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Fc Barcelona had been giants of the modern game for the best part of our lives. Dominating right from the era of Johan Cryuff as a manager; giving us trophy upon trophy and also introducing us to a particular brand of football which was all so pleasing to the eyes and was turning in solid results every other week. Usually a footballing cycle takes two or three years before it works out but Barcelona have shown a remarkable level of consistency since they reclaimed their European crown back in 2006 under Frank Rijkaard. However, all good things must come to an end and it seems that like the ancient Roman Empire, the footballing empire of FC Barcelona is falling and its time of world domination is coming to an unprecedented end.
Although they did show us glimpses of their past brilliance last season with moments like the matches against PSG and the second El Classico, but one can still point those moments to individual brilliances from Neymar(who has left and they largely miss) and Lionel Messi, respectively. This “fall” however is not the result of one setback or simply hitting a leg against an obstacle, however, you could say, it has been a long time coming. A series of mistakes and slips have led Barcelona to this point and this article will seek to dissect these issues and see if there is a way forward for La Blaugrana.
La Maisa
FC Barcelona’s fabled youth system has churned out some of football’s best and brightest over the years with names like Pep Guardiola, Xavi Hernandez, Victor Valdes, Gerard Pique, Andres Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas and of course the best in our generation, Lionel Messi. However, the Catalan football factory has ceased production in recent times with the club looking more and more to outside talent for reinforcements than letting youngsters come up the ranks. Even the ones that show promise are shipped off on loan to continue their development elsewhere or sometimes even sold out with buy back clauses. It is almost as if the Barcelona hierarchy no longer confident in the ability of La Masia to produce players good enough to wear the Barcelona shirt.
The successes of the first team have masked the problem at the grassroots for some time now, however, Johan Cryuff, Barcelona’s spiritual father and the man who “painted the chapel” in the words of Pep Guardiola recognized that something wasn’t quite right even when Barcelona won the treble in 2015.
Barcelona’s successes domestically and in Europe in the last decade have been built on a strong foundation of La Masia graduates. One can flashback to that famous league match away at Cuitat de Valencia in 2012 where FC Barcelona fielded 11 players from the famous La Maisa ;sadly enough those days are long gone. The famous academy provided the base of Pep Guardiola’s all conquering Barcelona, a team seen by many as one of if not the best club team in the history of football, the coach himself a product of La Masia. La Masia became synonymous with technical excellence par none and more and more gems came springing up. This was the reason why Barcelona were known as a “building club” rather than a buying club which was how their competitors a la Real Madrid sought to achieve success. However, for the past few years, Barcelona have firmly become a “buying club” with La Masia relegated to the background as just as afterthought. Two pieces of business bear out this reality perfectly: the first is the loan deal of Sergi Samper to Granada, a player seen by many within the club as the natural heir to Sergio Busquets and then the transfer of Munir to Valencia in a deal that saw Paco Alcacer go the other way. This is in particular a move that hasn’t been justified as Alcacer hasn’t quite matched Munir’s exploits for Barcelona, scoring only three goals so far this season.
The problem isn’t just in the neglect of the academy, but also in the emphasis of the leadership; Barcelona were previously more interested in building players than in the results at least in their B team, now the emphasis has changed from player development to strictly winning at all costs. An unnamed La Masia official who spoke with Goal.com said: “Cruyff always asked how we had played. He never asked about the result……..These days they look for strong players, not talented ones. Barca B play to win and they do so with footballers who aren’t at the age of players in development and that is cheating”. So Barcelona have abandoned one of the core principles that made them great, no wonder they are in so much trouble. “When the foundation is destroyed, what can the righteous do?” – Psalm 11:3
The foundation at FC Barcelona is in decline, and unless something is done to shore it up, the super structure will crumble and will take some time to be restored to its former glory.
Poor Transfer Policy
Adding to the problems arising from La Masia’s neglect is a very poor transfer policy, if you’re going to neglect your home grown talent, then you must be quite smart with your purchases in the transfer market. In the summer, Barcelona dipped heavily into the market, signing six players for a combined fee of €122.75 million plus an extra potential €28 million in variable payments. Also, all bar one of those six players were 22 years when they were signed, the only exception being back up goal keeper Jasper Cillessen. However, of these six players, only Samuel Umtiti has truly impressed in his debut season, bedding in effortlessly. The promising Sergi Samper was moved on to Granada and Andre Gomes brought in, even more baffling was the decision to swap Munir for Paco Alcacer from Valencia who has been absolutely underwhelming so far this season to the point where Luis Enrique has been forced to play Luis Suarez more often than he would have liked without giving him a considerable level of rest.
This means that Barcelona cannot rest their first choice players without a very significant drop in quality in the squad. Even more damning is the inexplicable decision not to sign a right back to replace Dani Alves after the Brazilian moved on to Serie A champions Juventus. Luis Enrique has kept faith with Sergi Roberto in the right back position but the young Spaniard has neither the defensive strength nor the attacking flair to dominate Barcelona’s right flank. With Messi constantly pulling infield to compensate for Barcelona’s midfield troubles, the right flank is left unattended and has been a weak link for Barcelona throughout the season.
The other signings of course are quality. Denis Suarez previously a Barca B player has adapted quite well but has been used relatively sparingly despite the injuries to Iniesta and Rakitic’s loss of form. A lot of rumbling is going on in the light of the signing of Paulinho from Ganzhou Evergrade, a “29 year old Tottenham flop” but the real question is what good can he do? Lucas Digne has been solid and has proved himself to be an adequate replacement for Jordi Alba when called upon and Cillessen has generally given a good account of himself whenever he has played. However, with Rafinha, and Arda Turan available, Barcelona probably needed just one more midfielder, they got two; they reinforced the center back position found a backup for Alba at left back; however, they neglected the most glaring hole in the team – at right back and they may yet pay the price for. Although with the acquisition of Nelson Semedo, who showed glimpses of brilliance in the second leg of the Spanish super cup, Barcelona may have just solved their right back problem.
In conclusion, the new gaffer Ernesto Valverde really needs to get a foothold on the team and be brave and assertive. Speculations like Phillipe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele should be resolved quickly; because those players can really lift the spirit of the dressing room. FC Barcelona is going through a transition phase and they have to pick themselves up and fight to return to their status as the best team in the world.