Barcelona 1-0 Real Sociedad: 5 Talking Points as Blaugrana register important victory | LaLiga 2019-20 

3. Quique Setien yet to convince his critics

SSC Napoli v FC Barcelona - UEFA Champions League Round of 16: First Leg

It has been almost two months since Quique Setien was surprisingly appointed as Barcelona manager but there is yet to be a distinct impact on the playing style of the Blaugrana.

For most of the game against Real Sociedad, his side looked devoid of ideas and although there were odd flashes of the quick passing game that led to some chances, these instances were few and far between and the players do not seem to have gotten a firm grasp of what is wanted from them on the field.

The last week has been filled with dissections of the Clasico defeat as well as the furious reactions and resorting to unprintable words by his assistant Eder Sarabia to the players which forced the former Real Betis manager to apologize for the 39-year-old's choice of words and a return to Camp Nou offered his team the opportunity to put all these behind them but they huffed and puffed in vain for most of the game until they were handed a lifeline by VAR.

Quique Setien lost each of his first three major tests as Barcelona manager to Valencia, Athletic Bilbao, and Real Madrid, while also drawing with Napoli in the Champions League and the fact that they needed a penalty to see off Sociedad at Camp Nou would do little to calm the brewing storm.

The 61-year-old was appointed largely for his self-proclaimed love of the Cruyffian way of playing football but at a side like Barcelona, that is not enough to keep a job and unless he can start winning football matches convincingly, Setien might be back to tending cows in his village much sooner than he expected.