carlis Allenia was also left out of the squad after a poor performance against Athletic Bilbao in the opening of the La Liga.
De Jong: Another newcomer who has been named the best midfielder in Europe and seems to be in the perfect squad chosen by FIFA today, has provided important indications that he will be the future of the team in midfield, but Valverde's determination to change his position permanently He exhausted him and lost his focus.
Griezmann: While the Barca fans were waiting for a new trio (MSG) after the French star joined, the latter looked lost with his new team, and despite scoring two goals against Betis and his good performance against Valencia, but he did not hit the goal in four games outside. Camp Nou, "and more importantly, he has not yet presented himself as a player who can lead the team or is worth the amount paid for his move.
Messi: Valverde has always been "beautiful" and saves him in many games, but the historic top scorer, who has not played a major game this season, failed to save the team or improve their performance against Granada, and it was clear misunderstanding between him and Griezmann on the one hand and between him and Suarez On the other hand.
Messi has said in his latest interviews that he wants to continue with a team competing and achieving titles, but if the situation continues Barca, we may see the departure of the "Bulga" Camp Nou next summer.
Fati: There are plenty of spotlight on the youngster who is close to his seventeenth year after scoring two goals and making a goal in five games he played in La Liga.Even when Valverde pushed him in the second half, the young man - who has recently acquired Spanish citizenship - was the destination of Messi's passes, but Barça should protect him and try to work on his level, rather than focusing on him and overloading him.
Bartomeo: Valverde remains the main cause of the Anfield and Roma calamities, so he bears first and foremost responsibility for the team to reach this level.After Jordi Mestre and Pep Segura (the contractor) are gone, Bartomeo is solely responsible for the contract.
It was Bartomeo who brought Griezmann against the desire of the dressing room and the Frenchman refused Barca last season, failed to sign De Licht and Neymar and to recover the funds of the Coutinho deal, where he sent him a loan to Bayern Munich, and most importantly that Bartomio will not make a hasty or immediate decision regarding the future Valverde is waiting for what will happen in the next matches.
Piqué and fragile defense: the worst lines of the team, has received nine goals in La Liga this season after only five rounds for the first time since 1996, becoming the worst defense in the league so far, and in six games Barca goal received 25 shots between the bar and the post, it seems that Pique is unable to lead the defense to a better position, although he and Lingley have long played together.
This is in addition to the decline in the scoring rate of Suarez and the slowness suffered by him, and the departure of Semedo, which he thought would be the best successor to the best predecessor over Barca in this position, the Brazilian Danny Alves.
In conclusion, Barcelona is waiting for a difficult season, especially in La Liga, which was the backyard until last season, with eight titles in the last decade, and has to develop on several levels before it is too late:
- Stability of the squad and non-rotation.
- Restoring the offensive level, especially as the team does not pay too much on the opponent's goal in games played away from home.
- Strengthening the fragile and unorganized defense, the team's advances in four of six games this season.
- The absence of Messi and Dembele left the team without the elusive player who is able to "disturb" the defenses of the opponents.
- The return of advanced pressure and play in the opponent's areas and launching deadly counterattacks, which characterized the team during the reigns of Enrique and Guardiola.
- Quickly help Griezmann merge and form the trio that fans are waiting for with Messi and Suarez.
- "Positive possession" and playing forward instead of "passive possession" and returning the ball to defenders and goalkeeper, this does not worry the opponent.
- Lack of intensity in the opposition areas and delayed entry into the atmosphere of games played outside the field, the latest when Barca received a goal against Granada in the 63rd minute of the game.