We should all know that the golden era of Barcelona was Messi playing in with all the La Masia academy graduates with his best combination till date with the duo of Xavi-Iniesta.
That generation is almost gone with the remaining like Messi, Pique and busquests all above 30 years.
Surely nothing last forever.
We have seen great teams come and dominate the game of soccer for sometimes and they will definitely go.
The problem people have with Barcelona is that they want the team to continue its dominance for a long time.
And this has put pressure on the players like messi, increase the boards of directors pressure by panic-signing Dembele.
And it has made them forget the Johann Cruyff La Masia philosophy: “ It doesn't matter what we play, but how we play”
This has led to the many questions of how Barça would fare in the eventual exit of Messi which is but imminent.
Well they will be affected, no doubt about that.
But they will be affected not in the same way as Madrid because both clubs have different philosophies.
Madrid is built on spotting the best talents worldwide and buying them to integrate to their squad.
They did it in the galacticos era: the luck is that they have been able to blend all different players together.
Not so with Barcelona.
The Club's philosophy started in 1972 when the father of Total football “Rinus Michels left ajax to sign for Barcelona and brought Total football that gave Ajax the European cup in 1971( the team won the next 2 against inter Milan and Juventus though Rinus Michels had left)
But it was until 1974 when Johann Cruyff signed for Barça to join his mentor and coach that things took shape in Barcelona and they won their first la liga since one decade.
After the Poster boy of total football left, Barça had some problem, but it was not until 1988 when he signed as coach of barca that he totally changed the club forever.
He started the La Masia academy (as Barc-Ajax school) and brought all he had learn under coach Rinus Michels.
The same training regimen and philosophy in the senior team in was implemented in la Masia and he made the club to graduate players from academy to main team.
What was the effect?
Pep Guardiola was discovered and formed an integral part of the “dreamteam” that won barca its first UCL trophy in 1992.
They stopped Madrid's la liga dominance and in on it 3 consecutive times.
That is the philosophy and same playing style barca has been using till date.
Pep Guardiola said, “Johann Cruyff built the cathedral, our job is to maintain it”
Pep Guardiola then converted total football to “Tiki-taka” and the 2008–2012 period saw Barca's teams be listed as one the greatest squad ever.
It affected the Spanish national team as they won 3 international competition consecutively ( 2 euro cup and 2010 FIFA world cup).
See how Barca is struggling in Europe; since 2011, they have only won the UCL trophy once in 7 years.
Conclusion:
Barca will suffer the same fate Madrid suffered after Ronaldo left, not because they will miss Messi, but because they have stopped producing world talents from la Masia academy graduates and just buy random players to fill the squad.
They should be careful, if not, the same fate that happened to the once mighty Ajax famed academy might happen to them.
The exit of Messi won’t be the problem they will face but the death of la Masia academy will.
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