Barcelona, by their standards, have not had the greatest seasons so far. Granted, they are still very much alive in all the competitions, and there is every chance that they would go on to win at least one, if not all of them. However, that is a default setting that the club has, and with the number of superstars that are in its team, itai??i??s hard to say that a manager made the difference in winning said trophies.
However, thatai??i??s exactly what weai??i??ll be trying to do here, and see how Luis Enrique has fared so far in his tenure as the head coach of Barcelona.
Inheriting the team from Tata Martino, the task for Luis Enrique was simple. Get rid of the long ball game under Martino and go back to the passing football that brought such success under Pep Guardiola.
Even though he had a great connection with the club, having captained them as a player, he was definitely welcomed back home with open arms. However, there were quite a large number of fans who werenai??i??t exactly thrilled with the appointment, considering that his CV didnai??i??t boast much to warrant an appointment at such a big club where the expectations were far too high when compared to the clubs that he managed so far.
He didnai??i??t have great success in the two clubs that heai??i??s managed so far, finishing 7th with AS Roma, which was unacceptable for the Italian team, while he finished 9th with Celta Vigo, and once again parted ways after just a year.
Now, at Barcelona, it seems his reign is going to have a similar theme here as well. While the results are not so bad as was the case with his previous clubs, it is also definitely not the same as one would expect from a Barcelona side. In fact, even the way they are playing is not in line with the Barcelona way.
Team Management
For example, take the case of team management. While rotating your squad is always a good thing to do as a manager, having a different starting 11 for every game you have played so far shows more of a lack of confidence than anything else. And thatai??i??s exactly what Enrique has done. For the 24 games that Barcelona have played so far this season, they have started with a different team for every one of those games. Even if it is early days for the manager, it shouldnai??i??t take 24 games for him to figure out what is best starting 11 is. Not being able to figure this out is certainly a minus against him.
Another problem Enrique has had with the team selection is integrating Luis Suarez in the forward line. He has not been completely successful in being able to play all 3 of Messi, Neymar and Suarez in the same forward line, and it is goals from Messi and Neymar that have actually ensured that the wins continue to come and there is no pressure on the manager. But if he doesnai??i??t figure it out soon enough, there will be problems for the manager within the team itself.
Reports came out that even the players werenai??i??t happy with the team selections, and that Messi was especially unhappy about what happened in the Clasico. If Enrique loses the dressing room, then it is the end of the road for him as a manager at Barcelona.
Performance
Barcelona have not been performing at their best, and despite them getting the results, it is more to do with their obvious player quality than anything else. For far too many games, they seemed disinterested, and did not have the spark in their performances.
Of course, it has not all been dry. The win against PSG, Valencia and Sevilla have all been good, but there have been equally bad results, especially the defeat to Real Madrid and Celta Vigo along with the draws to Malaga and Getafe.
Enrique now has the task of guiding Barcelona past a tough fixture against Manchester City in the Round of 16 in the Champions League, and if things donai??i??t improve, itai??i??s hard to see Barca progressing to the next round.
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