Does Barça need Neymar or does Neymar need Barça?

Summer is upon us again which could only mean one thing; summer transfer gossip. The latest transfer rumor is Neymar returning to the Blaugrana just two years after paying his way out to join Paris Saint-Germain. Neymar’s exit right before the season was going to kick off left a bitter taste in the mouths of the Barça fans and the club’s directors. It seems now that Neymar has discovered the grass was not greener on the French side and he now wants to return to Barcelona. Neymar needs Barça but it gets the question, does Barça need him?

The last time a former Barça star returned to the Blaugrana was Hristo Stoichkov back in the 90s, so it’s not often a Barça star gets a second warm welcome. Sequels don’t usually work in football, so if the rumors are true about Neymar’s return, then are Barça banking on another MSN sequel. Perhaps the club thinks Neymar can help Messi and the rest of the team get stronger, but is this the right move?

Neymar’s Barça exit to join Paris Saint-Germain was a messy affair that left the club blindsided with the season kicking off in a short period of time along with threats of litigation over unpaid bonuses. Neymar even made a petty request to UEFA in having Barça banned from the Champions League. It’s hard to fathom that both sides now may let bygones be bygones and reunite again after what had transpired.

Neymar would benefit from joining Barça after his two years with Paris Saint-Germain that didn’t help him escape Messi’s shadow. Instead, he found himself in the shadow of Mbappé’s spotlight while courting controversy with his behavior on and off the pitch. Obviously, Barça would benefit financially, via Nike and others, from having Neymar back, but will his return benefit the club on the pitch? The club has been embarrassed the last two seasons in the Champions League and need to do something to boost optimism in the Blaugrana faithful.

Can Neymar be trusted in being professional on and off the pitch and help Barça achieve more glory in the Champions League? Or will Neymar’s return be full of drama and inflate the club’s already bloated high wage scale? There’s also the impact of his arrival on the future Ousmane Dembélé while the arrival of Antoine Griezmann? Neymar will always be part of Barça’s history for his part in MSN’s Barça’s treble but Barça’s doesn’t need him.

MSN Should Be Ballon d’Or Finalists.

Last season was a fantastic season for Barça and its fans. With the Golden Ball based on performances for 2015, Neymar and Suárez both deserve to be on the podium with Messi for the FIFA Golden Ball.

It’s that time of year again where we start debating who should be crowned the best footballer in the world. After a run of two years where Messi saw Ronaldo win consecutive FIFA Ballon d’Ors, it seems destined that Messi will be winning his fifth Golden Ball. So the debate is not so much who should win it, but rather who should be the three finalists for this award.

There’s no debate who had a better year in football in 2015. Messi lead his team to a treble and guided Argentina to the Copa America final. Even though he has been out with an injury since September, Messi’s 45 total league goals in 2015 was just matched by Ronaldo on Halloween.  One can only imagine what that tally would be if Messi was not injured.

Ronaldo did not win any team titles in 2015 but did win the European Golden Shoe for being the top scorer in a European league. He scored 48 during the 2014-2015 Spanish league season. Yet, he did not have that many big performances in Spain and in Europe in the big games. However, Neymar and Suárez did perform well late last season and now during Messi’s absence.

Neymar scored in every leg of the Champions League from the Quarter-Finals stage to the Final. That’s five consecutive games where he scored in a big game. Suárez scored memorable and big goals that also helped the club capture the treble. Those goals against away to Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain and the game winner against Real Madrid at the Camp Nou in El Clásico from Suárez were key goals for the Blaugrana during their pursuit of the treble.

However, with Messi’s injury, Neymar and Suárez have done a superb job in his absence. Neymar has filled in superbly in Messi’s shoes to guide Barça. Both players have scored 16 goals and provided 5 assists in matches without Messi. Those performances also meant that Neymar was the top scorer in the Spanish League with 11 goals with Suárez occupying 2nd place with 9 goals. Meanwhile, Ronaldo is in 3rd place with 8 and had two recent subpar performances against Paris Saint-Germain and his team is in second place in the standings behind Barça after his club lost to Sevilla 3-2 in a match that he also was a non-factor. Without a doubt, the second half of 2015 belongs to the Brazilian and Uruguayan superstars.

So yes, Messi deserves the Golden Ball this year. To even debate it is futile. However, the debate of whether Neymar and Suárez both deserve to be on the podium with Messi much like Xavi and Iniesta did back in 2010 is merited. MSN had a magnificent 2015 and all three deserve to be the FIFA Ballon d’Or Finalists.

Barça’s Three Tenors Need to Revitalize their Mojo.

FC Barcelona dropped points for the first time since February. With PSG next, Barça’s Three Tenors need to get their mojo back.

For just the third time in 2015, FC Barcelona dropped points after this weekend’s Saturday 2-2 draw to Sevilla. This is a streak a majority of teams in the world would love to enjoy. However, this is La Liga where any lost points when both Barça and Madrid are chasing the title are never forgotten. Barça can calm some fears if they get past these next hurdle of matches with great results. However, in order for that to happen, Barça’s Three Tenors needs to get clicking again.

When Barça were running rampant after that Sociedad loss, most of the credit was aimed at Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez. MSN seemed like an unstoppable force. Then, their progress stalled. Neymar went nearly two months without scoring a league goal. Suarez has done well scoring but seems to be misfiring as of late as evidenced against tough teams Celta Vigo and Sevilla. True, he did score the game winner against Real Madrid but he squandered chances to add to his tally in that game. The fact he has not given an assist in over a month is another concern. Messi will always be amazing but the fact he has playing with an injured foot has to be of some concern with the team heading down the final stretch.

Barça kick off a sequence of four tough matches this week. First up is Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday followed by Valencia at home on Saturday. Barça then host Paris Saint-Germain again on Tuesday before facing Espanyol in the Barcelona derby the following weekend. If Barça gets out of that unscathed, then the sky’s the limit. However, Barça needs to snap out of their recent funk and hope that the Three Tenors get their mojo back.

Barça’s South American Connection Leading The Way.

 

Barça bounced back from their loss to Real Sociedad with seven consecutive wins. Luis Enrique, after some controversy, sorted out a regular starting lineup but much of the credit goes to the front three of Messi, Neymar and Suarez for this win streak.

Things got ugly after that loss to Real Sociedad. Controversy about Lucho and Messi falling out afterwards perhaps changed things for the better. We finally got a fixed starting lineup for the big games instead of the guessing game by the fans, and probably the players, of who was going to start and not. We now have Mascherano to partner Pique in the heart of the defense while Rakitic is starting these big games alongside Iniesta and Busquets. It’s not mystery who the starters up front are; Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez. Barça’s South American Connection.

True, Luis Suarez has struggled to get his goals but his assists have been valuable and his understanding with Messi and Neymar has been beneficial. Messi and Neymar have been clicking as well, as evident from their work against Deportivo. Messi leads the pack and Neymar and Suarez benefit from that and he benefits from their presence too. 

Stats Messi-Neymar-Suarez when they play together (1034 minutes in 14 games): - Messi: 13 G 3 A - Neymar: 9 G 1 A - Suarez: 3 G 10 A
— adil (@Barca19stats) January 31, 2015

It’s premature to think the problems are over. Far from it! This team is still struggling offensively to gel and seems heavily reliant on the front three. The midfield still needs to be more involved and influential because if the front three ever struggle or have an off day, then we will see another Getafe type performance. In general, there is always room for improvement and that is the case for Barça. Hopefully the team can keep this winning streak up and keep improving.

Barça’s Misleading Resurrection.

After a 7 game winning streak, some were thinking Barça were back. This nice winning streak has Barça back on the right tracks but there’s still room for improvement for Luis Enrique and his players. Ignoring the need for improvement though could be costly.

Barça’s resurrection, or rejuvenation, came after their last loss away to Real Sociedad right after the winter break. The days following that loss turned into a hurricane for the Blaugrana after Messi did not show up for training and then followed Chelsea on Instagram. Amazing how social media can create a storm of controversy. Suddenly, Messi was on his way to Chelsea and Luis Enrique’s job was on the line before the current Barça president Bartomeu informed the world that early elections would take place at the end of the season.

The Copa del Rey matches against Elche and the league match against Atlético were supposed to be the “make or break” time for Luis Enrique. Well, Barça had no problem defeating Elche and were pretty impressive against Atlético, who did not resemble the Atlético of Cholo that we were used to after last season’s six encounters. Perhaps this turmoil brought the change that was needed. Since then, the trend of Luis Enrique’s different lineups ended, and we seem aware of who will start in the big games. Seven straight wins are impressive but let’s not forget that three of them were against Elche and another was against Deportivo who are fighting relegation.

The other three matches were against Atlético Madrid. Last season, Barça faced Atlético six times and could not defeat them once. Yet, Barça managed to defeat them three times in one month. The league win was impressive. The Copa victories were a different story. Atlético were a different side during those Copa matches. They defended well and Barça struggled to generate much offense. It looked like the Barça we had accustomed to watching; heavily reliant on the individual brilliance of the front three without the influence of the midfield.

In the first leg, they had only four shots on target from twelve and only one in the second half before Messi scored on the rebound after his penalty was saved. The second leg saw Barça concede very early but punish Atlético for their leaving much too space for Barça to score twice from counter attacks thanks to the great talents of Messi, Neymar and Suarez. After a wrongful penalty decision allowed Atlético to tie it up, Barça dodged a bullet when Alba handled inside the box and then raced down the pitch to set up the third and final goal of the evening.

Even though it was a memorable win, questions were left unanswered. What is the midfield’s role under Luis Enrique? On Wednesday, the team had 49% possession before the halftime whistle blew and who knows how bad it would have been in the second half if Gabi had not been sent off during halftime. Even with the extra man advantage, Barça failed to generate scoring chances in the second half.

That self-reliance on the superb front three from Luis Enrique will be either his route to success or his downfall. Messi, Neymar and Suarez have played together 1034 minutes in 14 games. Between them, they have scored 25 goals and provided14 assists. Luis Enrique seems content with Barça abandoning the Cruyff Total Football style of play and going with his own style which has worked for now.

Barça’s January started off rocky and ended in a flourish. They seemed fortunate to face an opponent three times in a short time span, Elche and Atlético, and will also face Villarreal three times since they are their Semi-Finals opponents of the Copa del Rey. It helps get you familiar with your opponent and can play to your advantage, or exploit your weaknesses as we saw last year against Atlético. Barça kick off February by hosting Villarreal at home twice in both league and cup fixtures in the next ten days before facing the likes of Athletic, Malaga and Levante before traveling to the UK to face Manchester City. We’ll know by then if this resurgence is for real or short lived but there is a need for improvement and Luis Enrique cannot rest on his laurels thinking everything is alright.