Barcelona's gamble on youth is paying off, but is it worth it?

On a March night in 2006, Hansi Flick and 67,000 others packed the Camp Nou to watch Frank Rijkaard's side beat Getafe 3-1. The crowd sang "Happy Birthday" to Ronaldinho, who turned 26 that day. In that moment, Hansi Flick promised himself that nothing would stop him from coaching Barcelona one day.

Fast forward to today, and Flick’s astonishingly young team are top of LaLiga with a 100% record and he is preparing for his Champions League debut as Barcelona manager. But if you compare his situation to Rijkaard’s Barça side, who were on course to become European champions by beating Arsenal in Paris, things are very different.

When Flick arrived at the Camp Nou 18 years ago as a special guest of Nike, he was inspired by a Barcelona starting line-up that featured just three Spaniards (compared to seven against Girona on Sunday). The youngest player in Rijkaard’s squad that night was 23-year-old Brazilian Thiago Motta, and the rest were mostly grown men. There was no comparison to Flick’s teenage squad.

Rijkaard, in 2006, had both Iniesta and Lionel Messi, but used each cautiously as Barca had no shortage of talent. In Iniesta’s case, the Barcelona manager frustrated one of Spain’s greatest footballers and benched him for the Champions League final that season. We’re not even talking about Messi’s absolute rage at Rijkaard leaving him out of the squad for that final.

At that time, when there were veteran players like Xavi, Edmilson, Henrik Larsson, Sylvinho and Rafa Marquez on the bench, of course coach Rijkaard considered the academy boys a luxury.

Now what? At the end of Barcelona’s 4-1 win over Girona on Sunday, Flick’s unused substitutes included an 18-year-old Miami-born goalkeeper, a 19-year-old defender and an attacking midfielder who turned 16 last month. Flick brought on an 18-year-old full-back, plus two other players with just three senior appearances. That’s in a starting lineup that already included Yamal (17), Pedri (21), Cubarsí (17), Alex Balde (20) and Casadó (who turned 21 last week).

There are three questions: Firstly, how can Barcelona’s youth system continue to find and develop such gems when La Masia has been subjected to cuts and constant coaching changes? Then: why has the club overspent in the transfer market to the point of being over €1 billion in debt? And finally: how much can we expect from such a young squad this season?

Since the end of Ronald Koeman's reign at Barcelona, ​​through Xavi's heavy faith in Gavi and Pedri plus the debuts of Lamine, Balde and Cubarsi, it seems that if you're over 14, can kick a ball and are over 1.80m tall, you'll have a chance to train with the first team -- and even get a start.

Not all of Barcelona's current first-team stars will be there long term. But most will be. Soon you'll see the Fernandez brothers, Unai Hernandez, Orian Goren and Pedro "Dro" Fernandez. Five very special talents -- all 16, except Hernandez, who is 19.

Fabregas, the Barcelona youth academy superstar who won trophies with Messi and Pique, and who moved to Arsenal because he had lost faith in Barça's first team by the age of 16, can understand better than anyone. Speaking to the BBC last week, the former player said: "Barcelona's economic problems forced them to start using all the young players. But they keep doing it. Flick keeps adding two or three more players. And after Xavi brought Lamine Yamal into the team two years ago when he was 15, he is now worth 120 million euros."

It’s rare for one of Europe’s elite clubs to rely on such talented young players. That’s what’s about to happen to Flick and his team. They’ll have a chance to prove their mettle. They were beaten 3-0 by Monaco in the opening friendly of the Gamper Tournament and looked like a bunch of greenhorns. The German and his young players will face a Ligue 1 side just 38 days later, in their Champions League opener, but will they be okay?

HO VIET

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/canh-bac-cua-barcelona-vao-doi-hinh-tre-dang-thanh-cong-nhung-lieu-co-on-post759812.html