Player Focus: First Team Football In Question as Form of Old Evades Iniesta

It seems almost heresy to say it, but should Andrés Iniesta really still be an automatic starter for club and country? The statistics suggest that so far this season the World Cup, double European Championship, three-time Champions League and six-time La Liga winner has fallen some distance from his best.

Most strikingly, Iniesta has yet to either score or assist a goal in 13 La Liga appearances this term. ‘Don Andres’ has yet to find the net in the Champions League either, although he has provided three assists in four games in Europe. His only goals all season both came in the Copa del Rey against Huesca, when Barca were coasting on their way to winning 12-1 on aggregate against a completely overwhelmed third-tier side.

You could argue that goals have never really been a huge part of Iniesta’s game (Stamford Bridge in May 2009 and Johannesburg a year later notwithstanding). Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos has famously now scored more through their careers.

It could also be that this season Iniesta is more often providing the second-last pass in moves (the ‘assist’ to the ‘assist’). Barca do play differently now, with coach Luis Enrique aiming to quickly feed the big-name front three of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez. It is not, however, as though Iniesta has particularly changed his position, he still typically plays as one of the more attacking ‘interior’ midfielders, either side of holder Sergio Busquets in the blaugrana club's characteristic 4-3-3 system.

Iniesta was much more productive in and around the box earlier in his career. Over the course of the 2013/14 campaign across La Liga and the Champions League, Iniesta provided 10 assists and scored three goals. 2012/13 brought 17 assists and 4 goals. 2011/12 saw 10 assists and 5 goals. In 2010/11 he registered 9 assists and 9 goals. Such huge contributions through previous seasons show up even further his meagre numbers this season.

In terms of Whoscored rating Iniesta is among Barça’s worst performing players all season. He sits 14th in the blaugrana squad (6.96), just behind Xavi (7.13), and just above widely mocked summer signing Douglas (6.92). Meanwhile, Ivan Rakitic (7.26) has emerged from a rocky start to be Barça’s best ‘interior’ midfielder – he has three goals and four assists so far across 22 appearances in La Liga and the Champions League.

Iniesta is still excellent at holding possession (90.6 pass completion rate) and was excellent when taking the sting out of a possible Atletico Madrid comeback during early January’s 3-1 win at the Camp Nou. In that game, compared to Rakitic, he made more passes (61 to 50) at a higher pass accuracy (85.3% to 80%). His whoscored.com overall rating in that game (7.41) was his best in La Liga since September. This suggests that in one off-games, against bigger opponents, he can still rise to the occasion. His week-to-week performances have simply not been as good.

It could be that time is catching up with Iniesta, who turns 31 next May, and has already clocked up over 500 competitive games for Barcelona, as well as over 100 caps (and 12 goals) for Spain. His footballing brain remains sharp, but wear and tear and numerous injuries over the years appear to have sapped his ability to get away from markers in tight areas, especially in close proximity to the penalty area.

Despite this his first team place with Barcelona looks safe enough for now. Long-term teammate Xavi Hernández turned 35 last weekend, and was again missing due to another calf muscle problem. Meanwhile, emerging playmaker Rafinha, 21, has not had a great season - his whoscored rating is 6.58, and he is also without a goal or assist in ten La Liga games so far. Barça's ban on signing any new players until 2016 also suggests no major shake-up in the short term.

For the national team however, Iniesta’s numbers do not compare well with other Spanish midfielders. His former teammate Cesc Fàbregas has an incredible 18 assists and four goals in 27 league and Champions League games for Chelsea in his first half-season back in England. Atletico Madrid’s Koke has eight assists (although admittedly seven have been from set-pieces) to date in 2014/15. Most similar in style to a young Iniesta is perhaps Real Madrid’s Isco, who has five assists and two goals while playing mostly in central midfield – and intermittently at that – so far this term. La Roja coach Vicente Del Bosque has a habit of showing tremendous loyalty to his aging players, but for Euro 2016 Iniesta's starting place looks seriously under threat.

Iniesta’s apparently dwindling returns have not gone unnoticed by Spanish pundits. The most read sports story through much of last week on the El Pais website was a pretty harsh take on his season so far, suggesting he has lost his “spark”.

“Iniesta, who was La Roja’s Messi, no longer plays like Iniesta, no longer deflates opponents with his zig-zag and his skillful use of both feet,” wrote respected columnist Jose Samano. “These days, he negotiates his way through games, nothing more. A symptom of this undefined Barça or maybe that the player, at 30 years of age, has become more steady and predictable. He has always had everyone's affection, and his angelic air also conditioned the media judgements, although they always emphasised more his stand-out moments rather than his full career as a whole.”

To start reinvestigating past contributions to his team’s phenomenal successes at club and international level is possibly going a bit far, but it does seem clear that this season’s Iniesta is a pale shadow of his most effective former self. There is still plenty of time for a comeback, or to reinvent himself, but the numbers so far this season do not look good.

Do you think Iniesta deserves to retain a starting berth for both club and country? Let us know in the comments below