Barcelona have disappointed in the 2023/24 season, as they are nowhere near Real Madrid in the LaLiga title race after winning the league quite handily in 2022/23.
In the Champions League, Barcelona suffered another ignominy, blowing a 3-2 lead on aggregate at the Camp Nou by losing 4-1 to Kylian Mbappe’s PSG.
There are more questions than answers surrounding Barcelona as the club gears up for an important summer transfer window, as Xavi will remain in charge of the team despite groans from the fanbase.
Barcelona made a number of mistakes in the last summer transfer window, but their biggest mistake was undoubtedly thinking that Oriol Romeu would be an adequate replacement for Sergio Busquets.
Often disrespected because of his age and lack of pace, Busquets was the underappreciated glue guy holding together the Barcelona team that won LaLiga last season.
His departure led to a huge decline in play from the entire defense and from top-class No. 8 Frenkie de Jong, who suddenly hasn’t looked like such a top-class midfielder without the Spanish legend.
Romeu was a very good defensive midfielder for Girona in the 2022/23 season, but starting as the No. 6 for Barcelona is a huge step up in responsibility that the 32-year-old clearly didn’t have the quality for.
It’s not his fault either. Barcelona’s decision-makers should have known that a journeyman like Romeu is a great fit for a mid-table LaLiga side and can shine for them, but he cannot fill the void left by Busquets.
Barcelona have given Romeu 11 starts and 13 substitute appearances this season, and he has been the worst regular in the entire Barcelona squad, getting phased out of the team around the midway point of the campaign.
Now, Barcelona are back to square one at the defensive midfield position, and they can only hope that an ultimate solution like Martin Zubimendi suddenly becomes achievable on the transfer market.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He has been an editor for NFL Spin Zone, Daily DDT for pro wrestling, Autzen Zoo covering the Oregon Ducks, Musket Fire covering the New England Patriots, The Real Champs covering Real Madrid, Old Juve covering Juventus, Rush The Kop covering Liverpool, and Release The Knappen covering Schalke. His work has been featured in ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, NBC Sports, and other outlets. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.