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How can FC Barcelona solve their problem on the right wing?

By Kenndrick Kanoon

BARCELONA, SPAIN - OCTOBER 26: Ousmane Dembele of FC Barcelona looks on during the UEFA Champions League group C match between FC Barcelona and FC Bayern München at Spotify Camp Nou on October 26, 2022 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN - OCTOBER 26: Ousmane Dembele of FC Barcelona looks on during the UEFA Champions League group C match between FC Barcelona and FC Bayern München at Spotify Camp Nou on October 26, 2022 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images) /
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Ferran Torres

After a hot start at Barcelona, Torres cooled off and was one of the players who never found consistent form last season.

A big part of this was Xavi playing Torres on the left side instead of the right. In the few games on the right wing, Torres played well using his nifty dribbling and superb off-ball movement.

Torres likes to invert as a right winger, similar to Raphinha but is a much better dribbler. However, his biggest trait is his spatial awareness. His ability to interpret space and create chances for himself is the best out of the wingers.

It is what partially made him so lethal as a striker for Manchester City, his off-ball movement pops when viewing him. On the wing it is very similar, he has very good attacking movement instincts while also being able to take on his man 1v1.

In some aspects, he carries a portion of Demeble’s 1v1 ability and Raphinha’s inverting tendency, albeit in much more conservative fashions.

While Torres has a mix of abilities of the two other wingers he doesn’t exactly excel at beating his man consistently, nor is he very creative.

This likely means that his potential is far lower than Dembele and Raphinha. In addition, similar to the Brazilian, if we are to get the best out of Torres we will need to invest in the right back area for an overlapping type of full-back.

Finally, he also suffers from some confidence issues when he’s not scoring, which can cause some problems on the pitch, he actually saw a psychologist last year in the hope of solving his mental blocks.

There is no doubt that Torres is a good player, however, given the congestion on the right wing, good might not be enough.

Yet, coming off a poor season, it is nearly impossible for Barcelona to recoup the full 55 million euros paid to Manchester City. This puts Barcelona in a no-win situation.

Ultimately, it might be better to keep Torres for depth as his versatility may help the team. Admittedly, Torres had his best run of form as a striker for City so it might be worth letting him get some game time there.

Torres staying could be useful for the eventuality of a Dembele injury, allowing him to find some game time in his favoured position as well.

Overall, all three players bring different profiles alongside different strengths that Xavi can use for Barcelona’s upcoming season.

There’s no doubt that the wingers all have potential alongside their individual strengths. Above all, the most important thing for all three will be finding game time since they are good players trying to compete for one spot.