The Barça Transfers That Almost Happened – Andrea Pirlo & Lorenzo Amoruso

When Pep almost brought the Italian star and how luck separated the club from player from Rangers.

It's that time of the year when we are bombarded with gossip that this player or that player is rumored to be pursued by Barça. Summer transfer window gives us, the Blaugrana faithful, something to discuss and ponder as we wait to see what moves our club will do. The number of players rumored to be joining Barça every summer could be enough to field three additional lineups. In the end, only a few of the rumors became reality while most dissipate into the wind. This series though will look back on the possible Barça transfers that almost happened. This chapter deals with the pursuit of the Italian players Andrea Pirlo and Lorenzo Amoruso.

The 2010 Joan Gamper Trophy match saw the return of Ronaldinho to the Camp Nou, as a member of the Milan team that played Barça that night. Obviously, it was special for the Camp Nou faithful to pay tribute to one of the biggest stars to ever play for the club. However, it was also a difficult night for the club as they were finalizing a deal to offload Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Milan. David Villa had been signed by Barça and they were in need to offload the Swede after he was deemed surplus to requirements by then manager Pep Guardiola.

While the media and the fans were wondering if Ibrahimovic had made his final appearance in the Blaugrana kit that night, another development was taking place elsewhere at the Camp Nou involving Guardiola and a certain Milan player. Rossoneri legend Andrea Pirlo had just finished changing, after witnessing his “Panenka” penalty effort thwarted by Barça keeper Pinto during the penalty shootout, when he was requested to meet with Guardiola. The meeting in in Guardiola’s office was a private recruiting pitch.

This ocurrence was so private that the rest of the world did not learn of this encounter till four years had passed, after Pirlo published his autobiography “I Think Therefore I Play.” This meeting lasted half an hour with Pirlo being greeted with red wine and Pep uttering “We need you here, Andrea.” Pep explained that he considered Pirlo the proper world class midfielder to rotate with Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets. Pep also indicated that the club wanted to buy him now and had spoken to Milan but Barça’s offer was declined. Pep was also shrewd suggesting to Pirlo to apply some pressure on Milan by “forcing their hand as well."

Pep’s interest in Pirlo was not unexpected since they are midfielders that shared similar traits. Pep admired Pirlo and Pirlo idolized Pep. Both also played for Italian side Brescia, albeit not at the same time, along with Roberto Baggio, and when Carlo Mazzone was the manager. Pirlo could have been a superb choice to rotate with the likes of Xavi. Pirlo even admitted in his book that he would have crawled on all fours to join Barça. However, the deal failed to materialize and the club signed Javier Mascherano instead. Not a bad outcome in the slightest considering the Argentine's success at the club.

Barça were not his only suitors as Pirlo almost joined Chelsea in 2009, but Milan demanded too much in return, and there was also interest from Real Madrid. Yet, Milan were not interested in selling Pirlo to Barça and kept him for the 2010/2011 season while Barça would go on to win another Champions League. Ironically, that would be Pirlo’s final season with Milan as he only made 25 appearances for the club, the fewest since his first season with Milan in 2001/2002. The Italians decided not to renew his contract and he joined Juventus on a free transfer. One wonders why Barça also did not make a move for him back then.

Perhaps signing Cesc Fàbregas the following summer eliminated the need to sign Pirlo. Looking back at that move now, many would have preferred if Barça had signed Pirlo and not Cesc. Nonetheless, one has to wonder if signing Pirlo would have been a good move for Barça. Franco Colomba, Pirlo’s manager at Reggina, expressed his doubts to FourFourTwo that Pirlo would not have enjoyed sitting on the bench at Juventus if he could play elsewhere and that it would have created tension. Maybe Pep’s influence would have smoothed that issue.

Nevertheless, Pirlo still got to be admired by Barça fans, even though he was donning another team’s shirt. Following Barça’s Champions League final win over Juventus in 2015, the Barça fans in Berlin showed their appreciation towards the legendary player by chanting Pirlo’s name as he was in tears following his side’s loss. Perhaps he took some solace from that nice gesture that maybe also took some of the sting out of that defeat.

Coincidentally, Barça does not have a rich history of signing Italian players as the club only had three Italian players representing the club. All those players arrived in this century: Gianluca Zambrotta, who lasted two years, was signed in 2006; Francesco Coco, who joined the club on loan for the 2001/2002 season; and Demetrio Albertini, who joined the club on loan for the second half of the 2004/2005 season. All three would have forgettable spells with the club. Although Thiago Motta played for Barcelona’s first team from 2001 till 2007, he was a member of Brazil’s U-23 side before he got his first cap for Italy in 2011.

One Italian player that Barça allegedly were interested was Glasgow Rangers defender, Lorenzo Amoruso as he would captain his team to a domestic treble during the 1999/2000 season. At the time, there were reports that he was being pursued by Barça, Juventus and Bayern Munich. Amoruso even talked in an April 2000 interview with the Daily Record of Barça’s interest but was only willing to join if Rangers agreed to sell him. "It's true that these teams are behind me. Barcelona and Bayern Munich were looking for me, but I will only speak to them if Rangers say that Lorenzo is for sale.”

Back then, Josep Lluís Núñez was president of the club and the Blaugrana had just eliminated Chelsea in the Champions League quarterfinals. It was possible that the club, then managed by Louis van Gaal, were interested in signing the 29 year old Italian defender who likes to refer to himself in the third person. A month later, Barça were embarrassed by Valencia in the semifinals of the Champions League as both Josep Lluís Núñez and van Gaal left the club in the summer. A new president would have to be elected, and any rumors linked to the Italian disappeared. Amoruso would then claim that he turned down Barça to remain with Rangers.

Ultimately, one could say Pirlo would have been a superb addition that could have complemented this magnificent Barça midfield. He also could have been the first Italian signing that was not deemed a flop. Yet, the failed attempt in signing him did not hinder Barça as the club did go on to win two more Champions League titles since that Joan Gamper Trophy match. As for Amoruso, it’s probably for the best that he never joined just to be remembered as another member of the bad signings from the awful Gaspart era.

Barça’s South American Connection Leading The Way.

 

Barça bounced back from their loss to Real Sociedad with seven consecutive wins. Luis Enrique, after some controversy, sorted out a regular starting lineup but much of the credit goes to the front three of Messi, Neymar and Suarez for this win streak.

Things got ugly after that loss to Real Sociedad. Controversy about Lucho and Messi falling out afterwards perhaps changed things for the better. We finally got a fixed starting lineup for the big games instead of the guessing game by the fans, and probably the players, of who was going to start and not. We now have Mascherano to partner Pique in the heart of the defense while Rakitic is starting these big games alongside Iniesta and Busquets. It’s not mystery who the starters up front are; Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez. Barça’s South American Connection.

True, Luis Suarez has struggled to get his goals but his assists have been valuable and his understanding with Messi and Neymar has been beneficial. Messi and Neymar have been clicking as well, as evident from their work against Deportivo. Messi leads the pack and Neymar and Suarez benefit from that and he benefits from their presence too. 

Stats Messi-Neymar-Suarez when they play together (1034 minutes in 14 games): - Messi: 13 G 3 A - Neymar: 9 G 1 A - Suarez: 3 G 10 A
— adil (@Barca19stats) January 31, 2015

It’s premature to think the problems are over. Far from it! This team is still struggling offensively to gel and seems heavily reliant on the front three. The midfield still needs to be more involved and influential because if the front three ever struggle or have an off day, then we will see another Getafe type performance. In general, there is always room for improvement and that is the case for Barça. Hopefully the team can keep this winning streak up and keep improving.

Lucho’s First Test for Barca Reveals More Questions.

September has bid us farewell and October is now upon us. Nevertheless, this new month begins with more questions than answers being provided by FC Barcelona and their manager Luis Enrique. These past few weeks were the manager’s first big test and although he passed his first big test, he still has much work to do.

Back in September, I discussed Luis Enrique’s first big test of the season that awaited him that month. I asked if he would be able to have his players perform well in both competitions and can he keep his players well rested? Will he rotate players and perhaps drop Messi from the odd game and continue to rely on Barça B players? The answers were a mixed bag of yes and no. Overall, this test, which culminated in the PSG loss, was to show us if Luis Enrique can handle the demands of this job. Unfortunately, we are left with more questions than answers after this first test.

The first issue Luis Enrique has to address is his goal keeping situation. Claudio Bravo has performed well in the league without conceding a single goal. I expected Bravo to start yesterday seeing as you should always go with the player who is in hot form. Marc-André ter Stegen has only featured once this season, and that was in the first Champions League match against APOEL two weeks ago.  I had some concern that perhaps he would be a bit rusty for PSG and I would have opted for Claudio Bravo instead. Unfortunately, ter Stegen did not perform well, and neither did those in front of him, and now Luis Enrique has to decide what to do about that position. Should he rotate both more often so both feature at least once a week or just go with Claudio Bravo as his number one and let ter Stegen be the backup and feature in Copa del Rey? Obviously this does not leave third choice Masip with not many minutes at all but Lucho needs to make sure all his keepers are not rusty and in form.

The second issue is the back four. Lucho wants his fullbacks to attack and be part of the offensive juggernaut of this team. Sadly, it’s not working that well. Dani Alves and Jordi Alba both lost the ball a combined 23 times against PSG, with the Brazilian guilty of losing it 15 times. To see Dani Alves still start is alarming seeing his work rate has dropped defensively and he still resorts to countless crosses which result in more turnovers than scoring chances. I have been a big proponent of letting Montoya start where he defends well and will not turn the ball over when he attacks. New signing Douglas had an average debut against Malaga followed by a case of the fever and a bruised foot that saw him miss some action. I wouldn’t be surprised if he plays as often as Dmytro Chygrynskiy did. Meanwhile, Adriano is a decent backup who has come up clutch at times but he is not good enough to replace Alba.

Furthermore, I thought this was the season we would see Mascherano play in the midfield but here we are, yet again, watching him playing center back and although he has great last ditch efforts, he was beaten by David Luiz on the first goal during a set piece. His partner, Mathieu had a subpar performance and has been shaky of late. One wonders why Pique is not starting more often and what does Bartra need to do to get more minutes? Moreover, Vermaelen is now deemed fit so how is Lucho going to handle the center of the defense. Lucho has his work cut out for him in how to keep these guys organized and focused. The clean sheet run in the league is impressive but not whole heartedly convincing. In other words, those clean sheets have been rather fortunate and not the work of a team that is shutting down teams with authority.

The midfield also poses some issues. Lucho wasted Rakitic on the flanks against PSG and didn’t play him in the middle of the pitch where he strives. Iniesta seems to be off to a slow start with some flashes of genius here and there. Busquets is paying the price with some sloppy play because of this new style mixed in with some Xavi-esque moments when it comes to superb passes. Speaking of Xavi, we have not seen enough of him and perhaps we should adjust the lineup to have him feature in a 4 man midfield, or as some would like, with Busquets and Mascherano instead. I never rated Sergi Roberto and if Rafinha is 100% fit, then he should be featuring more than Sergi Roberto.

Up front, Messi is back to his old self again and I am enjoying him pressure high and cause some turn overs after watching a more subdued version of him last season. The problem is that Messi still has to carry everyone on his back and none of the guys up front are doing that for him. Neymar is thriving because of Messi but he is not doing enough for Messi’s sake. Pedro, Munir and Sandro all have gotten to play and all have shown that this is Luis Suarez’s job to lose when he returns later this month.  The problem is the inconsistent ineffective play by the fullbacks in the attack, which probably explains why Lucho wanted to sign Cuadrado this summer, and there is no guarantee that Luis Suarez’s inclusion will solve these problems. These players cannot rely on Messi to bail them out and hopefully Suarez’s inclusion will do that and not become another player reliant on Messi.

The loss to PSG does not mean the sky is falling; Far from it. I expect this team to challenge for both the league title and the Copa del Rey. Champions League football is another story altogether. Lucho got outcoached in this loss and the team’s performance this past month showed that there is an issue of a lack of structure and organization by the players on the pitch. Furthermore, Lucho’s usual tactics leave much to desire when his plan B is to replace one player with another without changing positions or tactics. Perhaps it is a sign of things to come when he did throw us a surprise after he took off Dani Alves and put on Sandro with Mascherano attacking as a full back. That though didn’t seem like a well calculated plan but more of a gamble. This team went through two seasons of poor coaching on the pitch and can ill afford a third straight season of such.  Real Madrid can solve whatever issues they have by buying in the winter; Barça does not have that luxury. These issues have to be resolved by the manager and the players.

An additional element of concern for Lucho will be how he handles players returning from international duty. He was fortunate that many of his big stars missed out on September international duty. I can’t see Messi missing out on playing for Argentina in early October and mid-November; circle your calendars for November 18 when Argentina and Portugal face one another at Old Trafford. Will he be fortunate to have a well-rested squad for those two months like he did for September?

I will end this on a positive note. September was a harsh month that saw the team play 6 matches in 3 weeks with a combined result of four wins, a draw and a loss. That is still a great result and the team is still are league leaders. Also, October with only consist of three league matches, with El Clásico being one of them, and one Champions League match against Ajax Amsterdam at the Camp Nou.  I don’t consider Copa Catalunya Final as a serious fixture and let’s see if it even takes place. Hopefully Lucho and the team will get their act together this month because there is still much to do.

Barça Needs To Clean House.

Barça’s disappointing culmination on what seemed to be a promising season is coming to a bitter end. The hopes of capturing the league crown remain miraculous at best since it is no longer in their hands. With the FIFA transfer ban on hiatus now, the club can make new signings. If the club’s proclamation that new players will be bought is true, then it’s time they clean house; from top to bottom.

This season has been a roller coaster for Barça fans with lots of highs and lows. It was also nostalgic to the 2003-2004 and the 2006-2007 seasons to which I alluded to earlier in the season. 2003-2004 saw two new managers, Frank Rijkaard and Carlos Queiroz, take charge at Barça and Madrid, while 2006-2007 was a nightmare of a season for the Blaugrana where they saw their lead atop of the standings disappear down the stretch and finish runners-up.

I gave Tata Martino the benefit of the doubt earlier in the season but that sailed away following his questionable decisions that saw this team squander their five point lead atop of the standings and kiss good bye to any chance of silverware the past few weeks. Clearly, this hiring has back fired and is yet another black eye for Sandro Rosell who made the decision to hire Tata in the first place. To be fair to Tata, he did request new players which were never provided, much like what Carlos Queiroz endured back in 2003-2004. They both squandered big leads atop of the standings down the stretch, lost in the Copa del Rey Final and exited the Champions League prematurely. Now, Tata falls on the sword that was set in place by this board. In order to go forward, we still need someone new to manage these players and someone who has ties to the club.

Speaking of players, I have been always of the opinion that this team needed to be gutted for a long time. This team could easily see over ten players leave in the summer. Puyol already indicated his career as a Barça player was over and Valdés had his bags packed since last season before he suffered his injury. Injured players such as Jonathan Dos Santos, Afellay, and Cuenca are also surplus to requirements. It’s also time for the club to look into cashing in on Tello, Alex Song, Mascherano and Alexis. Tello hardly plays and if Deulofeu returns from his loan spell at Everton; then he should be getting those minutes instead. As for Alex Song, it was doomed from the start and if Napoli want him, and Mascherano, then cash in on them. Mascherano has played his heart out for the club but is not a defender and will hardly feature as Busquets’s substitute. There’s already talk of Alexis joining Juventus and after three years, it’s time to cut our losses and realize he has the energy of Eto’o but is not a factor against defensive minded teams. There are some fans who are also considering selling Cesc and I can’t blame them after he managed to pull off his disappearing act in the second half of a season for three straight years now. As for Dani Alves, he no longer is the player he once was and his mouth seems to be turning off the fans more than his endless crosses to no one and that could be his final season as a Barça player.

 Thus, that’s eleven players who might not be a part of this team next season. However, before we discuss which players come in to reshape this team, we need to discuss the resignation of this board first. Current Barça president Bartomeu and his board need to resign after sitting on their thumbs and not reinforcing this squad when it was obvious last season. Zubizarreta has done an abysmal job when it comes to signing players and by all means should not be entrusted in future transfers. No, if a revolution is needed, then it needs to start from the top with the board stepping down and allowing someone competent to come in and hire a new manager and have a competent sporting director who knows how to scout and sign players to strengthen this team again. Unless that happens, this team will not progress and just continue to frustrate the Blaugrana faithful and squander the talents of Iniesta and Messi.

Should Barça Seek Reinforcements This Transfer Window?

 Barça’s recent struggles against defensive minded teams have reignited concerns about this team’s ability to compete for titles down the stretch. The areas of concern range from not having adequate depth in case of injuries along with the lack of having a Plan B for teams that park the bus. With Champions League clashes against Manchester City on the horizon, perhaps Barça need to look into getting some players through transfers or on loan during this winter transfer period.

Barça‘s scoreless draw against Atlético Madrid and their recent 1-1 draw to Levante saw them drop points against teams willing to sit back and relinquish possession. Sadly, all that possession didn’t result in numerous scoring chances. This has been a common trend that the Blaugrana have encountered over the years without much success.

These matches are even more difficult when key players are missing. Barça were without Dani Alves, Iniesta and Neymar against Levante while Messi and Neymar came off the bench in the second half against Atlético. It is tough to fathom how this team can cope with more injuries and then expect the likes of Tello and Sergi Roberto to be considered adequate replacements. They are not and that’s clearly a drop in quality.

These matches also displayed the team’s lack of a Plan B when they face teams content to sit back and absorb the pressure. Barça control possession without creating many scoring chances and the opponents try to catch Barça off guard and score on a counter attack. The fact that Barça have also conceded six goals from corner kicks also indicates that they have another area of weakness that needs to be resolved.

So perhaps the club needs to address both issues and look into making some moves during this winter transfer period. I grew up watching the club with forwards who were aerial threats such as Julio Salinas and Patrick Kluivert so perhaps they should make a move for someone like Miroslav Klose or Christian Benteke who could make Tata Martino’s tinkering with the long balls more effective. Their presence would attract the attention of defenders who could clear up space for other players much like Fernando Llorente did for Spain against Portugal in their World Cup clash. 

Furthermore, the club needs to add a center back to ensure they have adequate defending down the stretch. Mascherano is no center back and with Puyol still not fully fit, or dependable for that matter, the team is left with only Pique and Bartra as their only valid options. If one of them goes down with an injury, then the team is in a world of hurt. The team might also want to look into signing an actual winger to provide crosses seeing as Tello, Pedro and Alexis are not wingers either. Then again, Afellay is back from injury and he would fit in quite nicely under Tata’s style.

I did not expect the club to make a push for Mata but that would have been interesting to see him come in and share time with one of the midfielders over Sergi Roberto. Winter transfer period is not historically a time Barça signs players but perhaps they can catch lightning in a bottle again like they did when they added Edgar Davids during the 2003-2004 season. Ultimately, Barça cannot keep relying on the same old strategy without changing some ingredients along with bringing in some new faces or else they are going to make their second half of the season more interesting than it should be.

No Club For Old Men?

Barça suffer two consecutive defeats in a week and suddenly Barça are in a crisis. It’s too soon for me to scream out the sky is falling but there have been signs of fan displeasure regarding Barça’s style of play. Tata Martino has made some changes but perhaps the one change he should consider is initiating a youth movement. In other words, time to give less minutes to Puyol and Xavi.

Sport mentioned yesterday that Puyol was still not 100% fitfor their Copa match even after he hadknee drained a few days ago. Meanwhile, Barça’s new system has made Xavi a shadow of his former self. Xavi’s performance and assists have decreased the past few seasons and it’s no coincidence that is when his Achilles problems began to plague him. Clearly these guys are not the same players from a few years ago. 

Sandro Rosell’s presidency has ushered in a new era for FC Barcelona where it could be deemed as a ruthless business approach. Nevertheless, their off the pitch ruthlessness has not correlated with their on the pitch structure of the football club. They seem reluctant to get away from the past. Perfect example, last season’s epic performance against Milan featured the same lineup that won the Champions League Final at Wembley with the minor exception of Alba starting in place of Eric Abidal.

Is it time for Barça to start focusing on the younger players and put the likes of Xavi and Puyol on the bench on a permanent basis. Puyol is 35 and his body can be the Catalan version of the image of the classic game “Operation” while Xavi is 33 and seems more interested in passing the ball sideways nowadays. As much as I love those legends, perhaps Barça needs to look to the future and not be stuck in the past. 

Barça already lost one phenom, Thiago, because someone like Xavi played in 60 games last season while the young player could hardly feature. Barça has a rough in the diamond in Marc Bartra who has performed well when called upon which merited him a call up to the Spanish national team. However, he has to play second fiddle to Puyol and Mascherano, who happens to be 29. Meanwhile, his fellow colleague, Montoya, is also finding it a tough go to get minutes while he plays second fiddle to Dani Alves and Adriano. Dani Alves is 30 and Adriano is 29.

Players with determination and ambition also want minutes. So Barça have to ask themselves, can they afford to lose more younger players and lose a piece of their future? Or will they still clutch to the past by playing players who might not be up to the task anymore? Now, unlike Rosell, I’m not a heartless guy. I would love to have both players stick around till they retire when they hit 40, albeit with different roles. Perhaps Puyol can start the occasional game here and there, at center back only, whereas Xavi should also start the occasional odd game but more importantly, I can see how useful he would be in games where Barça would require his presence to protect a lead by allowing them to stay in control in the final 15-20 minutes of a match.

Other teams are getting younger and Barça need to realize that it’s just not the style of play that they have been far too deeply reliant on, but it’s their reliance on the old guard as well. Barça have to move with the times and keep the squad young and fresh and not lose their young players to other teams. It’s not an easy decision but Barça need to start looking ahead or else they might find themselves stuck in the past.

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.

Barça Needs To Re-examine Its Youth Policy.

Barça keeps praising the fact that their recent success is because of its reliance on its youth setup. Puyol, Xavi, Valdés, Iniesta and Messi all came through La Masia and helped the club become what it is today. However, young players who have been promoted to the first team from the youth setup recently have been ignored and neglected and this is a worrying trend that might become a problem in the near future.

This season was the commencement of a new era following the departure of Pep Guardiola. Tito Vilanova has stepped in and done well after the disappointing result in the Supercopa. The league is basically theirs to lose while they continue their quest for the treble. With such a commanding lead atop of the standings, one would expect Tito and his assistant, and current interim manager, Jordi Roura to rotate the players into the starting lineups.

Although rotations have been occurring with everyone, not named Messi ,being rested occasionally, a certain group of players have been slighted. Barça B defenders Montoya and Bartra seem to have been left out of the mix. They had featured occasionally a few months ago but neither has seen minutes in 2013.

These players are considered first team players and not Barça B players. Thus, they cannot feature for the B team anymore. However, if they are not even dressing for games, their talents are going to waste. This a pressing concern because the club has made it a habit to hold on to Barça B players by promoting them to the first team. However, that tactic appears to be stunting player development rather than aiding it.

Jonathan Dos Santos is a perfect example of promoting a Barça B player to the first team when the possibility of him playing is impossible. He is a midfielder who has the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Cesc, Song and Thiago ahead of him so minutes were going to be hard to come by. He could have went on loan to another team but refused to do so. That was a mistake on his part as he is basically forced himself out of action. Cuenca played it smart after he accepted to go Ajax Amsterdam on loan than stick around and fight for scraps of minutes. Jonathan Dos Santos should have done the same.

Nevertheless, Montoya and Bartra do not face the same the logjam in their respective positions. Montoya is a brilliant fullback who has to contend with Jordi Alba, Adriano and Dani Alves for minutes. There was no excuse not to see him start a few games here and there recently in order to give those three full backs a breather. Bartra is an up and coming center back who will obviously take a back seat to Puyol, Pique and Mascherano in his respective position. However, the minutes have been hard to come by for him when the club’s league position allows for it. Yesterday was the perfect example where Bartra could have started against a Granada side that had only scored 22 goals in 23 matches. Instead, Bartra found himself sitting in the stands.

These two defenders should be playing more often to gain experience so they can be ready to leap into action in case a player suffers an emergency. Instead, they are being left out of the lineup and are collecting rust. These were players who were promoted and cannot find minutes. The big cause for concern is that the club will be repeating the same mistake next season if the stories are true that Sergi Roberto and Thiago’s brother, Rafinha, will be promoted next season.

Barça needs to stop putting in the players’ contracts these conditions that promise B players to be promoted to the first team. Their promotion is met with plenty of sitting around and lack of playing time. This also affects Barça B when they keep losing their best players to the first team and suffer without those players who would be gaining plenty of minutes over sitting in the stands.

If Barça is that concerned about losing their young players, then they need to re-examine their policy. Promotion without gaining experience is not a step forward. Perhaps the club has to accept that the only way to keep players happy and gain experience through minutes is by loaning them out.  If staying with Barça B is not an option, then loaning them out to other clubs should be looked into. I don’t want to see Bartra, Montoya, Tello, Sergi Roberto and Rafinha sitting on the bench or in the stands next season. Experience is the best form of education and these players will never excel if they continue to be given few minutes here and there.

 

Time to play Bartra.

Is there a Center-Back in the house? Barça’s great start to the season has suffered the disappointing news of losing both starting Centre Backs Puyol and Pique to injuries. Even though there was a need to sign another centre-back this summer, the club opted to sign another Defensive Midfielder who could play the role of a centre-back. Well, there is a young talented player on the bench waiting for his moment. The moment is now and it’s about time that the club played Marc Bartra.

First it was Puyol and then it was Pique. Barça fans have been accustomed to seeing their best players suffer an injury here and there over the years. However, we were not ready to see both our centre-backs out with injuries so soon. We went from a club that had two starting centre-backs and one young centre-back to basically one young centre-back in need of minutes with defensive midfielders sharing the load in the back. Marc Bartra has been patiently waiting for his chance to prove himself and the time has come.

I have never been a fan of Pep’s decision to rely on the likes of Yaya, Mascherano and Busquets playing in the centre-back position. Those were great ideas for a quick fix but not for the long term. As much as I enjoy watching Mascherano play, I think his time as centre-back should come to an end. The warning signs were there last season in the big matches where he was shown to be a liability such as his poor header clearance in the San Siro that lead to Prince’s goal against Milan; Ronaldo sprinting past him to scoring the game winning goal in the Camp Nou, not picking up Drogba during the counter attack that lead to Chelsea’s only goal of the game, his poor tackle on Lampard that resulted in a counter attack goal for Ramires; and more recently his poor clearance attempt in the second leg of the Supercopa. Just watching him partner Song against Spartak Moscow on Wednesday showed us that the club should have bought defenders to re-enforce the back four.

Mascherano has been a great player and person for Barça but he is not a centre-back. I don’t care that he helped the club win the Champions League when he started against Manchester United. A few good games do not wipe out a recent string of bad displays in big games. If his name was Oleguer or Rafa Marquez, fans would be all over him. The club should have bought a centre-back and I don’t believe the talk that the club never wanted to buy one because they have Mascherano so that’s why they bought Song. They wanted to get Thiago Silva or Javi Martinez but were scared off by the price tag. Unfortunately, they could have signed Botia, who is a former youth player currently on loan with Sevilla, Chico, former Barça B player who played for Pep and played a key part in helping the B team gain promotion and is currently playing for Swansea City, and Jan Vertonghen, former Ajax player who just went to Spurs for €12.5 million, for maybe half of the cost of one of those big named stars.

What’s been done has been done. Perhaps the club will sign someone when the winter transfer window opens or wait till next season when they go after the likes of Dortmund’s Hummels.  I hope the club does eventually sign a centre-back. I am tired of watching Barça repeat history by suffering from some dreadful defending too. We saw it during the final days of the “Dream Team” when Koeman was past it and it hurt this team. Rijkaard's last 2 years saw a lot of poor defenders around Puyol and now we are subjected to watching history repeat itself as we watch this team concede silly goals from poor defending. Pique still has his head in the clouds from time to time and Mascherano can't clear with his head and will get burned by a speedy forward.

If you think that this team wins on its offense alone, then look back at their triumphant Champions League titles and see how many blowouts they had in the semi-final stage, 0-1, 0-0 against Milan; 0-0, 1-1 against Chelsea; 0-2; 1-1 against Real Madrid. They relied on keeping clean sheets when they won those titles and not by winning 4-3 or 3-2 every game.

Barça’s legacy has always been on relying on their academy products. We have already seen that Montoya is ready to compete for the right-back position and in my opinion is the heir apparent to Dani Alves. Puyol was thrown in as a right back when he was young and he turned out alright. Chapi Ferrer, Pep, and Sergi were all thrown in as youngsters too and the “Dream Team” benefitted from it. Puyol was 21. Chapi was 20. Sergi was 22. Montoya is 21. I'm not saying bench Alves but I prefer to see Montoya start ahead of Adriano in that position and rotate with Dani Alves to give the Brazilian fullback some rest.

We have had a history of giving young players a chance. Xavi and Iniesta turned out alright. Messi turned out alright. Valdés turned out alright even with his odd brain farts. Busquets was how old again when he got to play ahead of Yaya? So it’s time to give minutes to Bartra. We've seen him play in Champions League games and Copa del Rey games before. He is a promising 6'0 centre-back who was also the captain of Spain’s national team at the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup. More importantly, he showed us that he's no Fontas with his decisions and his thinking. He deserves to be playing and he deserves playing minutes now that the club is without any centre-backs. Unfortunately, we will never know unless we see him out there on the pitch getting the minutes in matches. Today, Barça host Granada and this is the perfect moment to get him out there and gain some experience and shake off some rust. The moment is now and it’s about time that the club played Marc Bartra and not another defensive midfielder in the heart of the defense.

 

Busy week for Barça.

FC Barcelona sure had a busy week with Mascherano signing a new deal and the return of David Villa and Carles Puyol to training among the good news headlines. However, they had to deal with some whining from the Catalan FA and Espanyol following the cancellation of the Copa Catalunya. Fortunately, that brief moment of cry babying was forgotten when the good news was announced about Eric Abidal joining the team for their trip to Paris when they face Paris St. Germaine and three former teammates.

  What a busy week it was for Barça indeed. It kicked off with the good news that Javier Mascherano had signed a new deal with the club that will see him remain with the club till 2016. I won’t lie. I thought his transfer was one that never made sense. Busquets was already the starting Defensive Midfielder and his playing time caused Toure Yaya to leave. So why sign a well-known player who will be playing as a backup to Busquets?

Fortunately, Guardiola used him as a center-back and the rest is history. Sure, he was caught out a few times late last season that allowed the opposition to exploit him as the weakest link. However, his overall performances since joining the club have been impeccable and here’s hoping the next four years will see more domination from Mascherano.

The other good news was seeing Puyol and Villa back training. We always knew Puyol would be back but there are doubts about David Villa. When he broke his leg back in December, doctor s said he would be out a few months. Villa’s injury has been rather a mysterious one. There was talk of Villa coming back late in the season against Real Madrid so he can be ready for Euro 2012. Well, the injury took more time than expected and we never saw him play for Barça or Spain. I think this is Villa’s last season with the club, especially with Neymar lurking around the corner.  He will probably feature next week for the first time since December.

Hopefully the old David Villa will return and not an old David Villa that we saw struggling throughout the first half of last season before the big injury. He was playing hurt supposedly so we will see. I think this is his last season to impress, especially with Neymar still lurking about.  Unfortunately, this sport is notorious for “what have you done for me lately” when it comes to treating players and Villa hasn’t really done much.

As for the Copa Catalunya being scrapped after no one could work out a decent schedule and Catalan FA objected to Barça’s B team representing. Good Riddance. If the Catalan FA doesn’t like what transpired, then maybe they should abstain from calling up Barça players for their annual international friendly. I don’t recall the club raising a stink when backup goal keeper Jorquera suffered a major injury while representing Catalunya in their annual December friendly that forced Barça to get Pinto. The cup has no real meaning and the fact that Mourinho did win this cup for Barça when he was the assistant manager, doesn’t really give it a warm spot in our hearts either.

I enjoy the idea of the Copa Catalunya but the Catalan FA and Espanyol have to wake up and realize that Barça are involved in other friendlies so they can’t adjust their schedule to accommodate them. Maybe they should have scheduled it before the end of the last league season and not wait till the last second. Poor planning is what killed this cup, not Barça. The Catalan FA should accept that it will never become a popular summer tournament as long as Barça has lucrative deals to play other teams and in other countries at the same time. In my opinion, they should just hold it like the TIM Trophy in Italy where Milan, Inter and Juventus play each other all in one evening in three round-robin 45-minute matches. That’s the only way I can see this cup being held in the future but that’s not what the Catalan FA has in mind.

Barça now will play their third summer friendly today when they travel to France and face PSG. The venue will be a special one for Barça. The Stade de France was the venue where Barça defeated Arsenal to win their second Champions League title. It will be nice for those who featured or were on that team and celebrated that magical night, to return to this venue again. This friendly will also feature three former Barça players, Thiago Motta, Maxwell and Ibrahimovic, representing the French side too along with Thiago Silva, a player Barça were very interested in signing this summer. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN Deportes and streamed live on ESPN 3.

However, the big star attraction of the trip is Eric Abidal. The French defender made the trip to his country with his teammates today. Sometimes we forget that these players are human, regardless of their talent, achievements and wealth, so it is great to see Abidal up and about as he recovers from the medical procedures he underwent to save his life. He has given Barça a lot as a player but also a lot as a brave man. Here’s hoping he continues to recover and resume a normal healthy life with his family.

Guardiola’s gambling habits regarding his lineups.

We have seen Pep Guardiola achieve great success in these past three seasons thanks to his vision, his assistants and a great squad of players. Yet, Pep has also achieved his success with some unorthodox team selections that showed us that he not a man afraid to gamble. What makes this is so strange that Pep is the type who likes to play it safe especially with his new plan on taking three goal keepers on every away match.

Guardiola can be called many things. A visionary, a motivator, a demanding but fair coach, but what about being called a gambler? Take for example Barça’s recent 2-3 victory against Milan in Italy. Barça had previously faced Milan in the first group stage match and the game ended in a 2-2 draw with Milan scoring both goals in the opening and dying seconds of the match. Pep fielded Mascherano and Busquets as his starting center backs since Pique was out with an injury and Puyol was still not match fit. No need to remind everybody what happened in the opening seconds of the game.

So it was rather surprising that when both teams met again this past Wednesday, Guardiola had Pique and Puyol at his disposal as starting center backs but opted to start Puyol as the right back in place of the suspended Dani Alves while Pique sat on the bench. No explanation was given by Guardiola as to why Pique was not in the starting lineup, let alone why he didn’t feature in the second half to help his side protect a one goal lead. Then again, it is not that surprising.

Fortunately, the team won 2-3 but Mascherano and Busquets played a part in Milan’s second goal with their poor efforts in the air. Mascherano’s header clearance fell short of eliminating a Milan threat and Busquets effort to head the ball came up short and failed to make up for Mascherano’s mistake. Of course, this is not to take credit away from Boateng who scored a splendid goal, but Boateng would have never seen the ball had either player dealt with the ball better in the first place.

Ultimately the gamble paid off but why did Pep have to gamble in the first place? He had both Puyol and Pique available to play as center backs. We all know Puyol played as a right back early in his career but the veteran leader has racked a lot of mileage on those legs and is asking a lot from the veteran. Why wasn’t Barça B’s Martín Montoya called up to play in Dani Alves’s place? Since last season, the 20 year old has shined for club and country. So why not give him the chance at a big stage? Even as a substitute?

Like I said before, Guardiola’s decisions are not that surprising. Over the years, Guardiola has gotten away with odd decisions with lineups. In his first season, we saw midfielder Victor Sanchez put in performances as a full back for a handful of league matches and Touré Yaya started as a center back over Caceres in the Rome Champions League Final. The following season saw Dani Alves and Maxwell start as midfielders before we saw Pep turn completely mad scientist and experiment with Busquets as a center back before starting both Busquets and Mascherano as center backs with the odd occasion of playing Barça B midfielder Jonathan Dos Santos as a right back in some Copa Del Rey matches. Thus, another title you can bestow on Guardiola is unpredictable.

Fortunately, his gambles have mostly paid off. That is what makes it so odd to see Pep gamble on Wednesday when he is also the type who likes to play it safe. Best example of this was his recent decision to travel with three goal keepers for every away match. The idea sprang because of Valdés’s injury prior to the first Copa Del Rey match of the season. Pinto was going to start the game against L'Hospitalet with Valdes as his back up. However, an elbow injury forced Valdes to miss the game. Fortunately, Guardiola knew he could call up Barça B’s Oier to make the short journey and join the team seeing as their opponents were only 7 km away.

However, Guardiola realized he was fortunate that Valdés’s injury occurred in the same region and not somewhere distant such as Sevilla, Madrid or Milan. According to reports coming out of Barcelona sports dailies, Guardiola will now travel with three keepers for every away match. Thus, if any of his first team keepers, Valdes, or Pinto, pick up an injury during training or while warming up prior to kickoff; Guardiola would have his Barça B keeper fill in as a substitute on the bench. If neither of the veteran keepers are hurt, then the “In case of emergency, break glass” Barça B keeper will not dress for the game and sit in the stands.

Therefore, it does come off odd for Guardiola to play it safe when it comes to traveling with an extra goal keeper but would still gamble on who will play in the back four. Of course Guardiola is the Puto Crack as the coach of the club. But I think many would agree with me that his gambling with who plays in the back four is a bit too much for our heart rates and blood pressure. Hopefully the days of Mascherano and Busquets lining up as center backs will be a thing of history but you never know with Guardiola; He could play someone else there instead. 

What we learned from the Barça-Arsenal encounter.