Barça don't just have an attitude problem, but a footballing one too
La Real: the team of the moment
Eusebio’s Real Sociedad are the team of the moment. Pound for pound, they are playing the best football in LaLiga. They don’t have a Cristiano or Messi, and that’s why they are not top, but with either of those two perhaps they would be. Last night they gave a footballing course to Barcelona, who they outplayed for practically the whole game. They didn’t win because they squandered many opportunities (two bounced back off the post), because they had a goal ruled out wrongly, and because Barça have what they have up front. This time Neymar gave them a great escape after a perfect cross by Messi saved Barça from defeat. But what Barcelona didn’t manage to salvage was their image.
Messi can't always save Barça
Piqué, at the end of the game, demanded better attitude, especially in the first half. He was possibly right, but attitude requires faith in what you are doing, and the faith in what you do comes from the order of play. Attitude problems are difficult to separate from footballing ones, and it seems to me that Barça have both. The players are not positioning themselves well on the field, they don’t find one another, they’re not pressurising, and they are lacking delivery. They have up front three formidable forwards that help resolve many matches, but when the water rises – as it did last night – the team often goes under. Messi can’t always pull them out of trouble.
Enrique's lack of trust
The draw means that before el Clásico there’s a six point gap between Barça and Real, a happy perspective for Madridistas, but something disappointing for the universal expectations that this game always creates. Barça come out of their annual nightmare in Anoeta with a new stain on their record and two injured players, Jordi Alba and Piqué, who finished the game bruised and battered. The fact that both stayed on the pitch was an indication of the lack of confidence Luis Enrique has in his replacements. It seems that after the starting eleven there aren’t many that he completely trusts. This is where Zidane has the upper hand: everyone at Real Madrid looks switched on and all of the players consider themselves useful.