A surreal realisation has gone on this year for the Catalan giants — supposedly knocked off their perch at the top of Europe by the German powerhouses, Bayern Munich; to end a fruitless campaign in Europe after losing to Celtic in the group stages and struggling to overcome PSG in the quarters. Luckily, there has been some satisfaction for them this season as they won the La Liga through consistency over the smaller games. Whereas Madrid were solely designed to beat Barca this season, albeit managing that in head-to-head, they lost their eye for the title.
In their demise in the Champions League, many have touted Germany (particularly Bayern Munich) as the new rulers of Europe in a power-shift as Barcelona failed to bring the goods, losing 7-0 on aggregate to the recently crowned Kings of Europe.
So, considering all this; what is next for the supposedly ‘figured-out’ Blaugrana? My answer to that right now is... Neymar. Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior has just signed for the Catalonia, agreeing a 5-year contract. 5 years is a long time for someone to progress and develop however, will seem even longer under the influence of players like Messi, Xavi and Iniesta. Also being coached by Tito Vilanova is nothing to be taken lightly. All-in-all Neymar has been said to be overrated and such lately, but considering he’s been bought around the same price as the other recent Brazilian world starlet’s, like Oscar and Lucas Moura (and was tremendously better than them in the Brazilian league) — shouldn’t he be predicted to succeed in the greatest club of recent years?
People say Neymar is Messi’s Brazilian counterpart and I wouldn’t say they’re wrong; at Santos he played the same influential costless-playing role that Messi does. However, considering Messi is the world’s greatest, Neymar will have to return to his natural position of inside-forward or winger —as Messi has become a revelation at false-9.
On the route of transfer talk for the Catalonia, supposedly a fresh influx of talent is to be brought in this summer — the likes of Villa / Sanchez / Valdes / Thiago / Fabregas ALL supposedly being shown the door out of the Nou Camp and Abidal’s contract ending in a month. With allegedly six players being granted a way out, Rosell will be a busy man over the summer. Obviously, Barca try to promote one or two players from the reserves into the first team each season and we could see Bartra and Deulofeu get much more game time. But, that won’t be enough to cover the extent and ability of players leaving, so transfers must come in. Barcelona often linked to a variety of players and Ter Stegen has been the main of late with Valdes on his way to Monaco, probably. Ter Stegen, the young German, has stamped himself on the lists of the European giants’ scouting agendas with astounding performances this season. The situation of Villa / Sanchez is likely to be handled by the incoming Neymar and the rising Deulofeu but, with help from Pedro and Tello.
Looking into La Masia with a deeper insight, many players make the odd appearance over the season in Barcelona’s formidable first-team. Deulofeu being the most recent starlet to be promoted, I don’t doubt he’ll be able to rack up some game time anywhere across the front three of Barcelona’s attacking system. Much promise in defence as well, with Bartra, Montoya and perhaps Muniesa rising into the a-team and proving their worth across next years campaign. Although, I do wonder for the midfield productions of late; Dos Santos, Espinosa and Sergi Roberto being the ‘best of the bunch’ — however, are all in their 20’s and not seeming to be the typical La Masia youngsters with the potential to one day maybe become Catalonia greats.
Obviously when considering the potential future of a team like Barcelona, you must bear it in comparison along other teams they may come across - particularly, Madrid in La Liga and other European powerhouses in the Champions League. Starting with Madrid; they were considered very underwhelming domestically with a poor opening to their season but a strong finish. Madrid, as always will look to do business this summer to keep par with Barca and even tried hijacking their transfer with Neymar with an '11th hour bid'. With them knowingly interested in Bale and also supposedly after Suarez, they could very well prove a threat of consistency next season in attempt of reclaiming their lost title this campaign. On the matter of Barca allegedly being knocked off their perch as Europe's best by Bayern this season, how do they go about converting that spot back to their own? With Bayern having already strengthened their barracks with the signings of Kirchoff and Gotze and ex-Barcelona manager, Pep Guardiola coming in to steer the helm of this sturdy German warship, how do Barcelona even stand a chance?
This is the big question at hand, whether Barcelona can still be the team-to-beat in the Champions League. Since 2007-08, whoever has beaten Barcelona in the Champions League has gone on to win it, obviously if the Blaugrana themselves haven’t gone on to. So, with this in mind one can only ponder what Barcelona need to do to reclaim their acknowledged title as Kings of Europe. For me, I feel they are in dire need of a back-up plan, a plan-b, an escape route. Barcelona have become profound for their indirect philosophy of passing football and this season Mourinho’s Real Madrid proved on more than one occasion it’s beatable. Although Madrid beat them, it was Bayern who became their undoing in Europe, hammering Barca 7-0 in aggregate.
Moving onto what I believe Barca are in desperate need for, a new tactic — how could they go about this? A tactical change, an influx of fresh talent or a plan-b. All could be beneficial but why attempt to fix something that isn’t broken, merely faulted. A plan-b would give Barcelona a second option in a tightly fought game where options are low and Messi is struggling to create the unthinkable. As of now, Barcelona need a new diverted tactic that is remarkably different to their current, a direct, forceful approach in going forward. Barcelona averaged 63% possession over both legs against Bayern Munich in the semis; they lost 4-0 and 3-0 in those games. Thus proving their philosophy is flawed, not to a devastating extent where a rebranding is needed — passing football is all Barcelona know, and why adapt their general function to something which may not collaborate in their player’s systems. No, a simple back-up plan is needed.
Well, I’m not Vilanova, so I don’t know what’s best for Barca at this moment in time, but he surely knows to suffer a 7-0 thrashing over two games, something needs to be changed to give a second chance.
If Barcelona are to carry on proving their worth as Europe’s number 1 (and I have repeated they are many times throughout), firstly, they must up the anti to their own methodologies and conjure a plan-b. If that doesn’t work, I fear Bayern will gain a significant gap over them in the pursuit of European glory.