The disregarded youth

FC Barcelona is known to be a club that trusts its youth products and often gives them chances. We are all familiar with the stories of Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, and many other La Masia graduates who were introduced into the first team at a young age and ended up making a successful career in Catalonia. However, especially this season, it almost seems as if Barça doesn’t believe in its academy anymore, or at least, is far less eager to give the youth products chances on the pitch.
Many have wanted to see a lot more of Thiago this season, myself included. Questions have also been raised about the policy over Martín Montoya, Cristian Tello, and Marc Bartra; if they are as talented as their few performances indicate, what is stopping Barcelona from giving them more chances? These four men are perhaps the most radical examples of talented youth products that have been more or less snubbed this season.
The reason for the policy regarding these youngsters is something we don’t know for certain and we are only left with the option of speculating. Perhaps Tito has been afraid of losing points in the Liga and giving arch rivals Real Madrid any hope. Perhaps he wants to end the season with 100 points in La Liga, just to show that Barça is still among the very elite. We can question the rightfulness of these ideas, but even if we support them, things still don’t fully make sense.
If you look at the quality of players like Thiago, Tello, Montoya, and Bartra, you can only wonder why they haven’t been trusted with the job of winning Barça those important points. These players possess all the qualities a Barça player needs, and even more importantly, they haven’t failed to impress when given a chance, although they have still made mistakes, as one would expect from a young player. Still, if these youngsters were judged by their performances alone, they should have played a lot more. In fact, there have been times when – for example – Tello has been in better form than David Villa or Pedro, and yet the youngster has found himself on the bench. There have also been times when Xavi or Dani Alves have looked incredibly tired, and yet Thiago and Montoya – who might well have been in better form – have been keeping Tello company on the bench. The same goes for Bartra. It was only when both Puyol and Mascherano were injured that Bartra got a chance in the starting lineup. If it takes a defense torn by injuries to even give Bartra a chance, something must be wrong.

What is even more baffling is that players like Thiago, Tello, Bartra, and Montoya might be exactly what Barcelona needs at this moment. When we lacked tempo and creativity against Bayern Munich, perhaps Thiago could have done a better job than the exhausted Xavi. When Dani Alves was playing an incredibly high number of minutes and didn’t look completely fresh, perhaps Montoya could have taken his spot and done a better job than the Brazilian. When Barça’s defense was torn apart by injuries, or even before that, perhaps Bartra should have been given more chances, and perhaps that way he’d have been more ready to face a team like Bayern Munich. When Barcelona’s attack looked static and Messi-dependent, perhaps Tello and his incredible pace could have been the solution. Now, instead of looking at what we already have, we’re looking for solutions from the transfer market.
It’s obvious that Barcelona needs a center back this summer, and it’s also obvious that the club will look to strengthen its attack, as the signing of Neymar indicates. With the way things are right now, I consider these purchases more or less necessary. However, had we acted differently earlier, these signings might not have been necessary at all. And not to mention, we might have saved a penny or two as well. At this point, one can only wonder why Barcelona has made the situation so hard for itself, why has the club let itself slip into a situation where it needs to sign new players with big money, when at the same time, we have these young talents waiting for their turn?
Perhaps it’s not a moment to panic just yet. We know that Xavi had to wait for his turn, Iniesta had to wait for his turn, and they ended up alright, to say the least. We also know that the youngsters shouldn’t be rushed, introducing them to the pressure early on could destroy their confidence like it eventually did to Bojan, for example. Of course the pressure could help them to advance as well, like it did for the 19-year-old Leo Messi, but perhaps it’s a bit unrealistic to expect that the same would happen to everyone, regardless of the talent.

However, with the talent and potential players like Thiago, Tello, Montoya, and Bartra have shown, it’s quite obvious that they have what it takes to succeed. But as we all know, talent alone is nothing unless you’re willing to develop and polish it. Right now, Barcelona seems frustratingly hesitant to do that, and instead, chooses to spend big money on players whose talent has already been polished. Where would we be now if the club had been this hesitant with Xavi, Iniesta, or Messi? Would they be what they are today? We can only wonder.
If the club continues to act like this, we will either lose these talents to other clubs that are willing to give them the chances they deserve, or their potential will continue to go to waste on the bench. With both of these options equally bad, Barcelona must change something in order to make the most of the talents it has.