5 tweaks Barcelona should look to make next season

The Blaugrana are having a curious end to the current season. By all accounts and using all reasonable metrics, the team and manager Ernesto Valverde are having a fantastic season as they have already won the Copa Del Rey, will win the La Liga title in the next few games and are on the verge of going unbeaten for the entire season.

However, the disgraceful loss to AS Roma in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League after surrendering a 4-1 lead from the first leg has cast a dark shadow over the season and there are already signs that the club may face a second consecutive summer of major reconstruction.

Much loved captain Andres Iniesta is set to leave the club at the end of the season while the situation with Samuel Umtiti remains unresolved.

Here are 5 things that Barca will need to do in order to be competitive on all fronts:

#5 Sell off fringe players and reduce wage bill

Alcácer is one of the fringe players that need to be sold

Given the enormity of the club's wage bill, steps should be taken to ensure that certain fringe players whose contributions to the team are negligible.

Normally, a football club is expected to limit the wages its pays players/staff to less than 70% of its annual budget but given the contract renewals and attendant wage increases given to Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Gerard Pique and Sergi Roberto since last year, the club is dangerously close to exceeding that figure.

In fact, it was only due to Neymar's world record move to PSG that enabled the club break even this season. While deals with sponsors like Nike (kit manufacturer), Rakuten (shirt sponsor) and Beko (sleeve sponsor) among others are bringing in money, the huge bonuses and salaries being paid are burning money fast.

The likes of Lucas Digne, Andre Gomes, Paco Alcácer, Aleix Vidal, Rafinha among others may need to be moved on to generate funds and at the same time reduce the wage bill to a more manageable level.

The exit of a high earner like Iniesta will help but more will need to be done to decongest the squad and raise funds for the next transfer window(s).

#4 Look to La Masia

La Masia products like Cucurella can help the team next season

One of the pet peeves that Culés have had against the Sandro Rosell-Josep Bartomeu presidencies has been the apparent decline in the quality/quantity of players coming from the academy/youth team to the senior side.

Utility man, Sergi Roberto is the last La Masia graduate to have become an important member of Barcelona's first team, a situation that would have been inconceivable when Joan Laporta was president.

Rosell and Bartomeu prioritized foreign signings over investing in the club's famed academy and the result has been a decline in the quality of graduates from there.

Given the need to rid the club of underperforming squad players, any players who will be sold will also have to be replaced and this is where the brightest of La Masia's current crop can come in and fill the gap.

Barcelona "B" is currently languishing in 20th position on the Segunda table but certain players such as left back Marc Cucurella, central midfielder Carlos Alena, midfielder Oriol Busquets among others have shown enough to suggest that they can contribute to the first team next season.

#3 Become less negative

Valverde will need to ease off on the defensive mindset

It cannot be avoided; while manager Valverde has done a magnificent job in steering the affairs of the club, it has become obvious to even the most casual observer that he has chosen to sacrifice the club's attacking ethos for defensive solidity.

This season has seen Barcelona score 83 goals in 33 La Liga matches while in the whole of last season where the team came second to arch-rival Real Madrid, 116 goals were scored in 38 games.

Defensively, there have been improvements (19 conceded in 33 games in the league this season while 37 goals were conceded last season) but fans have become restless as the style of play has lacked the attacking verve, intricate passing and "wow" factor that has become a central part of the club's DNA.

The overtly defensive posture of the team was partly responsible for the disastrous 2nd leg clash with AS Roma as Valverde's tactics of making the team sit back invited the Romans to continuously attack Marc-Andre ter Stegen's goal and the pressure eventually told.

Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembélé will have settled in next season and the attacking should be better but Valverde will have to take off the handbrakes and let his attackers express themselves.

#2 Avoid the transfer mistakes of the recent past

Rakitić has been one of the better buys in recent history

Many trophies have been won under the last two presidencies: the Rosell era (2010-2014) & Bartomeu's (2014- present) but a lot of head-scratching transfers have been made in this period with few working out as expected.

The big money signings of Neymar, Luis Suárez, Ivan Rakitić among others have worked out brilliantly for the club while some lesser money signings like Umtiti, ter Stegen have also proven to be great value for the relatively cheap fees paid for them.

It is too early to make a definitive call on whether this season's purchases; Coutinho, Dembélé, Nélson Semedo, Paulinho & Yerry Mina have been worth it and they should prove their worth next season.

The club was panicked by the loss of prestige that Neymar's move to Ligue 1 seemed to signify and it panicked and overpaid for some of its buys this season especially for Coutinho, Dembélé, and Paulinho. This panic buying will need to be avoided next season.

However, too many buys over the last few seasons have failed to deliver and have cost the club huge in terms of wages and transfer fees. Alcácer, Gomes, Digne, Vidal, Arda Turan are some of the recent purchases that have failed to add anything to the team.

Director of football Albert Soler, head of international scouting, Ariedo Braida, the head of national scouting, Carles Rexach and manager Valverde must all be smarter in making decisions and work to ensure past mistakes are avoided.

#1 Help Lionel Messi

The Magical One has had to carry the team this season

It is not an exaggeration to say that a large chunk of the credit for Barca's season should go to Messi. Following the predictions of an apocalypse that followed Neymar's decision to move to PSG and the resentment by club fans of the Bartomeu-led board, not much was expected of the team this season.

However, too many people dismissed the club too quickly as it seemed that amidst the bedlam, it was forgotten that the club still had in its fold, the G.O.A.T himself.

In 52 games this season, the magical one has gotten 42 goals and 14 assists, numbers that are the envy of the cream of world football. However, at certain times, the strain of being both creator and scorer has weighed him down and this, in turn, has affected the team's productivity.

Suárez has been below average this season especially in the Champions League where he only scored one goal in 9 games. Wingers like Gerard Deulofeu (on loan at Watford) and Dembélé (injury) have contributed little while the less said about Alcácer, the better.

Manager Valverde will need to switch up the tactics and if need be, get more attacking players in the summer's transfer window e.g. Atletico Madrid's Antoine Greizmann to relieve the burden on Messi.