The high number of quality youth squads untapped by Barça in recent years caused a significant talent drain from La Masia. Very young players who did not even wait to know if they would be counted on when they understood that the doors of the first team were closed. Since Sergi Roberto, who debuted with Pep Guardiola in 2010-11 and took the final step in 2013-14, no grassroots player has settled at Camp Nou. Until Ansu Fati (17 years old), Riqui Puig (20) and Ronald Araujo (21) have appeared, three players who are here to stay.
Almost eight years have passed since the late Tito Vilanova, home coach, former Pep Guardiola aide between 2008 and 2012 and first-team coach in the 2012-13 season, lined up an eleven in the league with a full squad of youth squads: Valdés, Montoya, Piqué, Puyol, Alba, Xavi, Busquets, Cesc Fàbregas, Pedro, Messi and Iniesta. It happened in a victory against Levante (0-4) on November 25, 2012. And that Barça won the title with 100 points.
But little by little some of the cited ones disappeared and others like Thiago Alcántara, Cristian Tello, Gerard Deulofeu or, more recently, Rafinha Alcantara They also changed airs, although the latter has a contract until 2021 after his transfer to Celta. It seemed that Carles Aleñá was going to be chosen to lead a new generation of youth squads, but he did not get along with Ernesto Valverde and ended up requesting a loan from Betis in January. The midfielder will return and there is still time to succeed as a Barça player.
It is not that those who left, more or less media, have done wonderfully, except for Thiago, who has won everything in Germany with Bayern, and perhaps Eric García, center back who went to Manchester City at the age of 16 and is already playing in the first team. But it is surprising that the Catalan club has dedicated time and money to forming a talent that has ended very soon in other clubs.
The crack that comes
In the end, as with almost all revolutions, it has been necessary to touch bottom to look again at the house. As Leagues were still being won, it seemed that the change was not urgent. But in this 2019-20 season it has been evident that Barça required a youthful drive. Ernesto Valverde saw him giving the opportunity to Ansu fati with only 16 years old and the winger, already with Quique Setién and with 17, he has finished the course with seven goals in the League and one in the Champions League, breaking several records of earliness. He started the preseason playing tournaments with Juvenil A and came to play a friendly with Barça B, but he has already stayed in the first team from the first day.
If Ansu’s irruption was Valverde’s thing because many of those who now boast of him did not even know that he existed, the bet on Riqui Puig is more than Quique Setién. He debuted with Valverde, but he never fully trusted a jumping midfielder, with little weight and a tendency to risk too much always looking for spectacular plays. The Cantabrian coach did end up valuing his creativity and self-confidence.
And the Uruguayan Ronald Araujo He also debuted as a central defender with Valverde in a day with numerous casualties. In his case, the fact that the workforce has been decreasing over the months and that Umtiti was injured again placed him as third centerback. Setién gave him the alternative and has met with note in two clear victories at home: 0-4 in Mallorca and 0-5 to Alavés.
So happy is Setién with the contribution of the three players in the first team that he wanted to prevent their presence at Barça B in the playoff for promotion to Second for fear that they would be injured and could not be available in the Champions League. August. In the end the club convinced him to give Araujo to the subsidiary, but the coach got his way with Riqui Puig and Ansu Fati, who are making headlines that August 8 against Naples in the second round of the second leg. Busquets and Vidal will have to serve a penalty in midfield and a striker like Griezmann is injured and would arrive very just at the appointment. Although Lenglet ended with a mishap in the groin of the League, his participation is not endangered and he will form with Piqué at the rear, which is why Araujo has been released.
For the next season a Barça with more presence of the house in the squad and in the lineups is intuited, with the aforementioned Araujo, Riqui, Ansu and Aleñá and other players who can contribute as Alex Collado (inside / left-handed), Jandro Orellana (midfielder) and perhaps with Ilaix Moriba, a 17-year-old physical portent who already shines in the team as an all-out player and who would bring more confidence and enthusiasm. It is the crack that is coming, great generational friend of Ansu Fati.
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