BarcelonaIn less than two seasons, Barça have gone from having an eleven with the highest average age in the Champions League, that of the painful 2-8 sweep in Lisbon, to seeing how the youngsters in the house will be essential this course. The delicate economic situation of the entity, added to the conviction of Joan Laporta that we must have the footballers of the plant, draws a scenario in which La Masia will regain the prominence it had been losing in recent years. The debuts of Nico and Gavi, two green shoots, are the most recent example.
With Franc Artiga, who knows first hand these two talents from the youth team and who worked as a coach in Barça’s training football for eleven years, we analyze where the present and the most immediate future of the players who have emerged at home go. The Cambrils coach left Barça in February to embark on a new stage as the UAE’s under-21 coach, from where he serves ARA. A phrase sums up his contributions to the different players in the house he has led throughout his time at La Masia and who now point their heads at the first team: “For them to work, Barça need to be true to their DNA.”
Nico, Gavi i Balde
The last to knock on the door of the first team
Artiga opens fire by talking about Nico (19 years old), the son of former footballer Fran González, and highlights his intelligence: “He is a player who was very clear that he was made to play for Barça. He is super-intelligent and understands our game perfectly. But I’m not just talking about football, he’s a boy who was already advanced to school “. The Catalan coach resolves that, taking into account the timings in which his landing in the first team is taking place, he can be “perfectly” the future substitute for Busquets. “He is the footballer who most resembles him. In addition, his transition from cadet to youth was accompanied by a major physical change. He is not a particularly fast player, nor is Busquets, but he has a privileged physique ”.
Artiga links the figure of Nico with that of Gavi (17 years old), recalling that they are footballers who have been in the squad for many years and that when they are “more valid” it is when Barça remains “faithful to their DNA”. In other words: “The positional game that made us bigger in the world of football and that, beyond winning, prioritized the way you won.” The coach of Cambrils emphasizes that, if “he is committed to maintaining the 4-3-3, with its variants, and to want to have the ball and attack”, both Nico and Gavi will fit in the first team.
The Andalusian interior was the last to make his debut in an official match, debuting against Getafe at the Camp Nou. “It’s pure talent. A street footballer: he improvises, he has a very fast execution, he has a game that is a pleasure to watch. But, in addition, it has a very great competitiveness “, remembers the current selector of the Emirates. “The coaches of the nursery helped him to organize all this talent of the street. I had him for a few months, when he made the transition from cadet to youth, but he was quickly called up by Barça B. I think we helped him, also mentally, because he is very impulsive. He is a player with a lot of emotions and he had to be helped to manage them. Not only in victory and defeat, but also in match situations when, for example, he lost a ball ”. However, Artiga sums up that both Nico and Gavi need to play: “They are not footballers who reach the first team with 20 and 21 years already formed. Gavi until recently played in the cadet. If they are on the first team it is to have minutes; if not, that they continue to form in the branch because they need to have minutes ”.
From the new batch under Koeman who has not yet made his official debut is Alejandro Balde (17 years). Renewed this summer until 2024, Artiga considers that he is “a winger with all the characteristics to be at Barça: fast, offensive, powerful and technically gifted. With the ability to both press up and retreat quickly. Of course, the coach of the plant remembers: “He is very young and I also think that mentally he still does not have the maturity that Nico or Gavi can have. But things should be done very badly so that he does not end up becoming Alba’s replacement in the next two or three years ”.
Ansu, Riqui Puig i Mingueza
They are full-fledged first team players and are looking to consolidate
Among the players in the squad who are already first team footballers with all the ets and uts is a name that stands out, that of Ansu Fati (18 years). “He has a brutal personality and a differentiating talent. That he carries the 10 does not mean that he has to replace Messi, because this is impossible, but it does mean that he accepts the responsibility of being a player from the squad that must be a reference. That he wants to leave the Camp Nou and say: “I want to play for Barça for many years”, says Artiga about the striker, whom he coached for more than three seasons. Ansu is expected to be able to play again against Granada after overcoming last November’s injury and after four knee surgeries. “I hope he is 100% recovered, physically and mentally. What you shouldn’t have is hurry. Little by little, he will join the team and gain confidence “, said the coach, who recalled that the striker had suffered two very serious injuries, one when he was a cadet and the latter. “I don’t think we’ll see the best Ansu in the first game, but I’m clear we’ll see an improvement soon. I know that he has worked a lot to strengthen his physical condition, and this, in today’s football, must be taken into account “.
While Koeman is waiting with open arms for the return of Ansu, who will have to work hard to get the Dutchman to give him minutes is Riqui Puig (22 years old). “Both he and Collado are players made to play for Barça. I don’t know what’s going on inside the locker room, but what we’ve been able to see from Riqui whenever he’s played, whether it’s for a while or not, is that he’s tried his best. He is a type of player who has an intrinsic idea of Barça’s game “, points out Artiga. “I don’t know if staying this season is the best option knowing how he knows that the coach will not have him, but I am convinced that sooner or later it will be important, because Barça need players who love the ball like him and who have his ability in the past “, adds the coach.
Artiga also regrets the situation of Collado (22 years old), without a record after his transfer to Sheffield United of the English Second Division was thwarted at the last minute, and recalls, for example, that last season Collado could have done ten times better what Trincão did, who had the opportunities that were not given to him ”.
The last of the players in the house to have a first team record is Óscar Mingueza, who until just a few days ago played with a license from the subsidiary. To talk about him, Artiga recalls that it was the former coach of the branch, García Pimienta, who recommended him for the first team when Koeman had a plague of injuries to the defense. “With his work, Óscar has shown that he can be a first team player. However, this year the demand will be higher than it was until now: when a young man arrives in the first team, for a few things he does well, people are already excited, but in a short time he is already considered as one more player on the team. And that means that if he makes mistakes he will be criticized and doubts will begin. It will take a lot of effort, but I trust that it will continue with its progression ”.
Eric García
Spending almost a blank course to be able to return to Barça
Eric García (20 years old) has already seen that the criticism surrounding Barça can be fierce. The Martorell center-back, who played against Athletic Club shortly after learning that he had lost his grandfather, did not play a very good game in San Mamés -like much of the Barça team- and was the focus of some strong criticism after ending the expelled confrontation. “Despite being a home-made player, he made an individual mistake and looks at the criticism he received. He is a player who could have played a leading role with Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, but decided to miss almost a year in order to return to Barça. However, criticism is already falling on the first few changes “, laments Artiga.
“My opinion is that when the power stations and the pivot suffer, it is not because of individual mistakes. It depends a lot on the team’s collective game: the post-loss pressure, the positional game, the space between the lines… In short, the game model. Beyond that a player, of course, can have a one-time mistake. In this sense, the coach has no doubt that the footballer will recover, and highlights the “intelligence” as one of the great virtues of Eric.
Ilaix Moriba
Despite the club’s efforts during his training, he has decided to leave
This year could also have been that of Ilaix Moriba (18 years old) in Barça’s first team, but the midfielder, largely conditioned by his more direct environment, has packed his bags for RB Leipzig. “I was very surprised that he left and, personally, I was very sorry. I know him a lot because I trained him for a few years. At La Masia he stood out for his work and his ambition. He was very clear that his goal was to get to the Camp Nou and, despite having the confidence of the coach, he decided to leave “, says Artiga.
“I find it very difficult to understand that young players, who already have a good salary and are well considered by the club, decide to leave on a contractual issue. They will already have time to make more money. Maybe one day we will know more reasons for his departure, but I hope he is doing well because he is a player who decided many games on the pitch and made us have a great time “, concludes the Catalan coach.
.
