What is Barcelona’s next step

It’s not often Sir Alex Ferguson admits that his side deserved to lose. In fact it’s even less often that he admits his team were outclassed. Even in the midst of Rafa Benitez’ peak at Liverpool after they beat United 4-1 at Old Trafford, Ferguson still felt that his side had played better. Yet last weekend he had to admit that his side deservedly lost to the team that had again stood in the way of him and Europe’s top prize. The fact that United were so utterly demolished added strength to the argument going round that this Barcelona side are the greatest club side in football history.

And it’s hard to argue with that. In Guardiola’s three years at the helm, Barcelona have won 3 La Ligas, 2 Champions Leagues, 2 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Del Rey, 1 Uefa Super Cup and 1 Club World Cup. All this while playing football that demands exceptional ball control, great passing, spacial awareness, interchanging of positions and aggressive pressing. It’s hard to find a weakness in the Catalan side and you just have to go on to a internet football forum to see fans testing out their tactical prowess and trying to come up with a way to stunt Barcelona’s brilliance.

A few teams have stopped or were close to stopping this Barcelona side. Inter last year just about managed to halt them in the semi finals by getting at them at home and then through amazing organisation and defensive solidity at the Nou Camp. Arsenal beat them at the Emirates this year and were a Bendtner away from knocking them out in the second leg. Real Madrid of course beat them in the Copa Del Rey Final this year. Even Hercules beat them 2-0 at the Nou Camp earlier in the season. Yet many of these victories were overcome by lucky circumstances. Real Madrid were lucky not to have 3 or 4 players sent off in the Copa Del Rey Final this year and this obviously would have swung the final in a very different direction. When Arsenal beat them 2-1 at the Emirates, Barcelona probably should have been 3-0 up at half time and had a perfectly legitimate goal ruled out for offside while Messi didn’t appear to have his shooting boots on. Even Inter’s famous 2 leg knock-out last year is still looked back on with some fortune after Barcelona had to travel around 600 miles by bus for the first leg after the Icelandic volcano and had another legitimate goal ruled out in the second leg which would have sent them through to the final.

This adds to the growing opinion that it is virtually impossible to find a weakness in Guardiola’s side. There is hardly anything in the system they play or the players that they employ that helps you come up with a tactical plan to beat them. However run your finger down their entire squad and you may find something worth looking at.

Barcelona have a lack of squad depth. In modern day football it is so important to be able to rotate your players without it affecting your play. The amount of games top teams have to play, as well as the intensity and concentration they have to play them with leads to inevitable tiredness and injury. Thus ensuring that you have plenty of high quality players is so important. Yet if you look at Barcelona’s squad you see a lack of proven high quality players to backup their proven high quality first team players on the pitch. Look at their substitutes for the first leg of this year’s Champions League Semi Final against Real Madrid – whilst Madrid’s list included players like Kaka, Benzema, Higuain and Adebayor, Barcelona’s bench included players like Roberto, Thiago, Jeffren and Fontas. Now obviously these players are young and could develop into top class players, Thiago in particular having a lot of potential from what I’ve seen of him. But can they next season, afford to develop these players into the team whilst potentially risking points to an already tight race between them and Real Madrid?

In fact their youth system which deservedly receives an enormous amount of credit for consistently producing top quality players may be a reason for their lack of squad depth. There is a reason why Arsene Wenger has often not bought proven, high quality players for big money. Quite simply, because it stunts the opportunities for the younger players to develop. If you have a squad of high quality players then there is less opportunities for a club’s youth players to come through and become a regular fixture in the first team. It also adds a lot of pressure to a young player if they are taking the place of a Champions League winner or a League title winner or a golden boot winner etc. If the young player fails to perform then there is an absurd amount of pressure for him to not get a look in again. It’s one of the major faults in football – a lack of patience.

Thus because of Barcelona’s brilliance at finding young players and developing them into a top player, they have to make room for these young players to come through. Therefore if players get tired or injured these young players are forced into the spotlight of arguably the best team of all time.

The other main reason for Barcelona’s lack of squad depth is their style of play. While their passing game is simple in theory and looks simple on the pitch, it is far from easy to pull off. Their moves are practised for hours in training and it’s not just the possession that’s hard. Their movement is probably the best I’ve personally ever seen. Their interchanging of positions, making sure each major zone is has at least one player in it has to be done as a team and they have to work together to pull it off. This matched with their high intensity pressing game means that it takes a lot of work to fit into the team. Plus amongst all these things, you have to be good on the ball.

Therefore it is extremely difficult for new players to immediately come in and fit into their team. Caceres, Hleb, Maxwell, Chygrynskiy, Ibrahimovic, Adriano and arguably Mascherano came in for plenty of money and couldn’t have a positive impact on the team. They failed to live up to the extremely difficult style that Barcelona have and many of them were shipped out immediately after failing to impress, the main exception here being Mascherano, who after a poor started has impressed recently.

Therefore, unlike most other teams, Barcelona can’t just go out and buy top players, in the knowledge that their squad depth will be secure. They have to be extremely clever and make sure each player has the ability required and can develop into their team. This summer will be key to how they will do next season. Do they buy 3 or 4 top quality players? Or do they bring in 1 or 2 and leave space for the younger players to come through? It’s a massive dilemma adding to the amount of pressure that there is from Real Madrid at the top of La Liga. We’ve seen this season and last season that there is virtually no room for error for either of these teams. If one of them even so much as draws a game, they are then immediately behind the other one. Therefore the players have to perform every single match because they can’t afford bad games otherwise they will fall behind their rivals. Therefore the pressure is absolutely immense.

In the last few months of this season Barcelona actually seemed tired. Their pressing wasn’t as intense, the ball circulation wasn’t as quick or smooth and the goals didn’t come as often. They managed to overcome the challenge of facing Real Madrid 4 times in 18 days and still managed to win most of their games. They got over the hurdles they needed to get over. But next season will be tougher – the pressure will be on to prove once and for all that they are the best club side in the history of football, they will have to keep the motivation levels up and will have to cope with a harder challenge from Real Madrid than they have faced this season. What they do over the summer will be key to how next season pans out and if it works out and they finish next season with the La Liga trophy and maybe even the retaining of the Champions League, they will go down as the greatest club side of all time. Until then, their transfer policy and the development of their upcoming players will be key to whether they get into that position. What’s certain is that it will probably be their hardest task yet and their squad will face an immense challenge.