With Barca B languishing at the bottom of the Segunda Division, how excited should we be about the talent coming through?
We all know about La Masia. About the names that have passed through the world famous academy en route to the first team. No club has produced so many long serving and legendary first teamers on such a consistent basis. But are the current crop anywhere near as good as their predecessors?
The obvious answer appears to be no. Relegation to Segunda B is all but confirmed now for the second string, which has to question the quality of the players moving up through the ranks.
I have always been far more excited when a young player comes into the first team than by a fancy new signing, and even more so when that player goes on to become a club legend. From Puyol and Xavi to Iniesta and Messi, there has been plenty to be excited about over the years. But if the current B team players aren’t good enough to keep the club in the second tier, how can they be good enough for the first team?
That is probably too simplistic a view in fairness. After all, we have all too often seen teams get relegated when they were deemed to be “too good to go down.” It isn’t all down to the players, after all. The manager needs to take responsibility too, and the two that have been in charge this season have been found wanting. Eusebio Sacristan had been in charge since 2011 – when he took over from current first team coach Luis Enrique – , but was sacked in February after a 4-0 thumping at Real Zaragoza. His successor, youth team coach Jordi Vinyals, has done even worse, winning just two of his sixteen matches in charge, leading the club to the bottom of the table in the process. Relegation is now all but assured, something which is widely seen as hugely damaging at best, and catastrophic at worst.
Relegation to Segunda B will certainly mean that the team will not be as strong going forward, as its better players are more likely to be loaned out to Primera or Segunda division clubs rather than play in the third tier, with a couple of them probably moving up to the first team to provide backup while the club sees out its transfer ban.
Those better players are the likes of Alen Halilovic, Adama Traore, Sandro Ramirez, Sergi Samper, Alex Grimaldo and Jean Marie Dongou. All look like exciting prospects for the future, but of course they can’t all join the senior squad next season. Out of those listed, I would expect Halilovic and Sandro to step up, as they are the two that would strike me as being able to step into the first team, and Sandro has looked decent when he has appeared for the senior side in the past. Sergi Samper is held in high regard by the club, but I would expect him to be loaned out next season along with Traore and Dongou. Alex Grimaldo could also be promoted, but is more likely to be loaned out unless Adriano moves on.
Of course, the B team players’ futures may be dependent on the returning loan duo of Christian Tello and Gerard Deulofeu, and the seemingly unsettled Pedro. Out of those three, I expect two will leave; Deulofeu’s loan spell at Sevilla has been far from successful, even seeing him named in Marca’s worst team of the season. He has failed to live up to his early promise, and will definitely be shipped out, whilst one of Tello or Pedro will also be sold. My money would be on Pedro, as I think Tello would be happy to be a backup for Messi, Suarez and Neymar.
It remains to be seen whether the B team players can make the grade at the club, especially as Luis Enrique hasn’t given them many chances so far, even calling up rookie Munir El Haddadi ahead of them. With the transfer ban still in place until January, any reinforcements will have to come from within.
Here’s hoping they are up to it.
messidependencia 