There is always a belief within FC Barcelona that finding a good balance between the youth and the veterans is crucial. For many years, that has been a great expectation from the Catalan club and it is how they work best. However, even for a club like Barcelona, there has been troubling managing that at times.
Fortunately, the club has now come to their senses again and they have now rekindled their complete faith in La Masia. For several years, many failed attempts to buy huge superstars for massive amounts of money were made, but it was ultimately through La Masia yet again that the club struck gold once more.
Now, almost every position has an option from the youth academy that either already has a starting place in the team or is able to provide depth in that specific position. Furthermore, Barcelona is perhaps even luckier to have a coach who truly believes in these youngsters.
As highlighted by MARCA, Hansi Flick has been more than vocal about his faith in the youngsters of FC Barcelona. However, perhaps nothing backs his statements more than his actions and his decision in terms of the squad selection against Getafe was more than clear enough.
By having fifteen players in his squad that have trained in the Barcelona quarry or lower categories at some point, the coach made a statement. He is willing to use every last outstanding talent within the club if that is what it takes to bring them to light and help Barça simultaneously. Moreover, that number is the highest number of La Masia players that Hansi Flick has had at his disposal for any particular game this season so far.
Beyond just the regulars of the first team, names like Toni Fernandez, Guille Fernandez, Andres Cuenca, and even goalkeeper Aron Yaakobishvili were there to add further depth to the squad against Getafe. Despite the regular injuries that Barcelona is having to deal with, it seems that Flick almost always has a solution from within the quarry.
Regularly seen showing up for Barcelona Atletic games, it seems that Flick’s scouting is heavily reliant on seeing these players up close in action himself. So far, it must be said that he has managed to make great use of these youngsters and has even handed out a handful of debuts already this season, including ones to the likes of Marc Bernal and Sergi Dominguez.