“An element of exaggeration clings to the popular judgment: great vices are made greater, great virtues greater also; interesting incidents are made more interesting, softer legends more soft.”
Walter Bagehot
Season 2008-2009 will always be an inspiring memory for all the Cules around the world. The best year in the club’s history and some may argue that it will keep being the best year for a long period of time. Everything has side effects though, and one of the passive impacts of that glorious year, will be the public unfairness while judging the years that will follow. Everything will be compared to season 2009. The comparison will not only lean on reasoning but even on nostalgia that reshapes the records and over-praise the previous achievements just to bash the current (and future) accomplishments. As Hervey Allen said: “Legends are material to be moulded, and not facts to be recorded”. Season 2009 was a legendary period that will not be forgotten, no doubt.
If we can agree that season 2009 was an exceptional period, we have to put two lines under the term “Exceptional”. Exceptional means that it’s like a strike that doesn’t hit the same place twice. That’s why the exceptional events are not valid to be used as benchmarking parameters unless if we want to make a harsh evaluation. Einstein was exceptional so we don’t use his brilliance level while planning IQ tests. Charles Dickens was exceptional, so don’t you dare to draw comparisons between this article and “The tale of two cities”. Comparing Barcelona’s last season to the current one is not recommended as well.
But we all know we still can’t avoid the “Last season…this season” debates. How far can we say that last season the team was better than this year? Is it an obvious certainty that needs no proof? Is it possible that we only remember the good days of 2009?
Last season, after two flops in the first two games, the team started a destructive period ruining opponents one after another. High scoring games, amazing football displays, a carnival of skills and techniques, and an uncontainable dominance that earned the team the praise of rivals before supporters.
Make no mistake; one of the reasons of that surprising evolution was the fact that it was simply…surprising. None of the opponents expected this style of play. It was like a bus that in the middle of the night catches a road crosser by surprise, so shocking that the unfortunate covers his face rather than jumping back to the pavement.
As the season approached the end, teams became more capable of customizing their tactics to resist Barcelona threat. That’s why, If we want to make comparisons, it’s more valid to compare the team current performance to the team performance in the last 24 games last season, rather than to the whole season or the first 24 games.
No one would have imagined that we can perform this season on the same level as the previous one. We changed our main striker, which is a very notable revolution for an offense oriented team like Barcelona and it need time to mature (time means a full season). But while some may take that as the reason for the so called “drop in form”, how can we ignore that Henry this season is not the same Henry V.2009? Yaya? Iniesta (till the last few games)? The injuries that we had to deal with so far? And most importantly the opponents improved experience regarding how to play against Barcelona. All that made a huge impact, no doubt.
Here we come to the most important point. In fact even while not firing on all cylinders, we are not worse than last season. In fact we can go as far as saying that the team this season is more productive. That’s if we don’t dare to say that it is performing better. Not as charming but as lethal.
It is interesting to check how the team productivity varied throughout the last season. To give a fast idea I listed below the first 24 games’ figures (That’s the same number of games we played this season so far), followed by the last 24 games* the team played last season (Excluding weeks 36,37,38 after the team guaranteed the liga), Then posted the records of the whole season.
| Goals Scored | Goals Conceded | Goal Difference | Points | |||||
| Segment | # of Goals | Average/ game | # of Goals | Average/ game | Earned | Average/ game | ||
| 2009 | First 24 games | 71 | 2.96 | 20 | 0.83 | 51 | 62 | 2.58 |
| Last 24 games* | 67 | 2.79 | 23 | 0.96 | 44 | 58 | 2.42 | |
| Whole season | 105 | 2.76 | 35 | 0.92 | 70 | 88 | 2.51 | |
| 2010 | 24 Games | 59 | 2.46 | 14 | 0.58 | 45 | 62 | 2.58 |
This season, Barcelona scored less than the beginning of last season, and conceded more. Yet, we still managed to earn the same number of points (62). If it’s a sign of anything, that’s consistency.
The most important factor for me is the average number of points earned per match. Obviously I prefer the results 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0 in four games over 6-0, 0-0, 6-0, and 0-1.
The average points per game declined last season as the competition reached the final shift. We scored less, conceded more (whether you take it as an average or as numbers). We earned 58 points in 25 games (again without counting the last 3 games: 1 draw, 2 defeats). In 24 games this season, we earned four points more than same number of games last season. It means that we started the new season better than we finished the previous one. More boldly the first two thirds of this season, went better than the last two thirds of Season 2009.
Is that enough to say that this year we play better? Obviously not. But at least we are as effective. Considering all the circumstances surrounded the team, efficiency is the luxury bless. Keeping in mind that last season we were hoping the team keeps on performing on the level they showed at the beginning of the season, while its more than certain that currently Barcelona are far from hitting peak performance. If at the moment they are capable of matching last season output though not at their best yet, then no complaint.
This season, we’ve seen more tactical diversity, more rotations, more youth, and had to overcome more tricky scenarios. Our Champions’ league group was more difficult this season, but when the team needed a win they raised their game. Even against a team like Inter who just defeated Chelsea a week ago, we outplayed them with our key players on the bench. The tough part of the season is yet to come. If we want to predict based on what we achieved so far, the future is promising. Even when we played the worst 45 minutes this season, we brought a good result back home.
Will we win the Liga and the Champions League? I will not bet my money on the double. But that is not the factor that decides the quality of this team. Let’s not forget how we won last season’s Champions League. A goal scored by Iniesta. Not Messi, Eto’o nor Henry. Iniesta. If there is anything Iniesta lacks to become the most complete player in the world, it’s finishing. Being the goal scorer shows the knockout competitions uncertainty. The possibilities of us winning the competition this season matches the possibility of Iniesta being the winning goal scorer again. Not impossible but… you get the message.
The only thing to expect from the players is dedication, added to the determination to be serious contenders. To always show the beautiful image of the club’s football philosophy. To play their hearts out and fight till the last minute. To do their best. Then we can cross our figures that lady luck smiles for us again. You can create your own luck but to win titles, you need some supernatural help that Pep can’t control, nor his players.
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