Illusive again. Regenerate. Light a new fire. Change the chip. Do a reset. Reinvent yourself. Few things have been so good for Joan Laporta as president of Barcelona than sheltering a cycle and opening a winning project. He did so in 2003, when he was elected president for the first time, and he repeated it in 2008, after overcoming (narrowly) a vote of no confidence. He has tried to do it this summer, in his second stage in the Camp Nou box, but has encountered unprecedented financial difficulties to give the new winning impulse he preached. The first Barça post-Messi relies on and is inspired by La Masia and Dutch football, two precepts that gave good results in his previous stage.
The new reality of Barcelona is that it has not been able to retain Leo Messi, who has lost the two top scorers in the squad from the previous year and has barely been able to spend 9.5 million on signings. Of the five reinforcements, three have arrived free, free, and two are on loan.
A new cycle
Between 2003 and 2004, Laporta had 24 casualties. This summer, 15 players have left the squad
Despite everything, the shock has been significant. Between 2003 and 2004, Laporta had 24 casualties to start the virtuous circle that would lead to the Champions of Paris in 2006. This summer, Barça has closed 15 starts. Some surprising ones such as the transfer of Griezmann on the last day, the seen and unseen of Emerson or the dismissal of Matheus Fernandes.
Although the priority has been to obtain oxygen and meet the salary limit, the requirement will always be to compete for the League and the King’s Cup – where he will defend the title – but within the club, they are aware that they are currently two steps below in the Champions League, where the team has been repeatedly slapped loudly.
Youth
Of the theoretical starting eleven only Memphis and Frenkie de Jong are in their prime. Pedri, Ansu Fati, Eric Garcia or Dest are not yet fully mature
Once the market closed, the staff that Koeman directs has been unbalanced. There is a lack of pure full-backs to compete with Dest and Alba, there are plenty of central defenders – Umtiti stayed – and there are eight forwards for three places.
However, of the theoretical starting eleven there are only two field players who are of prime age. They are the Dutch Memphis and Frenkie de Jong, who are supporting the team with leadership at this start of the course. The rest are either in the upper age range like Piqué, Busquets or Alba –the three were starters in the Berlin final in 2015– or they cannot be considered mature yet, such as Pedri, Ansu Fati, Eric Garcia or Dest, all twenty years or less. Like Nico González and Gavi, in whom there is high hope.
Plan B is plan A
Until Coutinho, Agüero, Fati and Dembélé are fit, Braithwaite and Luuk de Jong will play a lot
The feeling is that the Blaugrana team currently has more future than present. The average age is 25 years, the lowest of the greats in Europe. Instead, the value of his footballers lags behind his two great championship rivals.
The first Barça post-Messi
Not to mention that, after the captains’ salary cuts, the footballer who earns the most in the dressing room is Philippe Coutinho, who comes out of a long injury and is far from assured of his place in the team. Until the Brazilian, Kun Agüero, Fati and Dembélé are perfectly restored and fit, Braithwaite and Luuk de Jong – two men with a clear plan B profile – have many numbers to be headlines in the Blaugrana attack. While, without Messi or Griezmann, the young Demir remains the only pure left-hander from midfield forward.
The challenge
Only ten footballers know what it is to win a league at the Camp Nou. Hunger must drive the new
There is an element that should motivate and play in favor of Koemans in this course. Only ten players in the dressing room know what it is to win the League with Barcelona. For example, Frenkie de Jong, who did do it with Ajax, has yet to win the title in his two seasons. The same goes for Agüero and Eric Garcia, former City team. Hunger must drive a team that no longer has a full belly, but must ask for passage and seek to break its ceiling.
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