History dictates that Barcelona must always be thought of as title challengers in Spain, but they could end up 12 points away from the top of the league if they lose to Real Sociedad tonight.
Ronald Koeman’s arrival has seen some of the fringe players get chances after being written off last year, but they still look fragile and utterly reliant on Lionel Messi so it’s not sustainable.
One of the biggest problems at the club is it’s clear that Koeman doesn’t know what his strongest XI is at this point, and it’s reflected with some bold choices in the starting XI tonight:
https://twitter.com/FCBarcelona/status/1339280381422419968?s=20
He’s made a huge call to drop Lenglet in favour of youngster Oscar Mingueza, but one of Barca’s biggest problems is that they’ve stopped promoting young players so it could be a positive sign.
There’s no doubt that the Dutchman has taken a giant risk with putting out such a young defence that also includes Sergino Dest, so it’s not a surprise to see that plenty of the fans are not convinced by this choice:
https://twitter.com/Abodi99003428/status/1339280873758330886?s=20
https://twitter.com/ubothi_mthiyane/status/1339281426294984705?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1339281426294984705%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.caughtoffside.com%2F2020%2F12%2F16%2Fkoeman-gone-mad-these-barcelona-fans-react-to-surprising-selection-choices-vs-real-sociedad%2F
Araujo – minguez combo against the league leaders is a big no no. I foresee a mingueza red card. He's not calm under pressure , you better off with umtiti instead , at least the experience counts . Araujo is okay .
What happened to couti ?— Somebody Great (@popmanclassic) December 16, 2020
Where is Langlet ?
I have a bad feeling about this lineup. This is a must win game for us— lxsameer (@lxsameer) December 16, 2020
https://twitter.com/_Atopahene/status/1339286070391955459?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1339286070391955459%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.caughtoffside.com%2F2020%2F12%2F16%2Fkoeman-gone-mad-these-barcelona-fans-react-to-surprising-selection-choices-vs-real-sociedad%2F
Very brave. Other than Busquets, a very brave choice of defence. It'll either end in a Clean Sheet or premium tears
— Mahesh Chand (@mcbeniwal_) December 16, 2020
I actually feel embarrassed when I look at this line up… our squad is so bad…
— Stephen Mayhew (@Mayhew10Stephen) December 16, 2020
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