Fastly approaching is the 2014 season where FC Barcelona will be looking to massively improve on one of there most disappointing seasons in recent memory. The appointment of former Barcelona player Luis Enrique is already a foot step in the right direction. Although he was sacked from his high profile gig at Roma, his year project had a bright future, but unfortunately was cut short just after one year due to the board wanting immediate results; even when the club needed a serious rebuilding phase.
Last season Luis Enrique furthered his trade as a manager at La Liga side Celta De Vigo. This is a huge positive for Barca fans. Not only are we gaining a passionate Blaugrana but now in addition an experienced La Liga manager who knows the in's and out's of the league and can now what to expect straight away without any settling in time unlike Tata Martino who never actually settled. He led Celta Vigo, to a solid 9th position in the table, highlighted with a 2-0 home win against Real Madrid :). Luis Enrique will also be coming back with exciting Barcelona prospect Rafinha who has a very bright future. I for one am extremely looking forward to the upcoming season more than ever.
So for the upcoming season I certainly have a few things I am pondering.
1. What formation will Enrique use, and how will he incorporate the new signings ( Rakitic and Suarez in particular )
2. Will the style of football that will be played be tweaked at all ?
3. What final signings should we truly be considering.
4. And finally what should our expectations for this season be?
1. This is probably going to be the most interesting thing that will have to be difficulty decided by the new manager. And as a football nerd and a die hard Barcelona fan I am buzzing pre season to see what formation Enrique will incorporate. Will he go with the traditional 4-3-3 ? Which would allow the players to move into the new season knowing the system and feeling comfortable. Last season if you remember with Tata Martino in charge in the so called big matches he would go away from the 4-3-3 and revert to clogging the midfield with 4 natural midfielders : Xavi, Inestia, Fabergas, and Busquets, which would ultimately make us very predictable and decrease our movement in the attacking end. He would then usually leave Neymar and Messi up front and only Neymar would try and make runs to create space. This failed attempt in change of formation by Tata Martino is the main reason I believe we failed miserably last season, we were just so predictable.
So would the 4-3-3 fit the new faces in the squad this season? Well we have the front 3 big names, Neymar, Messi and Suarez. Although there is an immediate problem with this. The 4-3-3 has one central attacker usually and nor Messi or Suarez are going to want to play a Cavani like role at PSG where he constantly plays second fiddle to Ibra. So just based on this alone I personally don't think this will work. So what are the other options ? Personally I really like the idea of a 4-3-1-2 which was originally brought up on the main page of the blog. There are however some question marks that I will pose to this formation and how we can fit our best starting 11 onto the pitch.
With this proposed formation nothing will change in the back. Until Barca sign a true long term solution to center back we will see Mathieu paired together with Pique and Dani Alves and Jordi Alba on either side. The midfield is were things start to get really tricky. In reality we have 2 great, great defensive midfielders in Busquets and Mascherano. As Mascherano showed clearly in the World Cup he is being wasted as a make shift center back. The big question in the midfield will have to be decided by Luis Enrique. Does he fell that one defensive midfielder will provide enough cover for the fragile Barcelona defense. He overall will have to decide what he fells best makes the team more balanced. We will most likely see a midfield trio of Mascherano, Busquets and Inestia if he feels the midfield needs to be more defensive. If not he will most likely put in new summer signing Ivan Rakitic from Sevilla in place of Mascherano, if he wants a free flowing midfield which would be much more creative and technical.
Personally I would try the second option and see how it fairs in a proper match. Rakitic is to big of a signing not to be put into the starting lineup. A trio of Busquets, Rakitic and Inestia will leave Barca fans like myself thrilled with this prospect. However if the balance in the midfield is not right we will have to bring in Mascherano and or make Rakitic into more of a box to box midfielder, providing attacking and defensive qualities. The front three pick themselves. However as you can see below there is a change on how they set up. Messi should play as a number 10 in behind Neymar and Suarez much like how he played with Argentina in the world cup. Neymar and Suarez should then be given the freedom to move and create space as well as come get the ball to feet as they feel best suits the team. I expect this attacking lineup for Barcelona be much more explosive and dynamic with the inclusion of Suarez combined with a better balance in midfield. Overall the introduction to the 4-3-1-2 could prove to be Barcelona's new love. With a balance in midfield and the creativity in the attacking end, there is no reason why this formation can't succeed.
2. The simple answer is no. Our style and the Barcelona philosophy will remain the focus. However our the key is blending and making sure our new signings can adjust and execute the style effectively. I think the proposed new formation will have a huge positive effect on the way were are able to play and be yet again the Barcelona that we all know and love. Rakitic in my opinion is the perfect replacement in the starting lineup for the aging legend Xavi. Vison, Control, passing, this Croatian international is a proven world class maestro, and with his knowledge of the league from his time at Sevilla is the perfect midfielder to spark up the midfield.
3. All Barcelona fans have been crying out to the board over the last few seasons for them to finally solve the achilles heal at the back. Recently the Barcelona board had revealed there final 5 targets for the remainder of the transfer window via Marca. Listed are the following: Vertonghen ( Spurs), Vermaelen ( Arsenal), Marquinhos ( PSG), Blind ( Ajax), Hummels ( Dortmund); however the last two are the most unlikely to happen. Now me personally and probably for most fans of the five listed, Hummels is without a doubt the one we should be going after. However, Dortmund are keen to keep ahold of him and he is happy there. From there I would shorten the list down to two primary targets. In this order; Vertonghen and Marquinhos. In my opinion Vertonghen is the highest quality defender on the list behind Hummels and he has expressed his interest in joining the club. Marquinhos is a different prospect. Only just turned 20 he has the potential to at one stage through his career be the best defender in the world, but is that a risk Barcelona can afford to take at this moment in time? I would say no. There is no room to gamble on a young defender. Vertonghen is the safest opinion. Strong, a physical presence, good on the ball, and a cracking left foot he is nearly the complete Barcelona defender. If the stubborn Barcelona board a willing to fork out 20 million euros for Mathieu, if they really care about the performance of the club they should have no problem bidding in at least 3o million euros which would be to good of a deal for Tottenham to turn down. Make it happen Zubizaretta !
4. Finally what should our expectations be for this season? Barcelona is the biggest club in the world and I don't care what anyone says it simply is. Therefore our natural mentality should be to win every competition that we are in. Realistically however we have to look at some of the teams around us. In La Liga alone, Real Madrid have signed World Cup star James Rodriguez and Toni Kroos, and Atletico have signed proven striker Mario Mandzukic and Antoine Griezmann. Competition will be fiercer than ever. Now, coming off our worst season in recent memory under Tata Martino I think it should be a genuine priority to regain the La Liga title and at least get to the semi finals in the Champions League. I think realistically as well there is no reason why a cup run to the final in the Copa Del Rey should not be retained.
Super stoked for the upcoming season !
Visca Barca!
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