With talk amongst the fanbase and board for years of splashing big cash on a reliable top level DM, Barca has chosen to rely on these two La masia youngsters to take the responsibility for at least the next season. Is this a good idea? Absolutely
Barcelona has been in transition ever since Messi has left, and every time it feels as though that transition period is about to end, it turns out it’s not even done starting, and the 23/24 season put that on full display.
Now this summer, with a new coach and what is proving to be underwhelming summer transfer window, Barca has decided to take an interesting decision with regard to the role of the Pivot.
A contentious position in Barca for years now since the fall in form of one of the greatest to ever play the role of a Pivot, Busquets, and a position that displayed its significance with his departure last summer. Many fans and experts alike argue that the lack of a reliable DM cost Barca heavily last season, and even held the team back from pursuing the high pressing, high risk counter attacking football that the modern game demands of most teams today.
With all of this in mind, Hansi Flick has decided to do what all good Barca managers have done when they can’t get a good player from the market, dip into the academy. Casado and Bernal are not new names in the Barca lineup, as both have had opportunities to play for the first team in the last season, but Flick’s decision to place the players as either single or double pivots has proven to be an interesting choice with positive results in the preseason.
Flick wants Barca to play aggressively and to press in every single minute of the game, as mentioned in his press conference after the preseason match against Real Madrid, so it’s clear that he is willing to deploy unorthodox tactics to achieve this goal, one of which was to trust the two youngsters as defensive midfielders.
Having double pivots is not new for Barcelona, as Xavi successfully used both Frenkie De Jong and Busquets as double pivots to press and beat Real Madrid at the Super Copa Final in January of 2023, considered to be the peak of Xaviball where goals were scored as a result of strong pressure and quick dispossession to attack football exhibited by Pedri, Lewandowski and Gavi, who each netted goals that looked far to easy, much thanks to the high press that was achievable by the double pivot and pacey winger system that David deployed with Dembele on the right and Balde on the left. Could this be what Flick has in mind this season?
Relying on two young talents is always a risk, as a lack of experience can always be fatal in the moments of the season with the highest pressure. Even rising super star Lamine Yamal was not perfect in his debut season as a regular starter for Barca, having missed a crucial ball against Bilbao in the Copa Del Rey, likely due to the overwhelming power of the moment that even the most seasoned of veterans succumb to. Youngsters feel this pressure much more frequently as they realize that having a bad game may mean that they get dropped from the starting XI much more easily compared to more seasoned players who remain starters regardless of form sometimes.
On top of that you have the risk of long term and career defining injury, a curse that has plagued many of Barca’s rising young stars like Pedri, Ansu Fati, Gavi and Balde, who were given vital roles in the starting squad but ended up with long term injuries that resulted in unifiable holes in the team for big chunks of many seasons.
So much is on the line for Barcelona this season and Hansi knows this, which is why giving Casado and Bernal the opportunity to be the trusted pivots for Barca can be what defines his first season. It might open doors for Barca that should have been opened long ago and finally give us the high pressing entertaining football we have longed for and only had small tastes of last season when it mattered least. And it all goes well, Casado and Bernal will become the solution to our long standing problem and we can begin to move on to fixing other parts of the squad that have had to be put aside because of the issue of the missing DM.
Barca has always done this and will always continue doing this, asking for La Masia to step up when they are needed most, and time and time again, La Masia has answered the call. It was Ansu in 2019, Gavi in 2021, Balde in 2022, and Lamine and Fermin in 2023, Will Casado and Bernal be the two new gems from the La Masia treasure chest to step up? They just might be.
by Captain_Deleb