Struggling Barca, Premier League Title Race and Are BVB good enough?

The football season is in full swing now and it is time to look back at some important questions as we head into the international break:

Question 1: What is up with with Barcelona?

Around this time last year, everyone was hailing Barca as the greatest team around. If someone was unbeatable, they were compared to Barca. Move over to this year, and Barca are two points of the top in the La Liga and have already picked up three defeats (two glaring ones to Celta Vigo and Alaves). Here are few things going against them this year:

• Injury plagued: When your team is missing Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba, you have to be worried. Let's not forget Jeremy Mathieu. Even Messi was out for a while. Both La Liga losses came in his absence. Yes, Barca have better depth this season. Lucas Digne is doing a good job of filling in for Alba. Umtiti and Mascherano have been descent at the back. Barca's overfilled midfield means there are plenty of options to fill in for Iniesta. But Iniesta, Pique and Alba are legends in their own rights. Digne doesn't have the pace of Alba. Umtiti is still young and at times has looked confused at the back without the comforting presence of Pique. And as far as Iniesta is concerned, you have to look for a long time to find a midfielder of his class right now. He is the best right now. End of discussion. Denis Suarez, Andre Gomes, Arda Turan and the rest of the midfield options have got sometime before they can even hope to be at his level.
  
• Lack of Form: The MSN has been as good as ever. Maybe they have been a little scratchy at times but overall they have been brilliant. Rakitic continues to get better. The substitutes for Iniesta have not made any glaring errors. It's the defence and a particular star in the midfield that have struggled. Let's start with Ter Stegen. Barca were determined to keep him away from Manchester City and in my eyes, they were right to do so. But he has made a few errors. The most glaring ones being against Celta Vigo. But he has improved since and continues to show signs of becoming a world class keeper. On to defence. Pique and Alba's absence have been noticeable. While Umtiti and Digne are certainly good, they have a lot to learn. Digne, at times, has been caught out while attacking and has failed to get back in time. Umtiti has looked a bit confused at times and that has cost the team. Mascherano is no longer as good as he once was and teams have caught him on pace and he has struggled to cope. Roberto looks to be a bright spot and he started the season excellently but costly errors against Manchester and Sevilla have hurt the team. However, the biggest concern for Barcelona should be the struggles of Busquets. For long, it has been established that Busquests is possibly the best holding midfielder of all time. Guardiola might think that he has found the equivalent in the form of Gundogan but he isn't even close. His lack of form is therefore, perhaps the biggest reason behind FCB's struggles. More than once, he has failed to keep the ball and has given it away in dangerous areas. His passing too has not been up to scratch. Luis Enrique should certainly look for a way to get the form back because as I said, there is no replacement for Busquets and Barca will struggle till he recovers his touch.

Gundogan scores after an error from the Barca defense
courtesy of City's high press

• Inability to cope: Teams have adopted a new strategy against Barcelona. Barcelona insist on playing out from the back through the goalkeeper and teams are responding by pressing really high. This has induced errors from Ter Stegen and the defence and even Busquets. Barcelona have found themselves unable to cope with these. Perhaps Lucho should look for a way to counter this tactics or he may find Barcelona losing a lot more this season.

Question 2: Is this shaping up to be the best Premier League title race ever?

Let's face it, the Premier League is possibly the most competitive football league around. In the previous decade, Barca have dominated La Liga, Juventus has dominated Serie A, Bayern have dominated Bundesliga and PSG have dominated Ligue 1.  In these years, these teams have won a combined total of 21 domestic league trophies. That is one more than Manchester United, the team with the most Premier League titles, have ever won. On the other hand, England has had four different champions in the last four years. This year things have heated up even more. Liverpool, the current leaders, lead fourth place Arsenal by only 2 points. Let's not forget Tottenham either. They are 5 points off but are still unbeated and look set to get better.

 

The Premier League this season has arguable the best managing pool ever assembled (Guardiola, Mourinho, Conte, Wenger, Pochettino and Klopp to name a few). No team has been able to dominate so far and all teams have played exciting football. The amount of money spent could be enough to revive Zimbabwe's economy (it's a normative statement, sue me). Liverpool look like title contenders again. Chelsea have turned a horrific season from last year and slow start this year to come out swinging. Hazard is in form and Costa is firing on all cylinders. City have slowed down but they are still good and still adapting to Guardiola. When they are good enough according to him, they will be dangerous enough to destroy all their opponents. Let's not forget they beat Barcelona 3-1 and Guardiola still thinks they can improve. Arsenal have been great so far and it finally looks like they could go all the way without choking. Manchester United are still a long way from being contenders but they will get there next year. However, I wouldn't put it past them to take it away this year. So, in conclusion, all fans should buckle in and brace for a brilliant season of riveting football.

Question 3: Are Dortmund good enough to win the title?

This looks set to happen yet again

When the season started, it finally looked like Dortmund would be able to give Munich a run for their money. They have a good team. They got Gotze back. They added Schurrle, Bartra and some other good players. They already had Reus and Aubameyang. I really though they could win it. But now, I am forced to ask if they are good enough. After just 10 games, they are 6 points off the top and down in 5th. They just recovered from a winless run of 5 games. Reus isn't back yet and Gotze hasn't had the intended impact yet. Tuchel needs to get his team going if BVB hope to win or we are looking at another title for Bayern Munich (deserved) and their dominance will continue.

Please leave your thoughts and comments below. 

I will be blogging soon about the World Cup qualifiers.

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THE BEST TEAM IN THE WORLD - FC BARCELONA

6 times. That is how many times FC Barcelona has won La Liga in the past 8 years.It is truly astonishing given how evenly matched they used to be on paper against Real Madrid C.F.  Let us also not forget the 2 trebles they have won as well. Barcelona FC are truly a force to be reckoned with and it is not just the presence of Lionel Messi that makes me say that. The trident seems unstoppable. Luis Suarez has grabbed the Pichichi and the European Golden Boot, breaking the Ronaldo-Messi hold on it. Neymar has emerged as a true superstar and may be the first player other Messi or Ronaldo to win the Ballon D'or since 2008. Andres Iniesta continues to stun. Turan, Rakitic, Roberto, Busquests form a brilliant midfield. The defence may be getting a little old but they are still one of the best in the world and 2 world class goalkeepers in Ter Stegen and Bravo certainly helps their case. Yes, it was proven they are not invincible. They were knocked out of the Champions League by Atletico Madrid. They lost 3 consecutive matches in La Liga, almost losing the championship in the process. Let us not forget that they have played more matches than any of their rivals in the past year. They were a tired batch and I think that they can be forgiven the slip up. True teams are defined by how well they bounce back and Barcelona bounced back in stunning fashion. 24 goals and 5 clean sheets in their last 5 matches. Come on! For long it has been thought that Lionel Messi is the reason for Barca's success but his injury absence at the beginning of the season proved otherwise. Neymar and Suarez stepped in spectacular fashion, ably supported by El Haddadi (another star on the rise). The defense held up well. The transfer news is looking good for Barca as well. With Suarez, Neymar and Ter Stegen set to stay, the team looks as settled as ever. And with Barcelona targeting Paul Pogba, Riyad Mahrez and Adam Traore (all of whom are hot properties in the world at the moment) in the upcoming transfer season, Barcelona look set to strengthen their already superstar squad. I predict another treble next season unless and until things go terribly wrong which seems highly unlikely. I will be back with another blog soon. Adios!!