FC Barcelona B

God Serena

New member
Busquests should not drop a level to play another B team season.

Either promoted or loaned out surely better for him.

Not really sure why Carles Perez decided to sign new contract but he will be one of wingers would think.

Busi isn't a lock for promotion the way Alena is, so it wouldn't necessarily be him dropping a level.

I was under the impression he was going to be playing for Barca B for the majority of the coming season, with promotion after being certain.

Edit: Unless you mean dropping to Segunda B, in which case I don't think playing 3rd tier football would hurt him too much anyways.
 

JamDav1982

Senior Member
Busi isn't a lock for promotion the way Alena is, so it wouldn't necessarily be him dropping a level.

I was under the impression he was going to be playing for Barca B for the majority of the coming season, with promotion after being certain.

Edit: Unless you mean dropping to Segunda B, in which case I don't think playing 3rd tier football would hurt him too much anyways.

It is him dropping a level if he goes from Segunda to Segunda B.

Neither is it a third tier level really it is worse than that.
 

God Serena

New member
It is him dropping a level if he goes from Segunda to Segunda B.

Neither is it a third tier level really it is worse than that.

Ah, I see. Well, a loan doesn't seem like it's in the plans right now, and to be honest our loan success rate is hovering slightly above 0%, so I wouldn't be a fan of doing that.

If the only other option is promotion then I hope he impresses enough in the pre-season, but even if he does get promotion what are the odds of him actually playing, like... ever? Surely getting playing time, even if in Segunda B, would be better than sitting next to Gomes all season, right?
 

Joan

Well-known member
FC Barcelona's La Masia have signed another top talent. This time that's Jorge Carrillo, Spain's youth GK. He will play in Juvenil B. [Albert Roge]
 

FC433

New member
I have been thinking about La Masia and our current situation quite a lot lately, and I am very interested to hear what think about what I am about to say. I am hoping that this method should potentially reduce the number of those who leave the academy. There are two simple rules:

1- No promising player should stay longer than two seasons, age 18 - 20 at Barca B
2- Three players from Barca B must be promoted to the first team every season
3- The first team must have 22 first team players and three spots for the Barca B players, 25 players in total.

After each season, if any of the new three players proves himself, he could replace one of the first team players. However, if he or all of them fail but show potential, they will be loaned or sold with buyback option.

These simple rules should bring some certainty to our young players, which hopefully that will play a great role in keeping them. The manager should be fine because he has the opportunity to have two first-team quality players in each position; therefore, there should not be an issue regarding the quality of the squad.

What do you think?
 

Messi983

Senior Member
This looks good in theory but in real life things are not so easy.

1. Players don't develop with the same projectory. Some are ready for Barça B at 18 (or before), others are not but they could still have first team potential down the road. Injuries could play part here as well. If someone suffers a longterm knee injury at 18 he'll probably need around a year to recover and get back into a match rhytm before he could continue his development where it stopped. It's very likely he would never reach his full potential (before injury) but if talented and hardworking enough he could still develop into (at least) a solid squad player. You would risk losing those type of players if you would set age limitations. Further, as hyped as they are by the fans or media most players are not ready for first team role when 20, but they could be a year or two later, so by the time when (in your theory) we would most likely already gave up on them. Of course those that are ready when younger should be given a chance but I'd prefer them to get their starting first team opportunities still as members of Barça B and if they are convincing enough then promote them. I think this is better then promote them and then struggle to find minutes and when you can't send them back to B team usually the only option is a loan which could work or not. And by sending player on loan the club also lose a posibility of overseeing and possibly influencing (with coaching) his every day progress.

I'm not against loans/selling with buy-back and most players that people here around use to blame unsuccessful loans for them not making it with us would never make it here anyway because they are just not good enough or lack other things needed to succeed at top level. We should still treat every player individually to see if a loan is really the best solution for him at that point of his career. I'll use example of Cucurella who is one of my favourite B team players. He'll turn 20 in around 2 weeks so by your theory he should be among the candidates to be promoted to the first team. And while I would like to see him get a preseason with the first team and then let the club decide what to do with him I don't think he's anywhere near ready for our first team (and might never be good enough to be fair). Another very important factor is that he has a Spain's NT starting LB ahead of him and we also have a solid backup. Even if Digne would be sold I don't think Cucu would get enough minutes behind Alba to develop. And second, we don't know if we could count on him in important games if something happens to Alba. But still, he's only 20 and has shown some potential so we shouldn't totally give up on him. He has overgrown Barça B and keeping him there wouldn't be a smart decision even if they would stay in Segunda so loaning him to First division team (whether it's La Liga or another top 5 league is not as important as finding the right club/coach for him though I'd prefer him to stay in Spain) is obviously the best decision unless we can find someone who's willing to pay a solid money but also include a (not too high) buy-back option.

On the other hand for a player like Oriol Busquets it's better to keep him in Barça B (even at lower level this year) and let him train and sometimes play with the first team. We currently don't have a clear backup for Busi Sr. and our best option there is Raki who is for now still a starter at his position. So Oriol could get called up sometimes but at the same time he'll continue his progress at Barça B. At this time next year he'll probably overgrow Barça B (regardless if they'll be promoted or not) so we'll have to make a decision whether it's the best for him to stay and get minutes behind Busquets or loan him out as well to get top level experience. He's expected to be a key player for Barça B but if he could also get some games in the first team and use his minutes good then decision to keep him will be easier.


2. I don't think there were ever 3 players promoted (to stay in the first team not later being loaned out or sold) in the same season even when we were pushing La Masia kids, some times even too much, like it happened with Bojan and Giovani. I think it would send a better message to La Masia if we would promote just one at the start of every season but give him enough opportunity to show what he can do. Of course he'd first have to earn his minutes by working hard in trainings.

3. You can't guarantee those 3 players would get playing time they need to develop. We couldn't get them enough minutes if they would just have one great starter ahead of them at their position, let alone if that starter would also have at least a solid backup. It's not enough to just promote youngsters if then they won't even get on the bench in most games. How would you know if they showed potential if they would only play in Copa against 3rd Division teams when usually all players look good? Of course coach would see them in trainings and could get a better opinion on them than the fans who don't work with them everyday but young players need to play regularly so I think it's better for them to stay in Barça B a year longer, train with the first team occasionally and being called up when needed.

I also believe every promoted player should get at least 2 seasons because first season is usually used for adaptation eventhough the players are coming through youth ranks and know club's system they still have to train and play at much higher level than they were in youth football or Barça B.
 

FC433

New member
You made excellent points.

However, although 25 players seem a bit too many, I still believe that it could work. We have done it before, and there are many clubs who have about 30 players. But I get your point. I myself prefer a smaller squad of 23. Regarding playing time, they should at the very least get four full games (CDR) is that enough? I am not sure.

You are right about the age restriction, but I believe that players who are 21 cannot really develop anymore at Barca B, and they should go somewhere else. I did really enjoy your post.
 

Messi983

Senior Member
You made excellent points.

However, although 25 players seem a bit too many, I still believe that it could work. We have done it before, and there are many clubs who have about 30 players. But I get your point. I myself prefer a smaller squad of 23. Regarding playing time, they should at the very least get four full games (CDR) is that enough? I am not sure.

You are right about the age restriction, but I believe that players who are 21 cannot really develop anymore at Barca B, and they should go somewhere else. I did really enjoy your post.

Sorry for a late reply.

As I've mentioned in previous post if we can only guarantee La Masia kids 4 games in Copa then it's better to keep them to play regularly with Barça B and just call them up when needed. In other words we have two options:

1.) keep players in Barça B where they'll get around 3000-3500 minutes and practice with them for let's say 80% of the season but also play 3-4 games for the first team/train 20% with them

2.) train with the first team a whole season but only start 3-4 games/get around 400 minutes in a season.

Training is obviously very important but I think around 19-20 you should play every week even if it's against lower level competition. So if we can't give youngsters at least 1.000 minutes (and even that's low) in the first team then it's better to keep them in Barça B.


EV said he prefers to work with smaller squad so I think we'll have around 19-20 first team outfield players and 2 GKs. That way there will be an opening to call up B team players like Miranda, Oriol and possibly some others for CDR games or whenever we'll need them/EV will decide to give them a chance.


I think our goal should be to build a strong 18-man squad (best XI and 7 bench players) who could start at every moment. Looking at our projected bench we have:

1. Cillessen - If Jasper stays I don't think anyone here would be worried if he'd have to start an important game instead of MATS. If he'll leave then we'll most likely downgrade at backup GK position but hopefully we can still find a solid cheap veteran GK.
2. Lenglet - He'll have to adapt and show his worth first but I think he'll be (at least) a very good rotational player.
3. Roberto/Semedo and/or Digne - could use an improvement here especially at LB but I think it's ok. Some rich/top teams have troubles to find even their starters at one or both fullback positions let alone have a very good backup there. City has played with Delph/Zinchenko (both converter CMs) at LB last season, CB Nacho has filled in for Carvajal for Madrid...
4. and 5. two midfielders between Arthur, De Jong/Rabiot/whichever midfielder we might buy, possibly Roberto - we'll see what new guys will show but should be an improvement over last season
6. and 7. versatile winger (Denis) and backup forward (Paco/Munir) - we'll obviously need a (big) improvement here but I doubt it will happen this summer.


Then positons 19-21 are used for a mix between promoted homegrown kids (Alena) who will give their best whenever they'll get a chance and experienced veterans like Vermaelen who won't complain but you can always count on them.

Further, positions 22-24 can be used for Barça B players like Miranda and Oriol B. who are not officially part of the first team but can always be called up.

Then in a year or two those (younger) player from positions 19-21 move into the top 18 (to replace players who are not good enough anymore/too old/want to leave,...) if they develop well while players from positions 22-24 move into their previous spots. If we get a starting quality player from La Masia then great but we were spoiled with a golden generation and shouldn't expect this will happen regularly now so I'll be happy every time we'll produce someone that will constantly be a part of the match squad even if he won't establish himself as a starter. Hopefully Alena can become that player in a year or two but I think he'll be more in those 19-21 spots this year and I expect many people here will complain a lot about that. But it's all part of the process and he'll probably have to go through that as well.
 

Icarium

Lifestealer
Barca B will be playing my local team in some time. Sadly can't watch it. Hope both do well, I don't expect much from my local team though haha.
 

Joan

Well-known member
Barcelona B will play their third preseason game of the summer, in the Miniestadí against Bengaluru FC at 20:00. Doubt I'll watch since the lineup is not inspiring, but here's the link: https://www.fcbarcelona.es/videos/en-directo/. In case someone's interested.

Lineup: Barcelona B lineup vs Bengaluru (official): Ezkieta - Jaime Mingueza Cuenca Cucurella - Monchu Ferran Collado - Pérez Mujica Ballou; Bench Barcelona B: Carević, Chumi, Bueno, Jandro, Moha, Abel Ruiz

Edit: watched parts of the match in the end. It was fine by the team. The opposition wasn't strong, but won't be in the league either. They press well, have good coordination and purposeful actions. Defenders are physically strong, albeit not particularly talented but with Miranda and Morey/Wague don't think it will be a weak spot. There is some talent in the midfield, shall see how they progress. Collado was very involved, Monchu did well, scored a goal. But who I really like is Ballou Tabla. Excelent performance, two assists in the end. Perez scored 2. Player's I'm looking forward to seeing this season: Oriol Busquets, Morey, Wague, Miranda, Puig, Abel, Tabla. Very decent.

Won 3-0 by the way.
 
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DonAK

President of FC Barcelona
Barca B's season debut is being streamed on YouTube.

The Starting XI: Ezkieta; Morer, Mingueza, Cuenca, Miranda; Sarsanedas, Collado, Riqui Puig; Carles Pérez, Mujica y Ballou.

 

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