Why Barcelona can not find a way through having all the possession?

Up until the start of the season, Barcelona had 50% or more possession in their 247 previous games. Utilizing this monopoly Barcelona have broken every record there was to break, reached new heights and scaled them to an even higher level. They presented pleasing to eye, beautiful football in a manner no team before them have ever done. But then suddenly why this tag of boring boring Barcelona came along? How beautiful became boring?

They started off with a flier, breaking the record for most impressive start in the history of La Liga, and did it with ease and finesse, without much trouble, without breaking hard sweat. But, it has not been all about them in the continent's premier competition, the Uefa Champions League, where they suffered a loss to Celtic amidst keeping all the possession. And then the world started asking Is possession everything in Football?

My answer to that is NO. Yes, it is important to keep the ball to keep the pressure on the opponent, it works almost every time. But it does not work when the opponent is happy to let you have the ball and willing to sit down and become a wall in front of goal. Then you can keep the ball and pass it around for eternity without finding an opening. That is where possession becomes useless possession and fans label it boring boring football.

Why Barcelona are deteriorating now? They used to play like that forever, but now they do not seem to cut open defenses like they used to. Even a defense as weak as Celtic, yes, Celtic wont beat Barcelona every time they face other, maybe it was a fluke, maybe it was luck, but it happened against Chelsea, albeit, Chelsea were a man short and then it happened against AC Milan as well. Barcelona are true to their custom and will never change their approach but not so long ago their similar approach yielded results for them and quite simply it is not happening on the grand stage now.

One reason in my opinion is the less playing time Xavi and Iniesta are getting now, together as well as in the team, they are no longer regular features and that takes a lot out of Barcelona in terms of keeping useful possession, threading and cutting defenses open and also keeping the famous Barcelona shape for immediate pressing to win the ball back.

 The next reason is their Center Back pairing: Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique. They no longer play in the heart of defense for Barcelona week in week out, especially Puyol, another strong pair for the Catalan giants weakened, so when opposition breaks at pace, the wall that used to be there is not to be found.

And then up top, yes Messi has been unstoppable, impeccable, outstanding, use all the superlative praising words for him, but his pair with David Villa has also been broken due to Villa's injury and now him spending most of his time on the bench. Strong pairs contribute to strong display, and Barcelona lack this cohesion that was the backbone of their record breaking side. 

Barcelona's young crop is very good, Thiago is prospering well, Jordi Alba has settled in well, but they are still looking for a midfield general like Xavi, and an a sublime passer like Iniesta. Their search to replace these stars will continue because both have raised the bar so high. Until then, they need to make sure that both are utilized to their maximum potential.