Barcelona - The need to adapt and evolve

Smart Business in transfer market

Barcelona aren’t the smartest club when it comes to transfer market deals! Disastrous deals like Dmytro Chgrynskiy(bought for €25 million and sold back for €15 million the next season) or Zlatan Ibrahimovic(bought for €46 million + Eto’o and loaned out to Milan the next season with option to buy at season’s end for €24 million) or Thiago Alcantara(won’t sadden more with details) haunt Barca fans’ memories.

Barcelona needs to be smart on the transfer market. They already have 3 classic wingers, with Iniesta and Messi capable of playing in the LW and RW respectively. So, players like Tello, Afellay, Bojan or Isaac Cuenca are surplus to their needs. If recent rumours are to be believed, Liverpool and some English clubs are interested in Tello, and they could fetch around €10 million for his services. Also, Song is also rumoured to be on his way out as is Dani Alves(possibly to PSG): these players, in total, might fetch Barcelona around €40-42 million!

Tello on way out?

Buying necessary players

Now, let us consider Barcelona’s incoming deals. If a plan B is to be possible, they need a proper ST or CF. Aguero might cost them in excess of €50-60 million, so that might not be a wise choice. Instead, they can look at possible cheaper alternatives like Mario Mandzukic(who would be forced to play second fiddle to Lewandowski at Bayern next season) or even a certain costlier Diego Costa.

Barcelona to get Sergio Aguero?

As for the centre back position, with Puyol leaving, you might envision Marc Bartra to take up place alongside Gerard Pique. But Barcelona do need to buy possibly two centre backs: Real Sociedad’s Inigo Martinez and Villareal’s Mateo Musacchio seems cheaper, proper alternatives, or even Dortmund’s Mats Hummels who is more than capable with the ball at his feet (Athletic’s Aymeric Laporte, with his €36 million buy-out clause seems too high for a 19 year old teenager)!

Barcelona have relentlessly pursued David Luiz for the past couple of seasons, but if they do end up buying him, it would be advisable to play him in CDM, like Mourinho has been doing the past couple of matches. As of now, Barcelona’s best bet for the CB position might be AS Roma’s Mehdi Benatia: he is excellent in reading the game, is an adept passer and is very strong in the air.

David Luiz – CB or CDM?

Playing players in proper positions

If you look at the way Javier Mascherano plays, you can easily mistake him for a sort of defensive midfield enforcer, not a starter centre back for one of the biggest football clubs in the world. That’s possible because Mascherano is a really poor CB. He played his best football, in my opinion, as a defensive midfielder in a Liverpool shirt. He needs to be given the same role here, with the occasional appearances as a centre back.

Also, people have criticised Cesc Fabregas as not having the same impact he did in Arsenal. Truth be told, he hasn’t been used in the same capacity in Barcelona. He has either been told to replicate Xavi’s role(for which he has lesser understanding of play and patience) or Messi’s role(for which he has lesser dribbling skills or shooting abilities).

Fabregas plays best as an attacking midfielder, preferably behind the striker. He needs to be given a role in Barca that replicates that, because, let’s be honest, players like Xavi or Messi can never be “replaced” in a squad.

More development of youth prospects

Early to middle of last decade was the golden era for Barcelona youth development. Players like Messi, Pedro, Pique, Iniesta, Busquets, Fabregas etc all graduated around that time and broke into the first team squad, dominating world football. But since then, development has become a bit stagnant. Players like Bojan, Fontas and Cuenca are all showing initial potential, only to fade away.

Players like Thiago Alcantara showed promise too, but he wasn’t given adequate first-team football and is now flourishing in Bayern Munich under Pep Guardiola. Barcelona still have a lot of bright aspects coming through arguably, the best footballing academy, La Masia, like Deulofeu, Rafinha (Thiago’s brother), Montoya, Sergi Roberto, Bartra etc, whereas players like Bagnack, Ie, Grimaldo, Denis Suarez, el Haddadi, Dongou-Tsafack, Sergi Samper and Adama Traore are certainly ones to look at for the future(Barcelona have won the UEFA Youth League of this season).

But they do need first team football, they do need experience. While Marc Bartra, Martin Montoya and Sergi Roberto have already broken into the first team squad, players like Deulofeu and Rafinha certainly should be given chances to flourish next season.

Barcelona’s future?

Next season is a new season; and what Barca fans possibly want most is a change in the board-members’ philosophy and thought process! They need to stop thinking that tiki-taka (or whatever Barça is playing now) is invincible- it is miles from it! Different situation require different tactics; you can’t try to eat meat with fork and then use it to scoop wine.

Barca needs to adapt and evolve if it wants to survive. After all, when the motto of your club is Mes Que Un Club (more than a club), you do need to pay heed to whatever your supporters are demanding and work with them for the best interests of the club.