First Impressions

Warming Up: six rounds of La Liga have been played and the sensations cannot be any better for Barça; the team is still a bit rusty from the summer but every game it is a steps in the right direction and the results are proof of that as the team have gotten all the points played. The summer question of Ibrahimovic adaptation to the team has disappeared thanks to the outstanding beginning of the season of the Swedish striker. Five goals in his first five games is a statistic that allows the fans to dream. Whether he can maintain that level or not is another story in which many variables has to be considered such as injuries; fatigue; pressure etc. but at this time nobody doubts of his quality. It is also good to see that Zlatan has not only scored goals but also given assistances as well as participate in the defensive game which is something that many of us could not see happening when he signed with Barça.

All Pieces Feat: Guardiola showed doubters that he had an eye to see talent and the guts to give those players an opportunity to shine. Busquets, Pique, Bojan are examples of this (although Bojan’s presence on the team was Frank Rijkaard’s call) and this season is no different. Even though the squad is short, something Guardiola himself mentioned, he decided that it was not going to be a problem; instead he has transformed this situation into an opportunity and once again has given the chance to future talents such as Jefren Suarez or Pedro Rodrigues; the latter has become officially a member of the first team and has responded with goals to the coach’s confidence. To this day, Pedro has been the only member of the team that has scored in all competitions with a goal in both supercups tournaments and a winning goal against Almeria. Guardiola doesn’t call somebody he has any doubts and that’s why Martin Caceres went to Juventus and why Henrique went to Racing instead of returning to Barça. The merit of this team is not on any single player but on the fact that every member is capable of making the starting eleven at any point.

Margin of Improvement: to say that the team has started very well is one thing but they are far from being perfect or at least as good as last year’s team. Pep knows this and has been working on the control of the game. For instance; against Atletico De Madrid the team won 5-2 but in reality the game was a poor display at many times; once they were winning they did not control the game and it could have cost Barça some more goals. Another area that needs improvement and perhaps a new name is the left wing. Henry is showing that age affects anybody and the 32 year old French man seems as though he will not be able to keep up with the team. At the moment he’s injured for at least ten more days and with a player like Pedro on fire it is not so difficult to think about Henry staying on the bench more frequently. Overall, the team needs a lot of improvement but it is working at a pace which seems to invite fans to another great season and rivals to fear the team. Time will tell.