Time for Barça to Take Charge.

After 18 games, FC Barcelona sit four points clear at the top of La Liga. They are La Liga’s Winter Champions, which is a nice label. But the Blaugrana faithful know that Winter Champions don’t get trophies in the trophy cabinet.

Happy New Year everybody. Barça are back in action this Saturday after enjoying a holiday break. They return to action enjoying a nice four-point cushion ahead of their archrival, Real Madrid. After a wobbly October, Barça made amends for those poor losses to Sevilla and Real Madrid that threatened to derail the season early. Although you don’t win the league early in the season, you can absolutely lose it.

Thankfully, Barça did what contenders do, and they fought back instead of hanging their heads low. An eight-game winning streak in La Liga flipped the narrative, pushed them past Madrid, and put them where they belong, as league leaders.

Right now, Barça look like a team that has found its mojo again. Although the concerns about the high press continue to linger, the team seems to have health, and momentum in their favor. Currently, the entire squad is almost healthy. Furthermore, the intensity is there, the legs are fresher, and the football seems to have a purpose.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid are wobbling. Performances have lacked authority, and they seem a couple of bad results away from unraveling with their manager’s future questioned. The recent Mbappé injury only tilts the balance further in Barça’s favor. Momentum in football is fragile, and this is the moment for Barça to take advantage and take charge.

Barça open the new year away at Espanyol in the Derbi Barceloní. These games are never simple, and Espanyol have been solid this season. That’s exactly why it’s the perfect test. A chance to set the tone for the second half of the campaign.

Barça are to compete for La Liga, Copa Del Rey, Super Copa and the UEFA Champions League in the next few months.  It’s time to get the results to put more pressure on Real Madrid and other rivals. Playing back at the Camp Nou, even if at half capacity, still an advantage. However, there has to be an emphasis on rotating the players to keep them fresh, especially Lamine Yamal who has to be taken care of and not stretched thin by club and country. The 18-year-old Lamine Yamal is a rising star who finished as the runner up for the title of the best player in the world. His a phenom whose talent is undeniable but whose long-term health is non-negotiable. Brilliance means nothing if it burns out too soon. In order for Barça to have another successful season, the likes of Lamine Yamal, Pedri, Raphinha, Cubarsi and others have to be properly taken care of when it comes to minutes played. 

The Buccaneers Are a Sinking Ship.

 

Winning is the best deodorant in sports. It covers everything. Win ugly, and nobody cares how it smelled. But the Buccaneers aren’t even doing that anymore. Lately, they’re losing ugly and there’s no masking that.

In prior years, the Bucs would finish the season on a hot streak. However, this season, the Bucs are mired in a four-game losing streak and have dropped seven of its last eight. That’s not a slump. That’s a collapse. Saturday’s game against the Carolina Panthers is a must-win — winner takes the division, unless the Falcons have something to say about it. But even the stakes don’t feel dramatic anymore.

The team is a mess. The offense has actually been alright. It has been productive, but it’s also been careless. Turnovers at the worst time have been the offense’s worst self-inflicted wounds. Perhaps if the Bucs rested Baker Mayfield a few games instead of having him out there getting battered could have prevented some of the turnovers. As for the other side of the line, the defense has been atrocious. They are not dominating teams and without causing turnovers, the defense just is part of the show. All season long, the Bucs have given up big plays and have been guilty of missed assignments and missed tackles. Quite frankly, no one is intimidated when they face the Bucs. For a team built around defense and coached by a defensive-minded head coach, that’s unforgivable. Even the special teams have been team players in also playing poorly. Injuries were an excuse in the past but everyone is back and the team still looks the same.

The interesting factor here is that, for once, many fans won’t even be angry if the Bucs lose and miss the playoffs. Even if Tampa sneaks into the postseason, no one expects them to do anything. Just an early exit and a waste of talent. The fans don’t care and are tired of this team’s direction under head coach Todd Bowles.

Under Todd Bowles, the ceiling is painfully clear.  This ship is sinking, and staying afloat just long enough to delay the inevitable isn’t success; it’s denial. At some point, the Bucs either fix the foundation or stop pretending duct tape is a solution. The Buccaneers don’t need another cosmetic win. They need a new direction, and the longer they wait, the deeper the water gets in this sinking ship.