Is this the Red Alert for Barcelona to Change Things?

The league is over and so does Barca’s campaign in UCL. So it is a perfect time to analyze how the treble winning team before 2 years is on the verge of going trophy-less this season.

Honestly, when you look at a team with MSN upfront, you hope for a win every time they take on the field. But people forget football is a team game. Yes, surely individual brilliance counts a lot but it can win you some games not all. And that’s where Barcelona has been poor in last 2 seasons. The board didn’t plan what was required for future – neither in transfers nor in the youth academy. And eventually, once the famed La Masia is now considered like other club academies in Europe.

When Luis Enrique took over as Barca coach in 2014-15 season, he had the luxury squad to win the treble. His counter-attacking game combined with Barca’s total football made sure a treble for Camp Nou supporters. With the likes of Xavi, Pedro, and Alves he had everything at disposal but no one noticed where Catalans were heading.

With Xavi’s departure Barcelona’s dominant midfield started to look ordinary and suddenly Barca became synonyms to MSN. It was a good thing for marketing but not for a club of Barca’s stature. The Barca midfield, once the epitome of pride was now a cause of concern for Catalans. 2015-16 season gave them double but the margin showed a serious repair required to continue the dominance.

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And this season brought more concerns because the way Barca has played. The worst part being it coincided with Messi’s best individual season. He was beast throughout the season but will end barely with 1 trophy. Yes, not every team can win everything each year and Barcelona is no exception to it. But the real concern is the way they played this season. Yes, there was a historic comeback and an unforgettable game at Bernabeu but it was all individual brilliance.

So what went wrong with a team having stars at their disposal? The answer for the decline is poor management from the board as well as coaching staff. Letting go players like Dani Alves on a free transfer was nothing but a suicide. Catalans splashed more than 175M in transfers over 2 seasons. But only Umtiti stood out from the rest to prove his worth.

Bringing in players who might not suit Barca’s style of play and selling La Masia youth showed the club was running away from its philosophy. Adding on that, the graduation from La Masia to senior team was minimal under Lucho. Moreover, La Masia’s changed tendency to have tall & strong players than skinny creative ones shows the way Barca board is heading. Yes, you need quality players but not each quality player suits the Catalan style and board was not concerned about it. To take back Barca to a golden era now the club needs to rethink its model. It is the need of the hour or else it will be another club only.

Now Valverde who is probably the next coach has a lot of things to repair. No one become Xavi, Messi or Iniesta in a day but the coach trusted them and allowed them to grow. And that’s what Barca needs again – the belief in homegrown talents. Yes, some world-class players can be brought who suit the style of play but La Masia and its talent was key and will always remain so. If Barcelona wants to dominate again then they have to open their eyes and invest wisely. The talent and support are there but it needs to be given a chance to grow into another world-class team. With Valverde who supports youth, Cules can hope for some changes and promotion.

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Barca should stick to the quality of football they are known for and the results will surely follow. The board has to look ahead of time to have strong squad else the destruction is already on the way. Overall, it’s time for reform before serious fall of a club. And for that the board and management should go back to the drawing board and should understand this is not another club, this is FC Barcelona.