How will Barca fare this season? The Andy West preview

This is a Guest Post on BarcaFutbol by popular football journalist, columnist and TV personality,Andy West

They won last season’s title with ease, the squad is packed with some of the world’s most exciting young players, further depth has been provided by a solid batch of summer signings and the coach has shown himself to be an astute and tactically adaptable thinker. 

So why are there so many question marks facing Xavi as his Barca team prepares to defend the La Liga crown, as well as making much more headway in the Champions League than we’ve witnessed in recent years? 

Well, partly because it’s Barca. An inherent part of life inside one of the planet’s biggest brands is a relentless cycle of gossip, speculation and questioning. It was Johan Cruyff who coined the derogatory phrase ‘entorno’ to dismissively describe the suspicious, suspicion-arousing network that surrounds Can Barca on a daily basis, and the level of interrogation has undoubtedly grown even fiercer since the legendary Dutchman’s day. 

But aside from the inevitability of the daily soap opera whether win, lose or draw, there are plenty of genuine questions to be asked, too. In particular, the way that Barca fell apart towards the end of last season when the title was already won – losing three of their last four games and looking a million miles away from all-conquering champions – showed that when the collective focus isn’t right, this team is still engulfed by sufficient frailties to become relatively easy pickings for motivated opponents. 

Xavi’s greatest achievement has been implementing a revolution in attitude, with the result that his team have become much harder to play against than the hugely talented but sloppily complacent mess that marked the previous few years. This group of players works hard for each other, running back – no, not running...sprinting back – to cover vacant space whenever danger appears and not taking any loose ball for granted. After years of coasting, we now see a Barca that has learned to play full throttle without possession, which explains why last season’s title triumph was built on a defensive record that was on course to break all-time records before the silverware was assured and, hey presto, just like that, the intensity dropped, the careless old habits returned and the defeats started to pile up. 

Simply put, winning the title again will require another nine-month shift of hard grind. Will Xavi be able to convince his players to commit themselves to that level of effort again, now they are already champions?  

At the other end of the field, we can't shy away from the Robert Lewandowski question.

The Polish striker was obviously a key part of the title triumph last season. Even with the aforementioned defensive excellence, without his 23 goals, the La Liga trophy may not now be in Barca's possession. But 13 of those came before the end of October, and Lewandowski's drop-off in form after the World Cup - not just in terms of goalscoring, but also his overall sharpness and effectiveness - cannot be denied. True, he has now benefited from a summer of rest, but he will be turning 35 years old a week into the new season, and expecting him to carry the goalscoring burden for the entirety of a nine-month season may be unrealistic.

So if the goals have to come from elsewhere, where? On paper, there's no shortage of options, but Raphinha and Ferran Torres were no better than average during the title campaign and need to significantly improve to fulfil both their and the team's potential. And that could easily happen: the departure of Ousmane Dembele could allow Raphinha to gain continuity in his preferred position on the right wing and therefore give him the confidence to deliver consistently; Torres could find his niche as a support striker to Lewandowski, using his clever movement and reading of the game to create space for others; Joap Felix may sparkle in this loan spell from Atletico and Yamine Lamal could continue his meteoric rise and follow in the recent footsteps of Fati, Gavi and Alex Balde as La Masia’s latest gem. 

Nevertheless, entering the season with only one genuine centre forward in the squad is a major risk for any team, so when that striker is in his mid-30s and that team is hoping to play around 60 games to challenge on three fronts, the dangers are amplified. If only the money was available to bring in Vitor Roque right now instead of next year... 

There's also the very significant matter of the temporary move away from Camp Nou to the city's Olympic Stadium. Barça's permanent home is a veritable cathedral of football, a vast and awe-inspiring venue which undoubtedly plays a part in urging the home team to greater efforts when big games roll around. Confronting 98,000 passionate Catalan voices tumbling down from the steep stands is a daunting experience for visiting players, and it remains to be seen whether the much smaller stadium at Montjuic, with its running track separating players and fans, will have quite the same effect. 

Anyway, enough with all the negativity. We’re talking about a team which won La Liga with three games to spare and – with the exception of Lewandowski – has time on its side and therefore plenty of potential to improve. 

And although it was sad to wave goodbye to Sergio Busquets, the midfield has been enhanced by trading him and Franck Kessie for Ilkay Gundogan and Oriol Romeu. The former Manchester City captain has quietly been one of the world’s top midfielders for the last decade, capable of unfussily filling any role required of him, and fans will quickly grow to love Romeu’s all-action, 100% committed style – his teammates will also greatly appreciate his ability to cover any space they may leave vacant. 

Motivation shouldn’t be a problem, either. Yes, La Liga has already been conquered, but the team’s Champions League record in the last few years has been, let’s be blunt, abysmal. So there is a lot more to be achieved, and this group of players look capable – if all goes well – of achieving everything.  

Whatever happens, with Barca we know one thing for sure: it won’t be dull.

We also interviewed Andy for our podcast "Offside". You can watch the entire video below.