Should Luis Enrique persist with Claudio Bravo as Barcelona's number 1 next season?

One of the main criticisms of Gareth Southgate’s England U21 squad was that he did not maximise the national pool. The likes of Ross Barkley, Raheem Sterling and Jack Wilshere, among others, were all eligible to turn out for the Three Lions at the European U21 Championship, yet played no part in what turned out to be a disappointing campaign in the Czech Republic.

It’s a stark contrast from the likes of Portugal and Denmark, for example, with William Carvalho, Viktor Fischer and Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg each having turned out for their senior national team in the past. Carvalho alone has 13 caps to his name for A Selecção, which is no meagre return for a 23-year-old.

One to add to such a list, of course, is German shot-stopper Marc-André ter Stegen. The obvious difference between he and the aforementioned trio, however, is that Ter Stegen came into the tournament as a Champions League and Copa Del Rey winner. The 23-year-old was deemed Barcelona’s "cup ‘keeper" last season, with fellow summer arrival Claudio Bravo carrying out league duties for Luis Enrique’s side.

The young Germany international was initially brought in as Victor Valdes’ replacement between the sticks, so the acquisition of Bravo came as something of a surprise to some. Naturally, any team would want to boast two world-class goalkeepers on their books, with the increase in competition benefitting both players.

Enrique often rotated his goalkeepers during his time as Barcelona B boss, so the plan of action was - supposedly - to pit Ter Stegen and Bravo against one another in pre-season, with the better of the two emerging as Barcelona’s number one.

However, injury to Ter Stegen following his arrival made Enrique’s choice that much easier, with Bravo fulfilling league duties with aplomb. The former Real Sociedad star went a record-breaking 754 minutes of league action from the start of the campaign before conceding his first goal last term and kept more clean sheets (23) than any other goalkeeper in Europe’s top 5 leagues last season.

At 32 years of age, Bravo is not going to begin to decline any time soon either, such is the longevity of a goalkeeper’s career. Either way, Enrique has a decision to make with regards to his starting shot-stopper. Ter Stegen’s flutter with first team action in the Champions League and Copa Del Rey for the Blaugrana will have piqued his interest, while a solid showing at the U21 Euros so far will go a long way to convincing his club manager that he is worthy of being Barcelona’s permanent starting shot-stopper.

The counter argument here, however, is that Bravo has also impressed for Chile at the 2015 Copa America. The experienced Chilean has been forced to pick the ball out of his net just 3 times in 4 appearances at the competition as Jorge Sampaoli’s side look to win their first ever Copa America on home turf. A save success rate of 70% is a worthy return for any goalkeeper, while this figure in La Liga last season (79.8%) was the best in Spain’s top tier.

However, as good a shot-stopper as Bravo is, his distribution is perhaps not up to the standards of his junior counterpart, especially for a team of Barcelona’s calibre. The European champions favour a system where attacks are built from the back. This is highlighted in that Barcelona averaged more possession (69.7%) in La Liga last season than any other team, while only Bayern Munich (64%) did so more in the Champions League (60.6%).

Therefore, a goalkeeper who can help instigate attacks from the back is a necessity in this Barcelona side. Bravo, in that regard, has not exactly disappointed, averaging a 76.7% and 80% pass success rate at the Copa America and in Spain’s top tier last term respectively. An average of 6.3 and 4.4 accurate long balls per game is not to be scoffed at either, though it’s fair to say Ter Stegen has outperformed his goalkeeping rival in each department.

Only 10 players to make at least 2 starts at the U21 Euros have a better pass success rate than Ter Stegen (88.4%). Considering he is averaging 51.7 passes per game, this is a mightily impressive return for a goalkeeper.

His average of 7.5 and 7.3 accurate long balls per game in the Champions League and U21 Euros respectively also stand him in good stead and, importantly, are both better than Bravo. This only accentuates Ter Stegen’s statistically calculated WhoScored strength of ‘long passing’, with the German clearly a commendable performer with the ball at his feet, a much-needed trait for the modern-day goalkeeper.

Bravo is capable of performing this duty, yet is not of the standard of Ter Stegen, who is only going to get better. Enrique now has a decision on his hands ahead of the upcoming season as to who his regular goalkeeper will be. Neither put a foot wrong in their respective competition, nor have they underwhelmed for their national team this summer. Given his displays in La Liga last term, it would be harsh of Enrique to drop Bravo, though Ter Stegen was initially drafted in as Valdes’ replacement.

Either way, it’s a selection headache Enrique welcomes and, for a team of Barcelona’s stature, it’s likely the Spanish team will play upwards of 60 games next season, so the two goalkeepers are expected to gain ample playing time for their club. A lack of competitive action in La Liga, however, could see the former midfielder persist with Bravo for the beginning of the new campaign, before easing Ter Stegen into league duties as the season wears on.