Barcelona FC are currently debating on whether or not sign a central defender for next season. Although throughout this season the team has suffered numerous injuries at the back, the coaching staff was not keen to strengthen the defense but rather on other aspects such as the goalkeeper or the frontline with the incorporation of Neymar.
With virtually back-to-back injuries to Adriano and Puyol, the debate has reopened on whether to bring in another central defender for next season or not. There are all kinds of arguments; those who prefer to keep the current squad and those who favor reinforcement.
There are those who do not see reinforcement necessary.In the current squad there are four central defenders: Puyol, Piqué, Mascherano and Bartra. And there are four that can play at the back if necessary such as Song, Abidal, Busquets and Adriano, who have done so at sometime or another. In addition, there are two first team players that are not active in the club at the moment, but in theory will be with the team at the start of next season. We are talking about Fontas and Muniesa.
In view of this, it is evident that the problem is not the amount of players Barca has at its disposal. And this is where those who think they need urgent reinforcement, arguing the age of some of them, those who have had injuries or simply the quality to be a Barcelona player.
Puyol’s quality is unquestionable, but he’s 34 and this season he has suffered three major injuries and has not played even half of the games disputed so far this season. Neither is Gerard Piqué a doubt. However, Mascherano is a doubt and he has not performed well on a regular level so far this season. And Marc Bartra hasn’t been given any opportunity to prove his worth.
The emergency solutions that Barca has up their sleeve are just not convincing enough. The possibilities of Busquets, Song or Adriano are fine for the short term but not for the long term. Eric Abidal, who is a great central defender, remains uncertain due to his condition and Fontas and Muniesa are not being considered at the moment.
Given this situation, Tito and his technical team are shuffling the possibilities of strengthening the centre of defense. Hummels is one of the players in Barca’s sight, but there has been no decision yet. If they decide to sign him, he will have to refine his tactics to fit in. No one can forget the failure of Barca’s last addition for the post. Barca spent 25M Euros on flop Chigrinski and a year later sent him packing back to Shakhtar.
Barca’s defence would remain leaky as long as they don’t change their style. With such attacking play no defender could make any significant difference. Barca defense is not at the back it at the front. Even Franco Baresi and Paolo Madlini could not do any better.
So as long as they keep on playing with such style no matter who leads their defense, on break/ counter attack, always finds himself in difficult situations. But yes, a top class defender could make them stronger in set-pieces play.
Pls,go and get keeper,2 defender and neyma
Barca must bring a new defender to their line-up because I feel Puyol became old and Kompany or Hummels must replace him
If we are to stop conceeding so many goals, a world class central defender(stopper) is absolutely necessary. Puyol is getting older and always prone to injuries, somebody has to has to come in that position. To me Puyol has served this club more than any player in history, while he remains in the team, yet we should understand that he cannot be playing as the same level he used to for the past 3, 5 or even 2 yrs. I believe this is our decade and we must therefore, not only remain at the top flight level but must also remain the best team in the world and the team to beat anywhere, anytime.
I think Barca should go for a strong cetral defender if they want to maintain their world best with trophy