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Last season was a record-breaking one in La Liga for the Spanish Champions FC Barcelona, yet strangely enough, unconvincing for the Blaugrana fans. Despite losing only three matches in the entire campaign, they were judged ultimately by the three defeats near the end, trivializing all the credit which was well-deserved otherwise.
One of those resounding defeats was the infamous meltdown at the Stadio Olimpico in the UEFA Champions League, which saw them crash out of the competition in the quarter-finals. The other two came in the Copa Del Rey and La Liga respectively.
Although the Copa defeat was vindicated just after a week following the return leg win at home that saw them go through in the competition and eventually lift the cup, the La Liga defeat, away to Levante, was a catastrophe no one saw coming.
In the end, the Catalans completed a domestic double which, although historic, wasn't the unbeatable campaign everyone had hoped for, especially following their UCL exit.
With just a few weeks left before the league campaign kicks off, here are 4 things every Barça fan should be excited for.
#1 Second Coming of Eric Abidal
Considering how Robert Fernandez's 'Project 22' did not turn out as expected -- with the sole exception of Samuel Umtiti, many failed transfers piled up like deadwood at the club, and General Manager Pep Segura ultimately opted to let him go and bring in the fan favorite Eric Abidal.
As the club was dealing with the cringeworthy 'La Decision' episode of Antoine Griezmann after months of reported interest, Abidal's appointment came as a welcome change, one that many fans believed was desperately needed, especially after a string of ridiculous transfer debacles.
The legendary left-back, who lifted the UCL trophy in London, back in 2012, can be considered as the first official signing of the summer. He was brought in as the technical secretary with Ramon Planes being named his assistant. Earlier, Planes was working as a technical secretary for another Spanish club Getafe. He has also worked with English club Tottenham Hotspur and several other Spanish clubs as well. But, to be honest, the spotlight is on ex-defender Abidal, who has raised expectations among the Cules since his arrival. The 38-year-old has vowed to bring back the fighting spirit, which helped him battle cancer during his time at the club.
The Frenchman was mainly brought in for his knowledge of the transfer market, and his ties in the French market. It will be really interesting to see how Abidal balances expectations with the market reality. Having known the club from inside out and having been a part of one of the best Barça teams ever, he is faced with the daunting task of fulfilling the expectations of a club, which are seemingly insatiable.
The Blaugrana legend has a lot to take care of from day one: Facilitating new signings, offloading surplus players, sorting out loan transfers, and more importantly, La Masia academy. He will be seriously judged on how the young talent will turn out for the main squad in the coming years.
After all the grumblings and building frustration, among the supporters, about the club academy losing its identity, Abidal might just be the man Barça fans need at the moment.
#2 Mastermind Ernesto Valverde
The appointment of the former Athletic Bilbao manager to replace the departed Luis Enrique last summer evoked mixed reactions in the Blaugrana fanbase. This was because the fans were used to seeing former players or managers, who were connected to the club's roots, take over in this role. So, this move was seen as an oddity.
The optimism for the fans came from the fact that he managed Athletic Bilbao very well during his tenure, considering the Basque club's transfer policy to use only homegrown players in its first team. His Bilbao team was also known for pressing opponents, which is a welcome attribute in modern football. But pessimism leaked in due to the reason that the Spaniard was known for using a flat 4-4-2 formation throughout his career, and in some cases he even used a formation with 3 at the back. No one knew with certainty if he would adapt well to the style cherished at the Camp Nou.
Although Valverde used the default 4-3-3 during the pre-season and was vocal in press conferences that he'd be sticking to the same formation, the departure of Neymar and the long-term injury to new club record signing Ousmane Dembele gave the coach an incentive to go back to his beloved 4-4-2, citing the lack of wingers on the left and the need to tighten the midfield. Even though the fans were concerned that the new coach wasn't playing games the Barcelona way and was being more defensive, the positive results supported his decisions.
In January, Barça successfully convinced Liverpool of the inevitable conclusion to the Coutinho transfer saga as the Brazilian waved goodbye to Anfield. Soon, Dembele returned from his injury and the promising young Colombian Yerry Mina joined in the same window.
It was one of the best transfer windows for the club ever. The coach had real options on the bench this time, and the need to start playing "attractive football" rose a notch. The 6-1 thrashing of Girona raised hopes rapidly and every supporter welcomed the return to feisty football. That game, more importantly, seemed to solve everything related to tactics at the Catalan club.
Messi continued to make the difference, but in certain matches, it was obvious that they lacked proper pace and width. It was witnessed explicitly in the famous debacle in Rome. That match ended with them crashing out of the UCL and the inevitable crisis talks started rumbling again around the club. Valverde was criticised for his tactical ineptness and unwillingness to adapt his plan as the game progressed. The most discussed thing, however, was his poor management and the mentality he was bringing to a dugout full of stars.
Valverde will have no excuses to give whatsoever in the new campaign, and Barca faithful will keep their eyes peeled to see if he is truly the manager to take their beloved club to new heights.
#3 The Gameplan
The 2017-18 season saw the Catalans under manager Ernesto Valverde mostly deployed in a 4-4-2 formation with Messi and Suarez up top.
Given there is no urge in the manager to experiment abruptly, we can more or less expect this formation to be used predominantly this season as well.
4-4-2
Defenders
Marc Andre Ter Stegen will continue to start in goal undoubtedly, while Jasper Cillessen might continue to be the overqualified rotation piece, occasionally getting to keep in the Copa matches and other less important fixtures.
The back-line would be the same, more or less, with the centre-back pairing of Gerard Pique and the newly crowned world champion Samuel Umtiti.
The fullback positions hold more importance in the Barcelona style of play. Therefore, it is important that they have world-class fullbacks to exploit the spaces and find gaps through tight defenses by overlapping and passing moves. Sergi Roberto and Jordi Alba will continue to be the starting fullbacks.
Midfielders
The midfield used to be an undisputed area at Barça but the recent retirements of club legends has vacated places for the youngsters to fight for. Sergio Busquets will be the undisputed mainstay at the base of the midfield along with Ivan Rakitic/Arthur Melo. Philippe Coutinho shall become a regular on the left side following Iniesta's departure.
A great many things are expected of Ousmane Dembele after a tumultuous first season at the Camp Nou. He and the new Brazilian signing Malcom will probably battle for a starting berth on the right side of the midfield.
Forwards
Nothing much to discuss here. Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez would continue to lead the attack. Messi will continue to drop deeper to play more as a central attacking midfielder while Suarez presses the back-line and make runs into the channels to exploit space.
Bench
Paco Alcácer delivered whenever called upon last season, contributing to offense and directly scoring goals. His numbers look great considering he played less than a thousand minutes of football in 2017-18. Munir El Haddadi is another in-house backup, who is touted to stay this season.
In midfield, the bench is stacked with misfits (such as Gomes) and potential talents (such as Aleña) from the B-team.
Clement Lenglet is a welcome addition to the squad for providing more competition. He can be a reliable backup along with the Belgian defender Thomas Vermaelen. If the rumors are true we'll see no more of Yerry Mina in a Barcelona jersey again.
#4 Resurrection of La Masia
Not so long ago, the late manager Tito Vilanova fielded a lineup that went into the club's history books even before kick off as the team sheet contained eleven names that were all brought up in La Masia academy. Fast forward to April 2018, the club fielded a starting lineup with no La Masia graduates on the team sheet. There is not just one thing or a person to blame for the decline in the production line. It had a variety of factors leading to the decrepit situation of the youth academy.
Xavi, Iniesta, Messi were generational talents complemented by other greats Pique, Busquets, Valdes, and Pedro, along with some world-class buys, that went on to become one of the best sides in the history of the game. While they lasted, it was hard for new players to step in as the playing time was hard to come by. Thiago and Fabregas are two great examples of players, who couldn't get enough game time to aid their development and left while there was time.
There have been many issues within the club management as well, one of which led to the club parting ways with the legendary trainer Joan Vila. The trainer whom Xavi and Puyol were particularly appreciative about, for being there during their formative years at the club.
Agents didn't help too by luring players away from the club, by offering more money and game time with the first teams in foreign leagues, and also by demanding the club for more percentages from the contracts they signed to stay put.
The times seem to be changing slightly though. The emergence of new talents like Carles Aleña and Oriol Busquets, who are likely to be promoted to the first team raises hopes for these youngsters and the future of La Masia. Abel Ruiz is another youngster, who shows a lot of promise. He is a forward to watch out for in the future, having also featured for the Spanish National Team in the Under-17 World Cup.
Marc Cucurella will likely be the backup to Alba this season. Juan Miranda is the next big thing to look out for in the backline.
The most important change that took place was before the summer with the appointment of Garcia Pimienta as the new Barcelona B coach. Francisco Javier "Xavi" García Pimienta was a former player, who himself was part of the youth setup at the club.
"I don't understand any other way, except the Barça way" were his words during his first-ever press conference as the B-team boss. Hopefully, he succeeds in bringing the B-team back to the Segunda A division, while moulding players to prepare them for the first team, and rolls back the good old times for Cataluña.
