"It was no longer Barça that made us get up from our seat" asserts Omar da Fonseca. In his style so characteristic, the specialist in Spanish football and Barça draws attention to the failure of the Catalan club's game in recent months. The change of coach struggles to breathe new life.
A static environment
The meeting go between Barça and Real (December 18) had given birth to a very sad 0-0. The last two outings of FC Barcelona do not inspire much rejoicing. If against Eibar last Saturday, the score (5-0), really did not reflect the Catalan performance, the game proposed in Naples Tuesday (1-1), especially in the first half, left the most nostalgic of the "tiki- taka »orphans for their dose of beautiful play. Like for too long. The replacement of Ernesto Valverde as coach by Quique Setién suggested that the attractive game of Barça would return to the front of the stage. Obsessed with an idea of a game centered around possession, the Cantabrian technician looked like the right cast. The result, however, is not transcendent. "Today we force a certain model, it's obsession," insists Omar da Fonseca, who will be commenting on the meeting on beIN Sports on Sunday (9 p.m.), relying on the too sterile pass circuits of Barcelonans, from the six meters played in the area to repeated passes in the middle. The environment crystallizes this brutal change in Catalan animation. However decisive, he struggles to create and find breaches. Arriving with great fanfare in the summer, Frenkie De Jong does not have the expected impact and is still looking for ways to play that seem to hold him back. At his side, the alternation with Arthur, Rakitic or Vidal prevents the creation of automatisms. Finally, as a sentry, the indestructible Sergio Busquets begins to feel the weight of his years (31 years). "Before, his legs allowed him to anticipate, there he is often in reaction" recalls Omar da Fonseca, and the Catalan environment is affected. With similar individualities in front, the former PSG player promises us "a Clasico more thoughtful, more strategic."
"Today, we force a certain model, it's obsession"
Omar da FonsecaMessi-dependence
The victory over Eibar (5-0) is a perfect illustration. Borrowed from the game, Barça relied on its Argentine genius. Some saving acceleration at a chosen time and a quadruple for Lionel Messi. A performance of sixfold Ballon d'Or, in short. The problem is that it is dependent on when Messi does not go, the collective does not manage to take over. Omar da Fonseca evokes a status that goes beyond the simple framework of the field for his compatriot: "Its quality, its status, its importance, its influence, all that it represents means that Barça must associate with it." And he added: "Today, you have to be Messi's accomplice." Suarez is, despite playing styles that are the opposite of each other, Jordi Alba too. Moreover, the Spanish left side finds the group on the occasion of the Clasico, certainly to the delight of "La Pulga".
Griezmann and Messi struggle to get along
Conversely, the situation is all the more complex when it comes to talking about the duo with Antoine Griezmann. The three interactions between the two Barça superstars in Naples on Tuesday will continue the litany of debates on an impossible agreement. The only scorer in Naples (1-1), Griezmann did not hide his frustration at the microphone of RMC after the meeting: "It was quite complicated to find each other." Most of the time exiled to the left, the third of the Ballon d'Or last year too often finds itself lonely. If the two players share a similar football science, the agreement has never lived up to expectations. Skeptical about this, Omar da Fonseca has an explanation that goes beyond the simple framework of football: "When we talk about agreement, we are talking about an osmosis that is created beyond the rational." Unlike the Suarez and Alba, the Mâconnais, "of enormous grandeur" in the consultant's words, is nevertheless not that famous "Messi accomplice".
A player who after winning everything in a club "does not want teammates, he wants friends" assures us of the voice of beIN Sports . Arrived last summer, the 2018 world champion will have to perfect his relationship with the legend of Barça before the future deadlines of the club while Luis Suarez is absent for a long time. The trip to Madrid will give a first element of response on their ability to join forces to maintain domestic superiority and regain the heights.
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