What Pressure? |3 December 2025

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It’s another tough away game and every team that can field 11 men should be confident of getting something against us at their home ground. We’ve been poor ad uncoordinated for weeks now. We have no cohesion or balance. Just 11 guys wearing the same uniform following random instructions. That’s how our pressing and even our transition play looks on both sides of the ball. This cannot be a complex problem to fix. It’s basics at the professional level and we’re failing miserably at it.

Barcelona are on a winning run and the more we struggle to win, the more pressure there is on the next game, no matter who the opposition might be. We’ve lost all our high pressure matches barring el clasico. Xabi is coaching players who won league and CL doubles with minimal instructions from Ancelotti. There’s no way these are playing lacking football intelligence. That is not debatable in the least. If anything, these are some of the most high IQ players iin the game.

Xabi is struggling to get his ideas across. It’s difficult to understand why. The players try to press but they’re not coordinated for large parts of the game. There seems to be no accountability. Playing as a team cannot mean individual responsibilities fall away. Defenders still need to defend even when the midfield isn’t positioned perfectly, the forwards still need to help the same way Courtois still tries to make a save after eclveryone screws up.

The players are passing the buc and this leads to a lack of trust for each to do their job especially when results are as negative as they have been.

Are tthe any positives from the last 3 matches? We didn’t lose? We can still field a starting XI? There’s still a long way to go? If the team was playing well but just unlucky then we could point out many positives.. Right now even the manager has come out and said, there’s been lack of quality in recent matches. Meaning the players are not playing to their levels.. I would argue they’re not even at their base levels.

The sstories of unrest in the dressing room might be overblown. It’s nothing new at the club. The image of a manager who cannot control his dressing room coupled with poor performances and results will eventually turn into something far worse than gossip and rumours. We are the strongest squad in La Liga by a long long way. The underperfomance even at this stage of the season is unacceptable especially when the displays have been miserable.

I expect a clear win against Bilbao. That’s what our level should be. That’s what I expect and that’s what Xabi and his players should expect. Every victory is earned and this will be no different. We’re not gonna draw our way to a La Liga title.