Blaugrana Report: 5 Takeaways from Barcelona's October

October was a much better month for FC Barcelona than September. The Blaugranas went 5-0-1 and showed signs of strength after a shaky September. October showed us Messi’s dominance, a rising new star, a defense that is holding up and a continuing trend that happens every month.

Pep Guardiola has held his team strong when his worst adversary has been injuries.

Here are my five takeaways from Barça’s October.

Cuenca Is the New Pedro, Thiago

In the 2008-09 season, the football world saw the rise of a Masia kid named Pedro Rodriguez. With his speed, energy and selfless play, Pedro was quickly promoted to the first team and eventually became a regular starter in the lineup in 2009-10. Pedro, who is the first player in football history to score six goals in six different competitions, won a spot on the national team roster which won the World Cup.

Last year, we were witness to the rise of Thiago Alcântara. Another Masia-bred kid, the speedy midfielder became a household name for Barça fans, as he dazzled us with his passing and scoring ability and, like Pedro, earned a spot on the first team as well as the Spanish national team. Thiago played a key role in Spain’s U-23 national team win and U-21 European Championship.

This year, it looks like we are witnessing the rise of a new star in Isaac Cuenca. The kid from Tarragona, Catalonia has impressed with his quality ball handling, his passing ability and his one-on-one skills.

Once again, Pep Guardiola makes a good move.

With Barcelona’s injuries, Cuenca has been able to come in and shine. Cuenca was impressive against Mallorca and Viktoria Plzen. Cuenca is young and will only improve under the guidance of Guardiola. Of course, having the best midfielders in the world as teammates, as well as the best player in the world as a mentor, doesn’t hurt either.

Look for him to have more minutes of action, especially in Copa Del Rey action. Cuenca’s rise, along with Pep’s liking of Sergi Roberto from the B squad, could mean the end of injury-ridden Ibrahim Afellay at the Camp Nou. Expect Sandro Rosell to sell the Dutchman in the offseason.

The Defense: Bending But Not Breaking

While statistically the defense played well, the play has been shaky to say the least. There were moments during the games versus Sevilla, Viktoria Plzen, Sporting and Granada that shook the defenders. Barça has been fortunate that these teams have not capitalized when they have had an opportunity to score.

Injuries are the main reason for this struggle. Piqué’s injury and Puyol’s slow return to form has it tough for the back line. The bright side is that Sergio Busquets does a good job when asked to play CB and Javier Mascherano has been nothing short of great when he’s playing both CB and LB/RB.

If it wasn’t for the great play of Victor Valdes, as well as Éric Abidal and Mascherano’s play, Barcelona may have another tie or a loss on their record. Andreu Fontàs is supposed to be the future great defender for the Blaugrana, yet he hasn’t been a regular starter.

It could be time for Pep to look into getting a true defenseman this winter transfer window or offseason.

Another Month, Another Tie in a Game They Dominated

Here we go again. Just like in September, with Real Sociedad and AC Milan, another undeserved tie. If it seems like Barcelona cannot go a month without a tie, it’s because they can’t.

Since December of last year, Barcelona has tied in at least one game every month in all competitions.

Yes, ties are a part of the game, but this is Barcelona. The way they are playing in these Liga games, they don’t deserve to tie. Either win or get beat outright. I’ll give credit to the teams that step up and give Barça trouble. I will not give credit to those teams that do not play well, do not decide to play offense (not trying to win the game), get dominated by Pep’s boys (which are most Liga teams) and, yet, still tie.

It’s these kinds of games that Real Madrid are used to having, which is one of the reasons why the whites have not won the league in years.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ll take a tie over a loss any day. But it’s the way they are tying that makes it so frustrating. They had great opportunities against Sevilla, yet they let the win slip away, costing them to fall to second place in the overall Liga table. Messi missing the penalty shot should not be the reason Barça did not win the game; it was not capitalizing on their various other opportunities. Why can’t the offense finish the job sometimes? It happens, unfortunately.

Call us Barça fans spoiled, but it’s tough as fans to accept a tie when you know your team should have won.

But it’s toughest for Pep and the players.

Messi Is Heating Up (Like We Expected Anything Less)

I don’t need to say much in this segment because it seems like we repeat the same thing every month: Lionel Messi is heating up! Messi grabbed five goals in the month of October, continuing his great play from September. As we saw in Tuesday’s UCL game vs. Viktoria Plzen, Messi just can’t be stopped, grabbing another hat trick (second in less than a week).

To make it clear, Messi continues to write his legacy in gold, and with goals. The undisputed best player of our generation.  

Barça Can Beat the Injury Bug

The roster seemed to resemble a hospital’s patient list in October. Fàbregas and Iniesta were out with hamstring injuries. Piqué and Puyol were sidelined at different times. Pedro goes down with an ankle injury. Barcelona already had Afellay and Sánchez out with injuries. It seemed like all of the injuries were going to cripple the team.

Yet the team stayed strong and made a positive out of a negative.

While all Barça fans would prefer having Fàbregas, Iniesta and all the other wounded warriors on the field instead of watching in the stands, the injury forced players like Seydou Keita, David Villa, Maxwell, Messi and Adriano more minutes on the field together than usual.

This is a good thing because it forces the players to step up, both in endurance and in their level of play, knowing that it is all up to them to win for the team.

The injuries also gave some players that are in need of more starting action time to play. Thiago was able to work more with Xavi, thus enabling Thiago to learn from the player he may very well succeed. Fontàs got playing time which he desperately needs. But, the biggest winner out of all of this is Isaac Cuenca. Cuenca was able to start and is now proving his merit with the first team.

Barça proved that they can overcome injuries better than any other team in the world.