The image of Barça at the end of the match against Granada was shocking. From a Mingueza band, from the other Sergiño Dest, hung balls (up to 54 centers did Barça in the match) so that Piqué, De Jong and Araújo, who was everywhere, front and back, tried to fight, touch, leave a teammate, comb or finish. This is how 1-1 came after a cross from Gavi and a header from the Uruguayan. And Barça tied, but for many minutes you had to rub your eyes to get the idea that this was the Barça that for decades has made the game of touch, walls and association its brand image.
The debate is on. Koeman defended himself. First, he explained that the space in the match was in the wings, not in the center. This is how he justified the centers and the decision to put Piqué and Araújo as nines. Something like tripling Cruyff's bet when he placed Alexanco as an emergency forward. Later, when journalists squeezed him in the press room, he pointed out to the staff: “How am I going to play tiki taki (sic) if there are no spaces. Look at the call. I don't have one-on-one players or speed.” And finally it collapsed: “The Barça of today is not the Barça of eight years ago …”.
Koeman is at the center of the debate. A part of the fans, the critics and the management directly accuse him of having thrown the building down and of having turned Barça into an emergency team, without ideas and to get out of trouble. Last season, Koeman arrived convinced to use a 4-2-3-1 and ended up playing a 3-4-2-1 after going through 4-2-3-1. This week, he went from 3-5-2 against Bayern to the match against Granada in which he started with a 4-3-3, continued with a 4-2-3-1 and ended with an almost crazy system, with Eric García as the only defender, De Jong with Riqui and Gavi in the middle, Mingueza and Dest on the wings and Araújo, Piqué, Luuk de Jong and Memphis up front. Koeman insists that the starting system is 4-3-3. The problem, however, is not the drawing but the execution.
After the caviar of so many years, Barça has to chew screws. The Barça of the Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Cesc and Thiago, who sublimated touch football in that final of the Club World Cup against Santos de Neymar, has ended in this. It is certain that there is a resignation to the game, but Koeman is also correct in the complaint about the quality of the squad. The best Busquets passed, Pedri cannot handle everything today, Coutinho still does not have a rhythm and it is not expected, Gavi is very green and footballers like Riqui and Demir have to show if they have the level to be at Barça and In better times, they would never have been on the roster. De Jong is the only reliable midfielder and seems as disoriented as the rest by the situation.
For a large part of Barça fans, the idea that has brought the club to glory and that has made it universally recognizable is inviolable, even when defeats come. In fact, the debate has existed even in terms of fat cows. The Barça of the trident has already been discussed for its less associative and more direct game. It is difficult to know what was before, if the chicken or the egg, but the fact is that Barça stabbed their brand image well against Granada. And it didn't even help him win. Of course, the big question is who is the guiding cross that the game and club pattern imposes on this Barça. Not only is the style stabbed, the club also gives off a chilling sense of unhingedness.