BARCELONA AND LA MASIA: A CASE OF A DERAILED TRAIN.

Barcelona proved to be one of the most dominant forces in world football in the past decade,conquering teams domestically and on the European sphere. Barcelona did not just win matches and trophies subsequently,but the team won them in a certain pattern and way which proved to colour football.

An important factor in the team's conquest proved to be the talents which were being produced in their "factory",the famed La Masia academy. La Masia was a vital cog in the gear that turned Barcelona's wheels of success over the years. The talents produced at La Masia proved to be world beater and unmatchable talents. La Masis instilled a culture,lifestyle and pattern needed to succeed into the players who passed through them.

Amidst sporting and economic crises,La Masia proved to be a reliable panacea against impending peril. In a sporting sense, La Masia provided Barcelona with world class talent at little to no cost,in retrospect,the likes of; Puyol,Valdes,Don Iniesta,Busi,Xavi,and Leo Messi arrived at no cost! Pique,Alba and a few other La Masia talents arrived for a little fee. Insane amount of talents for little to no fee. Economically,La Masia prevented the club from over spending money on signing players,and also gave the club a viable wage structure,as La Masia talents never demanded monstrous wages.

La Masia and Barcelona at large thrived on the policy of, "If we are spending money on signing players,they must be better than what we already have." This policy simply implies that money can only be spent on signings who are better than players already at the club and/or academy. This policy proved to be a very effective one,as it accounted for Barca's successes.

Fast foward to the present day,notably under Bartomeu's reigh,Barcelona,as a train have derailed from La Masia,the rail of greatness and dominance. It will be impossible to look at all the signings which did not follow the policy of "Being better than available players",however a few have been analysed.

Highly talented LB,Grimaldo was sold to Benfica for €1M,highly rated Marc Cucurella was sold to Getafe for €5M; however Bartomeu signed Junior Firpo from Real Betis for €30M. With all due respect to the Spanish-Dominican LB,he is no where better than Grimaldo and/or Cucurella who were let go meagre fees!

Bartomeu pulled off a masterclass and splashed a whooping €120M on Griezmann,a player who has no natural place in Barca's system of play. With all due respect to the world cup winner,he is yet to show or do anything spectacular in which La Masia graduate Carles Perez who was let go to Roma did not or could not do. This is not to compare both players,but considering Carles Perez was more suited to Barca's style of play,had more impact and on far less wages,proves the deal was totally a disgrace.

Lord Bartomeu spent €60M on 30-year old Miralem Pjanic,and putting experience asides,there is nothing Pjanic does that is very exceptional or extra-ordinary that Carles Aleña and/or Riqui Puig cannot do.

Franciso Trincao was signed for £31M from Sporting Braga,the Portuguese has the potential to become a future success story,but he is not in anyway better than B' team winger Alex Collado. This might be controversial,but for those who watch B' team matches,it is highly comprehensible. Also considering Collado would need less time to adapt.

Bartomeu went on an impulsive buying spree in Brazil and signed Jorge Maia and Matheus Fernandes for €3•5M and €7•5M respectively. Following close watch,Maia is not anywhere close to the level of La Masians; Konrad de la Fuente and Hiroki Abe. M. Fernandes has not proven to be better than Oriol Busquets and/or Monchu Rodriguez,who was loaned out.

Bartomeu loaned out CF Abel Ruiz,without giving the player a chance,despite Suarez's injury and Griezmann's shit-show. In less than a month later,Braithwaite was signed from Leganes for €18M.

These analysis are subjective,but provide a layout of the club's derailment.

The club have also mismanaged talents over the years,while Real Madrid loan out players to top first division clubs: Jesus Vallejo to Granada,who play in Europa League,Brahim Diaz to AC Milan who are Italian giants and in Europa League,Borja Mayoral to Roma,who are a top club playing in Europa League. Barcelona on the other hand,sent Monchu to Girona in the second division,Jorge Cuence and Sergio Akieme to Almeria in the second division,Moussa Wague to PAOK in the unknown Greece superlig and sending Todibo on loan to Benfica,despite not being wanted by the coach,and sending Juan Miranda to Real Betis to be the third choice leftback,behind Alex and Pedraza.

It is time to go back to the culture which made us great!