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.

Neymar’s Alarming Second Half Slump.

For the second season in a row, Neymar’s form has been disappointing. Although last year’s dip was expected, this year’s slump is surprising.

Last season, I discussed the difficult challenge that awaited Neymar during the second half of his debut season for Barça. History has shown us that most recent Barça transfers have sizzled in the first half of the season only to fizzle in the ensuing second half. Sadly, history repeated itself when Neymar joined the likes of Ibrahimovic and Cesc in disappearing in the second half of the season.

The reasons, or excuses, for Neymar’s slump were because of the injury he suffered back in January along with the never ending controversy surrounding his transfer that affected him mentally. I suggested he should have been benched back then but of course, it is rare to find a manager not named Pep Guardiola who would dare to bench an expensive signing. Sadly, Barça and Neymar’s season both fizzled out in disappointing fashion.

However, this season was supposed to be different. With a year under his belt, Neymar was supposed to have gotten used to playing for Barça,and in Europe, and showed signs of improvement. It had happened with Henry during his time with Barça, and Neymar was off to a great start this season. However, we are now witnessing consecutive slumps by the Brazilian superstar at a time when the club really needs him.

The Three Tenors were an unstoppable force but suddenly, it has become the Messi & Company show. Barça are entering the most crucial stage of the season and Neymar needs to find his groove back. Without a doubt, it is frustrating for him and for the fans. We all want a fully functioning Barça team causing havoc. For that to happen though, Neymar needs to cool it with the on field squabbles with opponents, and the off field distractions and just start playing better. Messi may be amazing, but as we witnessed yesterday, and the second half of last season, he still needs the players around him to step up too. Hopefully Neymar finds his groove back soon.

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.