Watching players like Juan Miranda, Oriol Busquets, Monchu Rodriguez, Riqui Puig, Abel Ruiz, Chumi and Iniaki Pena play, it’s safe to say that Barcelona B is oozing with talent.
Ever since the upsurge of the academy players during Pep Guardiola’s regime, the expectations from the famed La Masia have been extremely high. From once fielding 11 academy graduates against Levante in 2012 to not fielding a single player graduate in 2018 against Celta Vigo, the power of La Masia has fallen.
But has it really faced that steep a decline as it appears to the onlooker? Is it the academy that has failed to produce talents or is it the bridge from La Masia to the first team that’s been meddled with? We take a look.
Riqui Puig
“Don’t bother if you’re under 180 cm,” read the poster at La Masia which Johan Cruyff eventually tore down. Had Barcelona continued recruiting players purely by physicality rather than technique, the club would not have been able to secure the services of Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta.
What was taking shape under Luis Enrique has reached a crescendo under Ernesto Valverde; a reversion to preferring the physically superior.
Much has been said about the academy graduates preferring to ply their trades elsewhere. The loyalties of these players have been questioned. Jordi Mboula left for Monaco after winning the UEFA Youth League with Barcelona in 2017.
Barcelona let Marc Bartra go to accommodate Jeremy Mathieu and now the La Masia graduate has evolved to become one of the best defenders in La Liga.
Thiago Alcantara peaked after he switched to Bayern Munich. Sergi Samper has stuck with Barcelona through thick and thin and is yet to make a mark in the first team. Injuries have troubled the La Masia graduate but lack of opportunities leads the long line of factors which has led to his dormancy.
Success stories of players who have left the club and failure of those who have stuck with it drives the youth prospects away. Barcelona signed Arturo Vidal when there was an abundance of talent in the midfield in Barcelona B team. If a player with tremendous potential like Riqui Puig decides to try his luck elsewhere, he can’t be blamed.
Oriol Busquets Mas
Against Leganes, Valverde decided to give Jordi Alba some rest but instead of providing an opportunity to Miranda, who was doing well for the B team, he decided to go ahead with Thomas Vermaelan who isn’t even a left-back to start with.
There have been cases when Sergio Busquets was unavailable for a match and Ivan Rakitic was played as a central defensive midfielder with Paulinho deployed as a number six. An open minded approach would at least consider calling up Oriol Busquets for that game. It might sound like a risk but no reward comes without some risk.
Pep Guardiola took a risk when he had Ronaldhino, Deco and Gianluca Zambrotta sold to make room for some of the promising youth prospect and that paid off.
Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Xavi Hernandez, Rafael Marquez and Andres Iniesta
Real Madrid’s success in Europe is another factor that has caused damage to the academy prospects in an indirect way. Barcelona are pressurised to act in the transfer market to produce immediate results. Hence, the Catalans will not be looking at the academy for a while which will force the talents to a club where they can enjoy playing time.
In a world where 19-year-olds are taking their leagues by storm, it’s only natural that the academy products don’t want to wait till they’re 24 until they enjoy first team football.
Barcelona struggled to ‘replace’ Xavi and will struggle to replace Busquets and Messi when the inevitable happens.
In their search for European glory and their quest to become a financial powerhouse, Barcelona have forgotten that La Masia replaces La Masia.
