Barcelona's Thin Years

Another year of certain success is beginning for Barcelona. But just as Daniel dreamt of seven 'fat' years before seven years of famine, I believe we may be seeing the first of the cracks which could lead to a drought for the famed Spainsh club.

On the face of it things look very good, Spain have just won the World Cup and Barcelona beat Madrid to the league title once again. Henry has departed and there is every chance that his compatriot Eric Abidal will too but both have been replaced by reliable and quality performers in the shape of David Villa and Adriano.

But it is here where the problems come in. New management have revealed that the club are in a fair amount of debt and are in crisis control mode scrounging around trying to pay player wages. Yaya Toure was shipped out to Manchester City and Dymtro Chigrynskiy was sold back to Shakhtar Donetsk for 10 million less than they paid for him.

In truth, there was no true need for the Ukranian with the club already possessing Puyol, Pique, Marquez and Milito in the central defensive position but the fact that the manager publically declared his desire to keep the player and that he was sold at such a big loss is indicative of how much trouble the board seem to believe the club are in.

The loss of Toure on is, however, a much bigger problem. Unlike central defence, there is no surplus in midfield. A glance at the first team squad list reveals that the only players listed are Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Keita and... that's it.

Now, we all know that the club play an ultra attacking 4-3-3 and with only four players to fill in a three man central midfield things are rather thin. Rafael Marquez could be asked to fill in as a defensive midfielder, but even considering this I believe that Barcelona have put themselves in a position where the need another midfielder and preferably someone who can take Xavi's place when he does eventually retire. The obvious choice is the brilliant Cesc Fabregas, but I don't think they'll be getting him this season, and even if they could get him with all the debt they seem to have they wouldn't be able to afford him.

Having said all of that, everything is not lost. Barcelona must have one of if not the best forward lineup in club football with the ability to choose three of Messi, Ibrahimovic, Villa, Pedro, Bojan or Jeffren there is no doubt that they will score goals. And if Iniesta and Xavi stay fit things can't look bad in midfield.

All in all, their starting XI is possibly the best in Europe but their squad is far from what many would hope. And if the club don't bring in Fabregas and perhaps an additional one or two players I suspect their debt may well overtake their success.

Manchester United Overview Part Two

This does however bring us onto a different topic, but one that is equally important. That being, the formation being played. United have always been known to play a 4-4-2 but with Ronaldo in the squad the shape changed to more of a lop-sided 4-3-3 so that he could get further forward, and a bit more central. After his departure things changed once again and a blend of a 4-4-2 and 4-5-1 seemed to be adopted with the latter often being preferred during more demanding games.

With the younger players coming through, I propose a further evolution of the current system into something similar to what Bayern Munich played last season: A 4-2-2-2.

Here is how I see the starting XI lining up.

With this setup it is clear to see that central midfiel

d would consist of Carrick

and Fletcher, further forward Nani and Valencia would operate on the wings and up front Rooney and Berbatov would be prowling the box area.

The defence is what I consider to be the best available back four, and I would e

xpect Evra to get a little further forward on his side because I expect Nani to get further forward and inside as he has done in the previous season.

Carrick and Fletcher will sit deep and distribute the ball as required, helping to retain possession while Fletcher is given more license to roam and win the ball back when required.

Valencia is less of a 'wing striker' and more of a traditional winger so would probably play from deeper than Nani but also wider than his Portuguese friend with a view to cross into the box rather than getting inside to score.

The real trick comes in with Berbatov and his movement in relation to the rest of the squad. As we all know, Berbatov is far more comfortable with the ball at his feet. He's also not particularly good at leading the line and plays much better with a strike partner.

At the same time there does seem to be a preference for three in central midfield, so by having a leading striker and two wingers Berbatov could operate in a withdrawn role, helping out with retaining possession when required, as well as providing Nani space to move into. Valencia is going to stay a bit wide anyway, but you could ask him to tuck inside slightly during a defensive phase so that Berbatov could still stay up front.

By playing deeper it also means that he will be less likely to end up on the end of a cross, something he doesn't deal well with. He'd be able to link up with the wings, central midfield and Rooney. But most importantly this would give you tactical flexibility by allowing either the wings to push up into more of a 4-3-3 or him to push up into an orthodox 4-4-2.

Having said all of that, I do think that in a situation where more presence in central midfield is required Joe Cole would have, or could have been the preferred option. Then again, Park has played in a similar role before, while Anderson could also be deployed there (not sure how successful that would be).

After all that I don't think that an additional central midfielder is required, especially because the club have bought so many young wing players and clearly still want to place a great deal of emphasis on attacks up the wings. With Welbeck, Obertan and Macheda coming through and Hernandez probably operating centrally up front I do think that in the future a three prong attack may be favored.

I do however maintain my view that the club require a top class goalkeeper to replace van der Sar. And I don't see how there is any way around paying a lot for one. Lyon are trying to hang onto Lloris but realistically I don't see any chance of CSKA Moskow keeping Igor Ikanfeev (a player I said I'd like to see join Chelsea this season). Of all the goalkeepers around he is the most available and best, and I do think that if United don't sign him this season there is every chance that Chelsea or Arsenal will and that would be much worse than many seem to think in my opinion.

Defence seems to be fairly solid, with Jonny Evans being a reliable replacement for Vidic or Ferdinand, Smalling coming through the ranks, O'Shea able to play on either flank with the Brazilian Twins starting to make more of a mark on the squad and finally Brown able to play at right back or in central defence.

As for the striking position, Rooney is the undisputed king and Berbatov can only improve even if he isn't comfortable playing up front alone. Only time will tell what will happen with Hernandez, though many are claiming he will be a perfect fit, and if Owen makes it out of his chryo chamber (when he's fit) I'm sure he'll be good for a few goals.

In reality it is clear that the team are building a 'homegrown' squad for the future and with so many attacking wing players it seems as if the model laid out by Giggs and Beckham will continue to be honoured.

Manchester United Overview Part One

As promised, here is the overview of the first club: Manchester United.

I've chosen United because I think there is a good chance that they won't be adding to their squad at any time in the near future even though I do think they ought to, but more on that later. United have got a rather large squad and, like Chelsea, it contains a fair number of young players bursting with talent. The challenged for Sir Alex is to find a way to use the current squad while still incorporating the youth thereby ensuring development for up and coming stars while still winning.

This is a much more difficult situation than most imagine, but not an unfamiliar one. It wasn't too long ago that Beckham, Giggs and Scholes emerged from the clubs reserves and acquitted themselves rather well, though I'm not sure that any pool of young players could ever be expected to contain as much talent as that group did.

So with a history of giving young players a chance, and a great deal of responsibility, these academy products can expect to play at some stage throughout the season. But does that excuse the club's inactivity during this and previous transfer windows? Many have argued that United are in dire need of a strong midfielder, while some believe Rooney requires a reliable strike partner. Personally I think the team need a new goalkeeper more than anything else though perhaps a closer look at the current squad will show us all where we are wrong.

As of July 1, 2010 this is the first team squad listed on the official club website:

Edwin van der Sar (GK)

Gary Neville (DF)

Patrice Evra (DF)

Owen Hargreaves (MF)

Rio Ferdinand (DF)

Wes Brown (DF)

Michael Owen (FW)

Anderson (MF)

Dimitar Berbatov (FW)

Wayne Rooney (FW)

Ryan Giggs (MF)

Park Ji Sung (MF)

Nemanja Vidic (DF)

Michael Carrick (MF)

Nani (FW)

Paul Scholes (MF)

Danny Welbeck (FW)

Fabio (DF)

Rafael (DF)

John O'Shea (DF)

Jonny Evans (DF)

Darren Fletcher (MF)

Antonio Valencia (MF)

Gabriel Obertan (FW)

Federico Macheda (FW)

Darron Gibson (MF)

Tomasz Kuszczak (GK)

*Ritchie De Laet (DF)

*Cory Evans (MF)

Mame Biram Diouf (FW)

*Tom Cleverley (MF)

*Craig Cathcart (DF)

Ben Amos (GK)

*Joshua King (FW)

*Magnus Wolff Eikrem (MF)

*Joe Dudgeon (DF)

*Oliver Gill (DF)

*Cameron Stewart (MF)

*Oliver Norwood (MF)

Chris Smalling (DF)

Javier Hernandez (FW)

That's rather a large squad, 40 if I'm not mistaken. As I'm sure the more perceptive of you have noticed I've put in brackets the category each player falls into (GK for goalkeeper, DF for defender etc) and have noted the players I don't expect to feature this season with a “*”.

That brings the squad size down to 30, which is not bad actually considering that last season Portsmouth used a grand total of 33 players on their rather convoluted path to administration and subsequent relegation. Now consider that there is strong suggestion that Danny Welbeck, and a few others possibly not demarcated above, will go out on loan and it is easy to see that possibly all of these promoted players will get their chance in the spotlight.

But is it enough? Well, let's consider the most prevalent gripe first and look at the midfield. Many pundits have stated that they don't believe that United's midfield is strong enough when you consider that Hargreaves is still out and Scholes is turning 36 this season, leaving Carrick, Fletcher and Gibson. To be fair, Anderson has been used in central midfield too, as has Giggs while Park could play there too if required.

I think that perhaps in a three man central midfield, similar to the one which Sir Alex favoured during last season, an argument for a goalscoring midfielder could be made, and with that in mind I believe we come to United's first mistake: Not signing Joe Cole.

Cole would have been a wonderful addition to the squad because of his ability, versatility and hard work. He could have been used in central midfield behind Rooney in the 4-5-1 formation that was used extremely successfully against AC Milan and Bayern Munich at Old Trafford, as well as out wide when required. I think he would have added another dimension to the middle by providing more of a threat rather than relying on the wings to service the strikers as United tend to.

Having said that, no one can say that the current system isn't working and perhaps it was more a case of sticking with what you know. I do however think that he would have provided another option.

This does however bring us onto a different topic, but one that is equally important. That being, the formation being played. United have always been known to play a 4-4-2 but with Ronaldo in the squad the shape changed...

to be continued

Pre Season Questions

With the World Cup only just behind us, preseason has begun and the next season of domestic football is nearly upon us. As things stand, there are eight teams looking to compete for a top four finish, with at least three of those teams realistically aiming to win the league. The 2010 / 2011 season is shaping up to become the most competitive yet.

Before I profile a few of the teams in the English League, and later a few in the Champion's League, I have a few questions which I think may well change how future events unfold. Hopefully before the transfer window has closed most of these questions will be answered:

How much will Chelsea push their youth forward?

Last season Carlo Ancelotti (I like to call him The Anchovy) said that this season the squad would include up to five players from the club's youth system. Considering Abramovic spent a huge amount on resources for the youth academy about four years ago, and has since spent even more on bringing the best talent from across the globe to Cobham, this doesn't surprise me. At some stage they were going to come through, he interesting thing will be to see how well they cope and how much responsibility is thrust onto them.

Will Manchester United continue to gamble on a 40 year old?

At the end of last season I took a look at the second placed team's squad and concluded that I would add an additional striker and a goalkeeper, with the goalkeeper being a much higher priority that the striker. During this transfer window Ben Foster has been sold, something I expected, and Javier Hernandes has been brought in. Not the striker I would have expected the club to sign but probably not a bad signing. Still no goalkeeper has been signed, though there has been talk about Hugo Lloris and more recently Igor Ikanfeev. I do think that if United don't sign a keeper they may well be shooting themselves in the foot.

Will Tottenham Hotspurs persist with a 4-4-2?

Last season Harry Redknapp took Spurs to the fourth place spot playing aggressive, attacking and direct football. Truthfully, I am surprised they managed to make fourth playing with the traditional 4-4-2 while coming up against so many teams playing three in central midfield. A high work rate off the wings clearly worked much more effectively than I had anticipated. Now that the club are in the Champion's League there are rumours that they will be looking for a lone striker to hold the ball up with Luis Fabiano being the name most often mentioned. On one hand I can see the merits in this approach but at the same time I can also see the plus side of 'staying true' to the formula that got the club as far as they have come. I also don't know if old Harry would 'settle' for anything less than his preferred 4-4-2.

What will Manchester City's first team look like?

This is a question I'm not even sure Mancini knows the answer to. Thus far City have spent just under 100 million on players, and they don't seem to be slowing down. At the same time they seem to have made some reasonable buys (Kolarov and Boateng for example) but then some other which leave me perplexed (Yaya Toure just doesn't seem to make sense). I don't know who will leave to make way for the new fullbacks or how three defensive midfielders are going to fit into the team.

Do Liverpool stand a chance of making the top four?

This is another question I don't think anyone can actually answer. There are huge qustions marks over Torres and Macherano while Gerrard seems to have committed himself for now. The addition of Joe Cole will have boosted their hopes and bolstered their squad but there are still many problems in the fullback positions as well as central midfield. How Hogson chooses to line the team up will affect the signings, and only once some players come in will a realistic target for the season be able to be set.

Will Arsenal continue to wish they had a 40 year old?

There is no doubt that the biggest problem the Gunners have on the pitch is in the goalkeeping position. And I suspect that Wenger may well have to pay a fair amount to bring someone in, something he appears to hate doing. Once again, Ikanfeev's name is the most mentioned but there is also Arsene's propensity for Frenchmen, and subsequently Lloris. As in United's case, if they don't bring someone in I think they will end up regretting it.

At the beginning of the season I'll take another look at these questions and find out how things have gone, but until then I shall be posting a small overview of a few of the clubs, detailing their squads and how I think they ought to line up. Considering that the transfer window is still open I shall start off with a club who I don't think will be making many more, if any changes to their squad: Manchester United.