#360view: Luis Enrique’s incoherent plans are taking Barcelona nowhere

Andy West 10:02 18/12/2014
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  • Unconvincing: Barcelona have failed to fire as a unit since Luis Enrique has taken over as coach.

    As Barcelona head into their final game of 2014 with Saturday’s home clash against Cordoba, fans of the Blaugrana will be fully expecting their team to finish the year with three points.

    – Luis Enrique backs Messi to outshine Aguero in CL last-16 tie
    – Man City will take on Barcelona full on confidence, says Begiristain

    Perhaps more important than whether they win, however, is how they play – because the performances delivered by Luis Enrique’s men over the first four months of the season have been overwhelmingly unconvincing. 

    Last weekend’s goalless draw with lowly Getafe was just the latest in a long line of fragmented, incoherent displays, with the Catalan giants only mustering two shots on target over the entire 90 minutes. 

    More often than not, performances of that nature will be masked by victories because weaker opposition will be overcome simply
    because Barca possess world class stars who are capable of winning a game all by themselves with a single moment of inspiration.

    Just occasionally, however, Lionel Messi’s latest magical conjuring trick will hit the woodwork rather than the back of the net,
    as his brilliant free-kick against Getafe did last weekend, and Barca will be forced to settle for a result which more accurately reflects the lack of quality of their team play.

    And when it comes to taking on the very best opposition, who possess players of a similar or equal stature to Barca’s own superstars, the chances of a positive outcome are decidedly slim – as we saw in the comprehensive Clasico drubbing at
    the Bernabeu in October.

    The root of Barca’s inability to play as an effective collective unit is the incessant changes made by manager Luis Enrique.

    The young coach, appointed in the summer to replace Tata Martino, appears to be set upon proving himself as a tactical genius, and/or keeping his players, fans and the media guessing and/or using the full range of his resources by routinely chopping and changing both his team selection and his tactics.

    Even within the squad, nobody quite knows where they stand. Practically every player, with the exceptions of the holy trinity of
    Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez, has been left out, recalled, dropped again and brought back in…creating an uncertain environment where nobody – not even Enrique – knows what Barca’s best team is or how they will play.

    Over the course of 23 games as Barca boss, Enrique has selected 23 different starting line-ups. “Flexibility” has been his excuse, but there’s a big difference between flexibility and confusion, and at the moment Enrique has only succeeded
    in instilling the latter.

    Enrique’s New Year’s resolution should be to stop the tinkering and, as Carlo Ancelotti has done at Real Madrid, establish a firm tactical direction. At the moment, he’s on a road to nowhere.

    Battle for fourth place heats up

    Contenders: Villarreal currently sit in sixth position in La Liga, three points off fourth placed

    Villarreal’s shock win at Atletico Madrid last weekend, ending the reigning champions’ unbeaten 2014 run at the Vicente Calderon, firmly established the Yellow Submarine as genuine contenders in the race for fourth place in La Liga.

    When the season started, the early form of pace-setters Valencia and Sevilla suggested a two-horse race for that final Champions League qualifying spot was inevitable.

    Yet both those teams have dipped in recent weeks, with Sevilla unable to break down Eibar in their last outing and Valencia’s victory over Rayo Vallecano ending a run of four games without a win.

    In the meantime, Villarreal have thrust themselves into contention with four consecutive league victories to move within three points of fourth-placed Sevilla.

    Another team in great form, surprisingly, is Malaga, who started the season with low expectations but have thrived under new coach Javi Gracia.

    The Andalusians are not a particularly pretty team to watch, but they work extremely hard and their record of just 14 goals conceded  (only one more than Real Madrid) tells everything about their defensive organisation.

    And although they are struggling for consistency after being distracted by a disappointing Champions League campaign, it’s still too early to write off Athletic Bilbao, last season’s fourth-place finishers. 

    It seems the battle for fourth could be a real thriller.

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