After last season’s triumphs in La Liga and the Champions League, many people thought that this season would see a repeat, with the only difference being that Barça would also win the Club World Cup and a couple of Supercopas to boot. Barça brought in three new players, Zambrotta, Thuram and Gudjohnsen to replace Gabri, Van Bommel and Larsson, and the squad was considered to be stronger than ever. However, from the season’s first important game, the European Supercup Final in Monaco which Barça lost 0-3 to Sevilla, it was clear that Barça were not the same as the previous season. So, what went wrong?

First, we have to consider the poor pre-season preparation. After last summer’s World Cup in Germany, some players did not have a proper preparation, instead they were expected to play in exhibition matches around the world against players at a much more advanced stage of fitness. Ronaldinho, Deco, Edmilson and Marquez all joined the pre-season late and they all struggled to find their form throughout the season.

Next we need to mention the injuries to Eto’o and Messi. Eto’o was injured against Werder Bremen in September and was out for five months, and Messi missed nearly four months after getting injured against Zaragoza. The team muddled on without them and managed to stay top of the league, though many games were only saved by the brilliance of Ronaldinho’s free-kicks. It was also very difficult to give Ronaldinho the rest that he undoubtably needed when the other two attacking stars were absent. It is difficult to believe that Barça would have gone four months without an away victory in the league with Messi and Eto’o in the side. And who’s to say they wouldn’t have made the difference against Liverpool in the Champions League, had they been fully fit.

Barça paid the price for last season’s success with a trip to Japan in the middle of December in order to participate in the Club World Cup. Never an ideal time to take such a break in the season, Barça looked good winning their semi-final 4-0, but then succumbed in the final against Internacional of Porto Alegre (0-1). This trip certainly took something out of the players and their form after returning, right up until February, was the worst of the whole season.

In the second half of the season there were also problems in the dressing room. It is not clear how serious the rift is between Eto’o and Ronaldinho, the players when asked always say there are no problems, but the constant rumours in the press can’t be good for team morale.

Having said all this, I feel that Barça could still have done much better this season if they hadn’t been lacking the most important ingredient for success: the desire and hunger to win. Too many games were drawn which should have been won and Barça really lacked the killer instinct to finish teams off, and then they were missing the necessary level of concentration to hold on to leads in the final minutes. Last night it was worrying to see how Laporta and Rijkaard reacted to losing the league. Both seemed philosophical about things and I find it difficult to imagine either of them getting angry. This missing passion has been seen in the football team this year and I wonder if what the players really need is one hefty kick up the backside. Maybe if Rijkaard threw a few more things across the dressing room, the players would pick up some of that passion and show it on the field.