As we approach the halfway point in this season’s league programme, the question has been put to me as to whether Barça can turn things around this season. My first reaction to this question is to ask myself: are things really that bad at the moment?

If Barça win their game next Saturday at home to Murcia - as they should - they will reach the halfway point with a total of 40 points. We ought to remember that last season Barça lost the title on goal difference to Real Madrid with both teams on 76 points. The fantastic year that Barça won the Champions League they won La Liga with a total of 82 points. With this in mind I don’t think we can say things are going terribly.

One of Barça’s biggest problems is that they are always judged in comparison to how Madrid are doing. I am convinced that one of the reasons that Nuñez and Van Gaal were forced out in the year 2000 was because Madrid won the Champions League in 1998 and 2000 and the Barça public cannot accept second best. I’m not saying we should accept it, but we should remind ourselves of the terrible years that came afterwards under the Gaspart presidency. Sometimes Barça fans could do with a bit more patience. 

Unfortunately, of course, this happens to be a very good season so far for Madrid, nevertheless I think they have been lucky in some games and so far they have had no major injury problems. Their luck may well change in the second half of the season. Whatever happens with Madrid, Barça would do well to concentrate on themselves. I would say that we should be looking for a points total of around 84 or 85 to win the title this year, that means fourteen wins and two or three draws in the nineteen games of the second half of the season - something that is certainly not impossible.

So far this season Barça have still not had the chance to play at full strength. We began the season without Puyol and then Eto’o was injured at the end of August. Then we lost Marquez and Toure for a month and Deco for nearly two months, and now we find ourselves without Messi. Of course, a club like Barça should have enough players not to suffer a couple of injuries, but there are no players anywhere who could adequately replace the likes of Eto’o and Messi. If these two players can stay injury free and find their form from February to May, Barça could still win everything. If we can add to this an improvement in the form of Henry and Ronaldinho then the sky is the limit. Henry showed some promising signs in yesterday’s game at Mallorca.

Barça have generally seen an improvement in the defence this season with the introduction of Milito, Abidal and Toure. In 24 games in Liga and Champions League Barça have only conceded 16 goals. However, I have to admit that it is the defence that worries me most at the moment. The back four that played at Mallorca is fine, but I worry a lot about the back-up. Puyol has been forced into playing at right back because Zambrotta has his mind back in Italy and Oleguer is probably just not good enough for a team with Barça’s expectations. Thuram and Sylvinho are both at the ends of their careers and are probably not ready to play twice a week consistently if they were needed. The goalkeeping position is also not covered adequately and Txiki Begiristain will have his work cut out to find an available keeper who is good enough to stand in if Valdés gets injured.

So, to sum up, Barça still have options this season. They will need a bit of luck and they will need to concentrate on themselves, and not be always looking to see what Madrid are doing. Having said that, I am sitting here listening to Real Madrid play Zaragoza on the radio and I am praying Zaragoza can win. At the moment it is half time and the score is 0-0 with Zaragoza having the better of the game.