What is FC Barcelona really doing in the post-Messi era?
Barcelona might not really know what they are going to do in their post-Messi era.
Not so long ago I made a post about how FC Barcelona was trending in the right direction despite their lack of achievements. However, now I’m not quite so sure they are. They now face the beginning of a new season without a true identity.
We all know Barcelona face an incredible change after Lionel Messi’s departure to PSG. But even though their superstar is gone, they had a couple of good players that could lead this team to a title. Antoine Griezmann was at the top of the list, but a couple of days ago the club announced they were loaning the Frenchman to his former team — and reigning LaLiga champions —Atlético Madrid.
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This move, out of the blue, added Griezmann to a list of top players come and gone from the culés in the last couple of years. The list includes Neymar, Arthur, Luis Suárez and Emerson, to name a few; leaving Barcelona with a bunch of young players but no true leader in their roster.
Barcelona’s roster not up to snuff to compete with the other elite sides in Europe
To recap, their starting eleven right now is: Ter Stegen (a top 5 goalkeeper in the world), Ronald Araujo along side Clement Lenglet as the center-backs, which is not bad but left a lot of doubts last season, Jordi Alba at left back and Sergiño Dest at right back.
In midfield, it’s Sergi Roberto, Sergio Busquets and Frenkie de Jong. Finally, in the most bizarre sentence, Memphis Depay, Braithwaite and maybe Sergio Agüero as the forwards.
It’s not a bad lineup per se, but its not a top team in European football, especially with the Champions League so close to beginning.
I’ve yet to mention, Barcelona still have Ousmane Dembelé, Pedri, Philippe Coutinho and their new No. 10 Ansu Fati, as some of their most important players. But right now neither of them are the answer to Barcelona’s questions.
To be honest, it seems neither Joan Laporta nor Ronald Koeman have a real contingency plan for the next couple of years without Messi. Let’s remember that last year wasn’t as successful as they hoped.
The Catalans nearly came out empty handed, winning only the Copa del Rey. Not only did they not win other titles, they finished third in LaLiga and were once again humiliated in the Champions League — and that was with Messi on the team.
Now Barcelona has to face the reality that they are in rebuild mode and that they might not compete for either the Champions League or La Liga this year. It’s true that they have added Luuk de Jong, Memphis, Eric García and Agüero to their roster. But aside from García and Memphis, none of the other players are at their prime. Not to mention that Atlético just got better with Griezmann’s return.
The only good news for Barcelona this summer is PSG declining Real Madrid’s offers for Kylian Mbappe. So their biggest rival is still is as bad as they are as both will have to play catch with the Colchoneros.
Next. Atletico Madrid sign Antoine Griezmann on loan. dark
It’s going to be hard to see Barcelona without Messi and it will be even harder to see them if they start to lose a number games. Let’s hope the board know what they are doing so they can once again compete with the top teams in Europe.