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Memphis Depay's flying start to life in Barcelona has been brought to an abrupt halt. The Dutchman joined the Blaugrana in the summer transfer window as a free agent.
He got off to a brilliant start and was scoring in every other match for the Catalan giants. However, his form has dipped of late and Depay has come under immense scrutiny from TV pundits.
The Dutch attacker was unable to help his Barcelona side beat Bayern Munich and capped off the display with a poor outing in front of goal. Speaking about Depay's wane in form, former Bayern Munich striker Sandro Wagner told DAZN (reported via BarcaUniversal):
“Against Bayern, Memphis won only 27% of his duels. Currently, he is stronger on Instagram than on the field.”
Depay is aware of his own dip and has said that he expects to lead them better during the season. The Dutch forward said:
“I expect myself to score and I put a high expectation on myself to score goals. I need to score more goals, and the team needs it.”
Unrealistic expectations over Barcelona forward Memphis Depay
Barcelona forward Memphis Depay was brought in to fill in the boots of football legend Lionel Messi. To begin with, it was never going to be a successful plan as Messi's impact lies beyond numbers as well. It was an impractical chip put on Depay's shoulder.
Delving into the matter further, the current Barcelona team is full of average players. It is not realistic to expect Depay to whip up magical performances week in, week out while playing for a club going through a transition.
It is definitely right to assume that Depay's form has dipped a little but that is common with most footballers throughout the length of a season. Depay still has eight goals and two assists this term. To put it into perspective, Barcelona scored just two goals in their group stage in the Champions League this season. Hence, blaming Depay alone would be premature.
New head coach Xavi has just joined the club. He needs more time to develop his game at the club and Barcelona will have to accept the reality of being a mediocre club at the moment.
Years of financial mismanagement and poor recruitment has led the club to this stage. It would be foolish to assume it can be fixed in a matter of months by a high-scoring Dutchman.
