Time for Barça to get it right.

Barça ended the season with another domestic double under new manager Ernesto Valverde. However, instead of celebrating this achievement, many of the Blaugrana faithful felt disappointed. Many would consider a domestic double a resounding success. However, their lack of success in Europe, whereas their arch rivals celebrated a three-peat was a reminder of Barça’s underachieving while wasting the talent of its best players. Lessons have to be learned from past mistakes in order for Barça to improve. A team that has Messi should be conquering the world, and not settling for domestic success while coming up short in Europe. However, the poor planning by the club’s board and their manager has hindered this team from returning to their place of being the best in the world.  With Iniesta now gone, the board once again finds itself trying to replace a key player much like Neymar’s departure last summer.

Last season, the Blaugrana failed to recapture the league crown and then had to find a replacement for Neymar late in the summer transfer window. They hired Ernesto Valverde as Luis Enrique’s successor and spent over €180 million on the likes of Démbéle, Duelofeu, Semedo and Paulinho in the summer and then over €130 million on Coutinho and Yerry Mina during the winter transfer window.

After a brutal defeat over two legs against Real Madrid in the Spanish Supercopa, the outlook for the season looked uninspiring. Instead, the Blaugrana went on a historic unbeaten run that came to an end in the penultimate fixture of the season but saw them celebrating a domestic double. Nonetheless, the bitter elimination in the Quarter-Finals stage of the Champions League by AS Roma, after squandering a 4-1 aggregate lead stung. Many blamed player fatigue as a result of Valverde not rotating and resting his players during the season.

Although Valverde captured the double in his first year as Barça’s manager, many, including yours truly, did not enjoy how he managed the season. His lack of resting players, and conservative approach when leading, cost him and his lack of using the new signings down the clutch and ignoring youth players was also puzzling. The club spent a fortune on Paulinho and Démbéle and the Brazilian featured in 44 minutes in the first leg and none in the second leg against Roma and Démbéle only played in the final five minutes of the second leg loss. The big signing Démbéle was good enough to start a crucial second leg against Chelsea but only featured in 5 minutes against Roma over two legs? Valverde’s decisions of who to play and not to play left many fans confused and a repeat of that next season with the new additions will not be acceptable.

 

Madrid is succeeding because of the midfielders that the club was interested in but passed on them. Barça could have signed the likes of Modric, Isco, Kroos and Asensio, but instead signed the likes of Alex Song, Andre Gomes, Paulinho and Douglas. With Iniesta gone, Barça must make signing midfielders a priority. They seemed ready to spend €100 on Antoine Griezmann and fortunately, that deal never happened and the Blaugrana instead went out and signed young Brazilian star, Arthur, to ensure he comes in this summer along with midfielder Arturo Vidal, winger Malcom and defender Lenglet.

Fortunately, Barça have been successful in offloading players who were considered dead wood. Paulinho went back to China and Aleix Vidal went back to Sevilla, while Digne, Gomes and Mina all are at Everton. Iniesta will be hard to replace and we need a midfield that creates chances for the front three and not rely on Messi on doing their work. I would have preferred if the club signed someone like Thiago or Christian Eriksen but we will see come December if the club will pursue




Additionally, the club has to answer for the mismanagement of their youth. Barça B were relegated to the third division so now our future stars will have to focus on trying to win promotion back to the second division. It would have been ideal for the B team to be in the second division and get call ups to the first team here and there. However, it would have also been ideal for Valverde to give more minutes to B players too. In his first season, zero minutes were given to B players in the Champions League and only five minutes were given in the league. That goes against everything the club stands for, especially when this board reminded us “La Masia No Es Toca”. Hopefully young starlets such as Riqui Puig will get called up this season.

Finally, the club needs to start ignoring Copa del Rey. The main objective every year should be the Spanish league and the Champions League. Obviously winning another treble is every fan’s dream, but in terms of preference and importance, the Champions League should always trump the Copa del Rey. Barça have won the last four Copa del Rey trophies while Real Madrid have won the last three Champions League titles. There’s no debate in which trophy fans would prefer?

Barça winning the Champions League means getting to play in the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup. Winning the Copa del Rey means getting to play in the Spanish Supercopa, which is already guaranteed if Barça win the league. As much I would love to see the Blaugrana win a third Treble, the Copa del Rey has become a burden with starters losing out on much needed rest because of their participation in this competition. Real Madrid has benefitted from exiting the Copa del Rey early and used that extra rest to their advantage while Barça players end up being exhausted in April because they are stretching themselves thin in all three competitions.

Another season is upon us and Barça can add another trophy today by capturing another Supercopa. Hopefully Barça will finally steady the ship and stop disappointing. Repeating the same mistakes will only guarantee more disappoint so one can only hope the board and Valverde get it right and stop wasting the talents of Messi and others.

Eusebio, another disliked Barça figure gone.

FC Barcelona fired Eusebio today follow a long disappointing season. He is the second disliked figure, after Zubizarreta, to be let go by Barça and this leaves just president Bartomeu as the last disliked man standing.

After 150 matches, the era of Eusebio is over. For many Barça fans, including myself, this day could not come any sooner. With Barça B hovering over the relegation zone, his sacking was a must. After 24 matches this season, the team had just 7 victories and failed to win back to back games since their fourth match, which was a three game winning streak in September. Thus, the B team had won only 4 matches since September and now find themselves two points from the relegation zone.

Eusebio never won the fans over with his lineups, formations and tactics. For over three seasons, he got to work with a superb group of young players but never inspired them or us. One of the biggest criticism of his era was that he never truly developed players for the first the team like Pep and Luis Enrique did during their time as Barça B manager. Actually, you could make the argument that Barça B players regressed under him. Donguo has been there for a few seasons and has yet to show us any legitimate progress.

The fact that he won 74 matches out of 150 and guided the team to third place last season is irrelevant. His handling of the team is what mattered and he came up short there. The fact that he benches the likes of rising stars such as Sergi Samper and Adama is inexcusable and with the current Barça regime unpopular as they are now, it was time for Bartomeu to ax Eusebio. His replacement will be Jordi Vinyals, who helped guide Barça U-19 team to winning the UEFA Youth League last season. With elections coming up, it’s doubtful that this is a long term job for him but hopefully he can help steer the ship around, or avoid relegation at least for the next guy to take over next season.

The Fate of Barça’s Future?

Back in April, FC Barcelona  displayed a huge banner in the Camp Nou prior to a league match kickoff that read “La Masia No Se Toca” which meant, La Masia is not to be touched. However, those words may have fallen on deaf ears under this regime. With the Montoya fiasco, following the Thiago fiasco, one has to wonder if the La Masia players wonder if their future lies elsewhere.

It’s been a difficult time for Barça fans what with the transfer ban and the way the club has been run by this current administration. It equally has to be tough for the Barça B players who are supposed to learn their craft from an dreadful manager such as Eusebio. The Blaugrana faithful used to take pride in watching players from the academy get called up. However, it seems that this club is more interested in picking players outside the club over those from within. So it is ironic that FC Barcelona’s response to FIFA transfer ban with the huge “La Masia No Se Toca” banner when they seem to be neglecting it as well.

The perfect example is the current situation with Martin Montoya. For the past few years, quite a few considered the young fullback as the heir apparent for Dani Alves. That belief was enhanced when Luis Enrique was brought on as the new first team manager. Montoya was a starter under Luis Enrique during their time together at Barça B. However, for reasons no one quite knows why, Barça decided to sign a nobody, Douglas, who has failed to show he is Barça material. Nevertheless, Montoya was put on the back burner and now he wants out in the winter transfer window.

Barça fans already had to go through Thiago leaving the club for Bayern and now Montoya is next to follow as another promising player who must play elsewhere. With the transfer ban still in effect, how can Barça afford to lose Montoya when Dani Alves is rumored to be leaving the club when his contract runs out at the end of the season. Douglas has been a nightmare of a signing where he struggled against S.D. Huesca.

Far more concerning for me is what will other players think about their chances with the first team? Deulofeu is out on loan again for the second year running and Adama is still working his magic with Barça B. You also the same situation with midfielders Denis Suarez and Sergi Samper. Denis is also on loan with Sevilla, with Deulofeu, while Samper is shining for the Barça B team. Barça did capture a diamond in the rough with Alen Halilović’s signing so the future looks bright for Barça.

However, it does not seem likely that these young players command starting minutes away anytime soon. Tello knew that and that is why he is playing on loan for Porto. Barça spent over 150 million euros this summer to strengthen the team and by the looks of things, they might need to spend some more next season if the transfer ban is lifted. Where does that leave the kids?

It’s easy for everyone to say that the kids need to be patient before their time comes. Montoya has been with the club for 15 years and he has had enough of sitting in the stands. I don’t blame players who are ambitious and want to play. Thiago did what he thought was the best for him, and if not for the injuries, he would he excelling with Bayern as he had when he was fit, and no one would fault him for making the move there.  Jonathan Dos Santos remained patient and loyal but no one wanted to play him and in the end, the club just wanted him gone.

My biggest concern is what are the Barça B players and the younger players thinking after what has transpired with Montoya. Do they think their future lies elsewhere? Just the other day, Eusebio lashed out on hisplayers following a loss and said they were interested in showcasing their talent for the winter transfer window. Well, to be frank, can you blame them?

Barça are currently a different system than the one Cruyff and Pep had installed. The same system that the youth players are supposed to be learning. So you have Luis Enrique playing a different style of football and you have Eusebio with his own style for Barça B. There is no clear cohesion from what the youth players are taught as they climb through the ranks. Barça hardly resemble the side that won the Champions League a few years ago while Barça B are hovering above the drop zone in the second division.

The idea of Barça B getting relegated would just be another step in the wrong direction for the club. People can say the players should be loyal. Sorry, but we have seen that both, clubs and players, are not loyal to one another. Figo was the Barça captain and he left for Real Madrid while Barça kindly showed Abidal the door. So spare me the loyalty speech.

In the end, the future of Barça’s future is not one to be messed with. This administration has made a mess of things during their time in charge and the way this Montoya situation has played out is alarming. If La Masia players see how the situations of Thiago, Jonathan Dos Santos and Montoya played out, how can we be sure that they are not thinking of an exit plan in the back of their minds. Better yet, can you blame them? You’d probably be weighing your options too if you were in their shoes since everything seems going backwards with Barça nowadays.

-@IBES16

Is Barça on the Right Path?

This season ushered in a wind of change with a new manager who has no ties to Barça’s philosophy or had any ties to the Michels-Cruyff Oranje style football. However, one has to wonder if the club is headed in the right direction in all aspects of the club. Change is always good, only for the betterment of the team.

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Barça has always been recognized for having a vision in how the team should play from the first team down to the youth level. It always made it easier for young players to make the transition from the youth setup to the Barça B team to the first team. This vision launched under Johan Cruyff and Guardiola restored it to some extent when he took over as manager too. However, that vision seems to be lost at the moment.

Barça B have struggled under manager Eusebio and quite frankly, have failed to impress as well. Barça B used to be fun to watch under the helm of Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique and also won. However, ever since Eusebio was hired to take over Barça B, results and performances have been disappointing. One Barça acquaintance once told me that the most alarming thing about Barça B under Eusebio has been the lack of progress from players under his coaching. You have to really think hard as to when was the last time you saw a player actually do well under him and not regress.  With the likes of Rafinha and Deulofeu out on loan, it’s hard to fathom who else will go on loan next year?

Barça’s recent defeat to Ajax also made me wonder if the B players were better off playing for someone like Frank de Boer over at Ajax than for Eusebio. Eusebio’s style is not exactly one that is faithful to the first team style that we have been accustomed to seeing. However, that Ajax loss also made me wonder how good is it for this club to play Tata Martino’s style of football when the younger players are taught to play a different style of football. So not only do we have the youth playing an odd system under Eusebio, they are going to be exposed to yet another system if they ever get promoted to the first team to play for Tata Martino.

Barça’s vision seemed simple and plausible in the past. Everyone played the same system so they would not have a tough time adjusting when they get promoted. Now, it’s a whirlwind of exposure for the young players. They are taught one style at a very young age, and then are introduced to an uncertain and unpopular style when they make it to Barça B and exposed to yet another different style if Tata Martino is still around with the first team.

Even the basketball team seems a shadow of itself. It once went from a powerhouse in Spain and Europe to just an average side. The team dropped the ball in taking care of the basketball team who are still sponsor-less this season. There is a reason why this club has been successful for the past decade. They had a vision which applied to all levels at the club. However, that vision seems to be lost in the midst of Camp Nou renovations talk, sponsorship deals talk, bad press against the president and slow movement in resigning players.  It seems this club is more interested in the Bottom Line than it is with the direction of the team.

If Barça want to remain one of the powerhouses in Europe, let alone the world, then they need to go back to the basics. In order to do that, they need to go back to having a clear philosophy and vision of how Barça should be playing. You can change managers and players, but you should never change the vision and philosophy of what is Barça.

 

Barça’s Young Defenders’ Quandary.

Another season with a new manager yet the outcome for Barça’s young defenders Martin Montoya and Marc Bartra remains unchanged.  The duo have been rotating their seats with the bench and the stands. With the season now rolling into the insane cycle of two games a week, these young players have to play. The club cannot take for granted that since they came through La Masia, these players will not complain and seek an exit. Such wishful thinking could lead to familiar problems yet again.

Thiago was a perfect example of players exhibiting ambition by seeking a new change in order to gain minutes. Many assumed that Thiago would stay put and accept being a bench player who hardly features since he came through La Masia and thus, was loyal. The club then saw the young phenom pack his bags and head to Bayern Munich. Barça face the same dilemma with their two young defenders Montoya and Bartra. Both have hardly featured this season when they should be.

It’s no surprise that there have been media reports that the young players are upset at their lack of playing time which is why they are reluctant to sign new deals with the club. Some would say that they should be patient and their moment will come. Some attributed that same argument to Thiago and complained that he should have been patient like his peers Xavi and Iniesta. However, those two did not have legends playing ahead of them and actually made more appearances at Thiago’s age than he did.

Bartra has also been rotating from bench and the stands. He is the number one choice if either Pique or Mascherano get hurt. Yet, he has not played since representing Spain this summer. One would expect the club to learn from last season’s mistakes of not giving the young defender more playing time to prevent him from making an appearance in case of an injury to one of the center backs, while in a rusty condition. Based on the situation, I thought Bartra did the best that he could against Bayern seeing as he was not constantly playing. However, if Puyol is to make a healthy return, where would Bartra’s minutes come from?

Yesterday, Montoya was on the bench and Bartra was in the stands collecting rust yet again. The club made the big mistake of not signing center backs this summer and so they need to rotate as much as they can in a season as this where the calendar is congested with far too many games without ample time for rest. This is when you depend on the youth to give the veterans some games to rest and keep everyone healthy.

We will soon see whether Tata will go ahead and implement those moves. If not, then expect these young players to continue to be frustrated and perhaps seek an exit in the winter transfer window. That could spell trouble for the club and could also cast a negative reflection for the young players with Barça B who might contemplate their futures too.

What To Do About Bojan - Part 2?

What To Do About Bojan?

Barça code means Abidal will be third choice.

Barça & Barça B – can we keep up with both?

This upcoming football season brings us a double dose of Blaugrana teams playing on the same weekend. Luis Enrique led the youthful Barça Atlètic, now known again as Barça B, to La Segunda for the first time since the late 90’s. The season, his side will face clubs that Guardiola and the first team know so well and can say were responsible for getting them relegated. With Barcelona focused on facing the likes of Valencia, Villarreal, Sevilla and Real Madrid, Barça B will be facing the likes of Real Betis, Celta Vigo, and Numancia along with recently relegated Xerex and Tenerife. Can fans keep up with both teams in the upcoming season?

For the diehard fan in us, we cannot wait to see Pep Guardiola lead his team towards the quest for
the third consecutive league title. However, we also have Luis Enrique and Barça B to look forward
as the team returns to Barça B for the first time since 1998-1999 season. For the diehard fan is us,
getting to watch these guys on a regular basis will be tricky since there is no coverage for La
Segunda games in the US. Best bet will be through internet streams or satellite broadcast of Barça
TV or local Spanish channels that televise those games but it will be nice to get back to back games
of Barça B followed by FC Barcelona in one day.

We should keep an eye out on Barça B this season since we get to see our younger players take on
the toughest competition they have ever faced in their young careers. It was not too long ago that
Barcelona was facing stiff competition from the likes of Real Betis and Numancia and now it will be
Barça B’s turn to face those teams along with clubs that just returned back from La Primera after one
season such as Tenerife and Xerex. We get to see the likes of Jonathan, Thiago, Muniesa, Fontàs,
Barta, Romeu and Rochina as they strive to make the move to the first team. Luis Enrique will have
his hands full if Guardiola decides to call up some of Lucho’s players to be part of the first team to fill in at times during next season.

Our hands will be full too in trying to keep with both teams over the same weekend for most of the
season. Hopefully both teams have a great seasons and the players from Barça B continue mature
and slowly integrate to the first team while Barça B stays in La Segunda at the same time. Just hope
it’s possible for us Cules in America to watch it as it happens because I sure wouldn’t mind a nice
day to kick back and watch both of those teams on the same day.