Coming into their first season without Lionel Messi since 2004, no one knew what to expect out of Barcelona. The club was clearly in a rebuilding phase, but it was not clear what their squad was capable of.
Unfortunately for them, it turns out that the club had its worst season in a very long time. They scored just over 70 points in La Liga, suffered a group stage exit in the Champions League, and had some embarrassing results along the way.
While it was a team effort that comes into focus, there are players who are more to blame for this situation. Here are three Barcelona players most to blame for the disappointing season in 2021-22.
Barcelona players most to blame for 2021-22 season
Frenkie de Jong
When Frenkie de Jong was brought in from Ajax in 2019, the expectations were huge. He was a part of the Ajax midfield that almost made it to the 2019 Champions League Final, and truth be told, his first few years in Barcelona colors were fantastic.
This season, however, something just did not feel right. In terms of pure numbers, it is hard to find a huge difference. He did score fewer goals than last season and featured in fewer games, but that is nothing major.
However, the eye test said that Barcelona played noticeably better when de Jong was not there. In other terms, de Jong just played worse this season when it comes to what he does best.
What is interesting to note is that he played well while coach Ronald Koeman was there. Koeman put a lot of trust into the Dutch midfielder, possibly because of their history with the Dutch national team. He also played a variety of roles and de Jong was the key part of the midfield, a key cog that made the entire machine work.
With Xavi as coach, it was different, and de Jong clearly lost a ton of confidence. Additionally, it could not help that teams were being linked with the young midfielder and Barcelona were reportedly ready to sell, due to their financial issues. It is still unclear which status de Jong will have next season, if any, but his 2021-22 season was one to forget.
Memphis Depay
It seems like the Dutch players and coaches were really not enjoying life in Barcelona this season. Similar to de Jong, Depay had a good start to the season under coach Koeman. Of his 12 goals in La Liga, only four came in 2022, and 12 is generally a fairly small number, especially when Depay came as a guy who scored 22 in two separate seasons in Ligue 1 for Lyon.
Of course, injuries were a massive part of his poor play, as he missed some time with hamstring injuries. But he really did not bounce back and got overshadowed by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who matched his goalscoring tally of 13 in all competitions since arriving in January.
Depay did arrive at Barcelona on a free transfer, so it is not a missed investment in the sense of a transfer fee. Still, Depay was supposed to be that goalscoring guy who does not replace Messi but eases the transition to the next guy down the line.
Obviously, after Aubameyang came and Depay had his injuries, his playing time was severely cut, but that is no excuse. Depay was supposed to score at least 20 goals in all competitions, and that clearly ended up unfulfilled. Still, he has a few more seasons on his contract, so we will see if the Dutch international can turn it around.
Marc-Andre ter Stegen
Just a few years back, ter Stegen was valued as one of the best keepers in the world. After this season, that is a hard statement to say.
In terms of numbers, similar to de Jong, it is hard to argue that ter Stegen is worse or better than the last few seasons. The clean sheets he had, 11, were the same number as last season and only a small drop from 14 and 16 in the two seasons before that, so the numbers might suggest that ter Stegen is still doing well.
However, just like with de Jong, the eye test was a clear fail for MATS. He was noticeably worse for Barcelona, especially in terms of some of his shot-stopping ability.
Ter Stegen was never a conventional keeper and had a knack for sometimes making some silly mistakes. However, this season, those mistakes became such a huge part of why Barcelona conceded goals. It looked, at times, that ter Stegen was not even concentrated and fully focused on what is going on on the pitch.
While it does not feel right to add a keeper to this list because so much of his work is predicated on the defense being up to the task, those lapses of concentration of ter Stegen cost Barcelona a lot of points this season. Still, he had moments of being a top goalkeeper, so Barcelona will definitely rely on him to be their first choice next season as well.
Follow Us
Subscribe