Was it the absence of Spanish Olé, Olé, Olé chants from the Culers away from home? Or was it fatigue that led to the defeat of on-top Barcelona?
What Went Wrong for Barca against Real Sociedad?
On November 10, one side from the San Sebastian and the other from the Catalunya clashed to get all three points. One outclassed the other and that ‘one’ was Imanol Alguacil’s Real Sociedad. It might sound a little clichéd, but they spent every last drop of their blood and sweat to win the game and salvage the three points in front of their Basque fans.
It was a hazy night for the Spanish Giants from Barcelona. They were on the plan, but I think the tactics failed them. Also, they were missing a key player (more on that coming up) and that absence was surely seen in the performance.
The away team was average and the home side, Real Sociedad, was good, no, they were great. People have been saying that the story could have been very different if the controversy around a Video Assistant Refree(VAR) mistake had not disallowed the opener from Lewandowski. But I think the team played badly. They could have bounced back and scored another goal, but they weren’t even able to put a shot on target.
There could be many reasons for this defeat but the ones I am going to talk about are the most significant.
Too Thin Squad Depth
I had to rewatch the game in 4K to find the precise problem with this.
Having no great squad depth is the first problem that led to failure at San Sebastian. Though we know Barca has a great academy on which Hansi Flick can rely but not completely. There haven’t been fine prospects for some positions from the LaMasia like the number-9 position.
On top of that, Hansi Flick’s tactical plan always involves much running for the players. They have to press with intensity every time they lose the ball. Well, that’s great but since the system is new and players at Barcelona are not used to this, fatigue and injuries are there to ruin the day.
This is what happened against Real Sociedad. They had a pretty tight schedule and that led to players’ fatigue, and they weren’t even close to the intensity they put previously. Real Sociedad, on the other hand, were physical monsters coupled with intensity. Barca was suffocated throughout the match and couldn’t even record a shot on target.
Rushing the Decisions
You might have heard the saying, patience is key, but that wasn’t seen on the pitch from Blaugrana.
I was out to shop for groceries, and I’d have missed streaming that impatient performance from Barcelona if that wasn’t for the free WiFi hotspots offered by Xfinity Internet across the US. Xfinity is my choice for the internet because of its reliability, affordable plans, and above all customer service tailored for Spanish speakers at numero de Xfinity.
My observation after streaming the match mostly at Walmart’s parking was that Real Sociedad played the Barcelona plan. They pressed higher and, in the end, Barcelona being too desperate to find the goal, lost the composure. They looked impatient while making the passes in the final third, shooting at the goal, and finding spaces.
Real Sociedad was consistently pressing Inigo and Pau (the center-back pair at Barcelona) and they weren’t able to make their ingenious line-breaking passes.
Flank-Less Play
It was another issue that was actually associated with the problem I mentioned above. FC Barcelona doesn’t have enough natural wingers. Their greatest wide threat is Lamine Yamal, and he couldn’t even make it to the bench. Yamal was injured, and he is out for up to three weeks.
So, someone had to take up the responsibility of the flanks. It was Jules Kounde. Although he performed well on the right flank in a match before this one, against Real Sociedad, he was of minimal value.
He wasn’t able to pose any threat and lost possession multiple times on the right-hand side. He was accompanied by Fermin Lopez but both ended up ineffective on the flank.
Wrapping It Up
In conclusion, the loss of a team helps enlighten the underline issues of the team.
In Barca’s case, it was majorly squad depth. “Hansi doesn’t have enough sources to sustain the tactics for the whole season.” This has been the comments from the fellow Barcelona fans. If you are a Culer and would love to chatter about Barca, you may join this subreddit where fellow Culers engage in everything related to FC Barcelona from tactical analysis to the players’ transfers/injuries.
