da fezbet： The Blaugrana are set to dip into the transfer market this month, but face structural issues that a new face alone cannot fix

da stake casino： The tale of Edgar Davids is part of Catalan folklore. In 2004, Barcelona were languishing in La Liga. They found themselves stuck in seventh place, 15 points behind Real Madrid, and all-but out of the title race. Enter the Netherlands midfielder.

Davids was 30 at the time, and surplus to requirements at Juventus. Barcelona swooped in, securing his signature on a six-month loan deal — one of the first acts of Joan Laporta's first tenure as Barca president. Davids galvanised a stalling project, as Barca won nine of their next 10 games. And although they fell just short of catching eventual champions Valencia, his arrival is regarded as the inception of the new era of the Blaugrana — one that started with the brilliance of Ronaldinho and ended with the departure of Lionel Messi.

Nineteen years on, and Laporta has called for a similar signing this January. He publicly announced that his team are on the hunt for a temporary addition to their engine room. "It would be a loan until the end of the season, like we did years ago with Edgar Davids, for example," he said in late December.

Barca certainly could do with some extra thrust as they aim to fight their way back into the title race, but the problems at the club lie deeper, with Xavi's broken, misfiring squad not able to be fixed alone by a good-value injection of quality.

(C)Getty ImagesUnable to recapture the old ways

Nine months ago, Xavi was regarded as being on the fringes of the world's elite coaches. His team didn't play outwardly sexy football — and he certainly didn't deliver on the recreation of 'Barca DNA' that he'd promised — but it was hard to question the results. A series of shrewd signings made in 2022 gave the manager the kind of squad that could, in theory, compete with Madrid for the league title.

It is to Xavi's credit, then, that he figured out how to piece it all together and win La Liga. Detractors might point out that Los Blancos underperformed in the league, but the 88 points accrued by the Blaugrana would put them in the title picture in most years.

This season was always going to be more difficult. Barca lost Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, and didn't have sufficient financial resources to strengthen in key areas — at least, not with long term solutions. Oriol Romeu came in as an underwhelming Busquets replacement, while Joao Felix was always going to be a mercurial presence. And although Ilkay Gundogan's quality couldn't be doubted, he always seemed a high-value role player — not season-altering talisman.

Madrid, meanwhile, signed Jude Bellingham, who swiftly took the next step to becoming a truly world-class talent. Xavi cannot be blamed for the fact that his team's biggest rivals boast, on form, the best player in world football. Nor can he be criticised for some laughably bad luck with injuries — including the blow of Gavi's ACL tear that will see the Blaugrana go without arguably their most important player for the rest of the campaign.

AdvertisementGettyWhy are Barca dropping so many points?

But that's where the excuses end. There was a prevailing sense towards the end of the 2022-23 season that Barca had been found out. Results worsened, Robert Lewandowski's goals dried up, and Xavi's side found themselves relying on the brilliance of goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen to salvage results.

And the coach has failed to respond to those concerns. Instead of making radical tactical changes, he has ploughed ahead with the same system that saw his side coast through the middle third of the last campaign. Barca still play with four central midfielders; they still attack in some variation of a 3-2-5; and they still rely too heavily on one goalscorer to bail them out.

Only this time, teams are adapting. Barca can be hit on the break far too easily — such is the lack of pressing intensity up front, and absence of a world-class holding midfielder in the middle. They are also vulnerable on the wings — especially when Joao Cancelo roams from his full-back position. Ter Stegen is showing that his record-breaking goalkeeping numbers from last season were more outlier than mean. And, perhaps most damagingly, an ageing Lewandowski cannot deal with the double teams he used to wiggle his way out of.

GettyA manager full of excuses – but little action

Xavi's response has been mixed. First, he called on his team to deliver more, lambasting them in the media after a shock loss to Shakhtar Donetsk: "It's a clear step backwards.We have played one of the worst games in these two years… And at the most inopportune moment."

Then, he took to blaming the media: "I have zero doubts that the criticism from the press is affecting the team. It happened to me as a player and I can see it now. There's a massive wave of negativity around the team that is harming us."

Most recently, after dropping points to middling Valencia, he went back on his philosophy and called for unity. "We are halfway to creating a great Barca. It surprises me that at the first bump, people want to get off the boat. We have to all be united. The media [in Barcelona] are not. This lack of union in tough moments surprises me."

Yet not once has the manager produced any meaningful tactical changes. He has tweaked players here and there: Cancelo has been tried in midfield, Gundogan has been reinvented as a pivot, and Raphinha has been used as a de facto striker. But these are small things, asking players to change their roles — not a wholesale look at a faltering system.

Getty Lessons from Guardiola

It's admittedly difficult to change a whole system. Struggling managers, historically, don't like to do it. Jurgen Klopp, for months, stuck with the same faltering set-up as Liverpool plummeted down the Premier League last season. Pep Guardiola has been steadfast to his principles this season — despite losing both Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland to injury. Carlo Ancelotti did little to account for the numerous injuries sustained by Karim Benzema last campaign — something that cost him at various points throughout the season. Marcelo Bielsa's marriage to his man-marking defensive system saw him out of a job at Leeds.

But there is a distinction to be made between wholesale overhaul and gentle alteration. Ask Klopp, whose inversion of Trent Alexander-Arnold, saw the Reds go from tenth to fifth in last season's Premier League. Ask Guardiola, whose tweaks saw Man City chase down Arsenal in the title hunt. Ask Ancelotti this season, whose willingness to change a 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2 diamond shape has Madrid sitting atop the league.

It is the charge put on top managers, then, to find ways to make not only the system better, but also improve the players who operate within it. That is the crux of Xavi's issue. Right now, his system is faltering, while his squad has shown few signs of building on last year's. If anything, the Blaugrana are getting worse.

So, this will need more than slight adjustments. Instead, new areas of thought are needed to make everything work. Perhaps a reversion to a more orthodox 4-3-3 — one that will certainly give Barcelona more midfield balance — is a solution.

Youngster Lamine Yamal could also be the key here, functioning as a recognised inverted winger. Pedri, too — if he ever stays fit — is perhaps best used as part of a 'double-eight' alongside Gundogan.