Squad depth proved to be a huge issue for Barcelona last season. The players had enjoyed a fantastic year up until around March and were on track for an historic second treble in two years. Then, a slump in form cost them this dream. Of course, the season didn’t end up entirely disastrous and that is somewhat of an understatement. A double of La Liga and Copa del Rey, in addition to their triumphs in the European Super Cup and FIFA World Club Cup, is a unique achievement even for a club of Barcelona’s stature.
However, the exhaustion of the so-called ‘Gala XI’ was perhaps the most significant contributing factor to their exit from the only competition they didn’t win; the Champions League, and also a league collapse that turned an at-one-stage seemingly straightforward run-in to the Spanish title into a proverbial nail-biter.
Blaugrana boss Luis Enrique refrained from rotation throughout the season, preferring instead to opt for the ultra-talented and experienced first choice line up that had served him so well up to that point in his reign. Often times, Enrique would even be reluctant to make substitutions if there wasn’t complete assurance of his team claiming the result.
However, this came back to haunt the Catalan outfit as by the time of the latter stages of the Champions League and crux of the Liga campaign, the players at the forefront of Barça’s squad were mentally and physically drained. This was partly due to a FIFA transfer ban that still hung over the club until January of 2016 when they could finally register Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal who they’d brought in the previous summer to lessen the load that the first team had to bear.
Up until that point, Sergi Roberto, now Barça’s de facto right-back, was the only squad player that Enrique seemed to trust to bring in to the side on a regular basis. The vaunted triumvirate of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suárez were almost never allowed a rest because of the lack of faith the manager ostensibly held in their replacements; Munir and Sandro Ramírez.
For this reason, their Spanish counterparts Atletico Madrid took advantage in the Champions League quarter final stage because Barcelona were unable to contend with their relentless work-rate. And after momentarily opening up a gap of 13 points at the top of La Liga after Gerard Piqué’s bullet header found the back of the net during El Clásico, a run of 4 games without victory, over the same period as their European exit, threatened to derail their season entirely, placing them in a perilous situation in which they only clinched the title on the last day of the term by a margin of just a point.
Therefore, something needed to change. The fans cried out for squad depth and the board agreed. Barcelona’s heavy transfer activity over the summer had the sole intention of providing the team with ability of assimilating the absences of key players with little effect and their net spend of over 90 million euros was supposed to achieve this goal.
However, this hasn’t exactly been the case, for the most part the new players have struggled to make an impact. Enrique has rotated the squad in a much more frequent manner in order to avoid the ails of the previous campaign, under the belief that these players are much better-equipped to replace the likes of Messi and company. Despite the investment, the recent arrivals have failed to accomplish this enormously tough task.
No-one epitomises the strife of his fellow new signings more than Paco Alcácer. Whenever he has replaced one of the members of the greatest three-man attack on the planet, he has been utterly anonymous and is yet to get off the mark for his new club.
That being said, when he signed from Valencia, the deal looked to most like a fantastic piece of business from a Barcelona perspective. A young, Spanish striker proven at the top level was exactly what was required and possibly still is. As his Barça career continues and the player develops an understanding with his new teammates, his unquestionable movement and finishing ability may prove critical for Barcelona during the crucial periods of the season as he chips in with a few goals.
Another who has been ostensibly absent-without-leave is Alcácer’s former Valencia teammate André Gomes. Perhaps more pressure has been placed on the 23-year-old Portuguese international as the lengthy injury lay-offs to Andrés Iniesta has thrust Gomes into the limelight so early on in his time in Catalonia as the Blaugrana legend’s primary replacement. His run in the team has coincided with a poor spell of form for his new club and his performances have been met with heavy criticism.
Once again though, the admittedly considerable transfer fee was, at first, seen as a good deal for Barcelona, considering his boundless potential and undoubted talent, and shouldn’t now be viewed as otherwise because of his failure to replicate the form of one of the greatest players of this generation in his captain.
Lucas Digne was signed as a replacement for Jordi Alba and when deputising for him, has confirmed himself to be an ample substitute. He has, like Gomes, been forced to play more than he was possibly expecting because Alba was ruled out at the start of the season but has gone some way top seizing his opportunity with consistent performances for the most part.
Denis Suárez, a Barcelona B product, was brought back to the club for mere peanuts in today’s market, considering the astronomical prices that young players move for, due to a buyback clause. He not only adds depth in midfield but offers tactical versatility as he can also ply his trade as a winger in Barça’s traditional 4-3-3 system or he offers Enrique the opportunity to deploy a formational shift.
And finally, yet more good news for Culés comes from the signing of Samuel Umtiti. The Cameroonian-born French centre-half has looked brilliant since joining the club. His speed, strength and competency in terms of his distribution (a crucial prerequisite of any Barcelona defender) make him a suitable partner for Gerard Pique both in the long-term and possibly the short-term. This considering his great form and Javier Mascherano’s advanced age.
Despite Barcelona’s clear issues when rotating this season, a consequence of the substitute players’ lack of experience rather than talent, their decision to strengthen the squad with young blood will prove to be a huge bonus for them in the future. With all of Barça’s summer signings being in their early 20s, the club’s switch back to a much-needed more youth-orientated approach not only provides the necessary cover but a vast amount of potential, which could, in the coming seasons, endow the first team with a raft of gifted regulars ready to carry the Blaugrana forward.
The Counter Press 