It's a long post indeed, however from my point of view the ideas were heavily influenced by emotions and nostalgia rather than pragmatic analyses. I just want address one of the points regarding Lucho pushing the club to Galactico status and Pep being the La Masia promoter.Let's not forget the core of the LaMasia graduates in Pep's team were not promoted by Pep, he inherited them. Pep himself bought lots of non Masia players.Somehow buying Suarez is Galactico move , but buying Ibra wasn't? We need to understand that Barca more so under Pep became this mega corporation with huge appetite for spotlight, influence and commercial success.Barca fans worldwide want to see players who can score goals, dribble and win titles. Do you think it is possible now to give up the chase for silverware in sake of development La Masia graduates? The bar of expectation is sky high now and it is very different from Rijkaard's time. I don't believe there's a way back regardless who is the coach. La Masia graduates will face the fierce competition from outside players and only the strongest will survive. Times are changing and the rules are changing too. Lucho is doing what is right for his time, just like Rijkaard and Pep.
Yo man, I'm not saying Lucho is intentionally turning us into Real, not at all. I'm just saying his template isn't sustainable, it's not a model we should pursue long term as a template for success. Lucho has bought a lot of players in his time so far, and while I'm not saying we should be Athletic Bilbao, putting emphasis on promoting our youth players for first team football, whether they turn into Messi or Tello, is much more sustainable, both sporting and financially. My point is, while Lucho himself has made good moves in the transfer market, moves that we've needed to make for over 3 seasons now, if we follow this template season after season while letting La Masia wither, it could push the club toward a commercial path like Real. It's not this season that I'm worried about, it's 2,3,4 seasons from now that could be where you really start to see what I'm talking about and for me, it's more Bartomeu whom I think is pushing us towards that path, while Lucho is giving free reign to buy and manage as he sees fit.
If future managers behave and get a free leash like Lucho and we continue to ignore La Masia, the basis of what made this club great will crumble.
And you're right, Rijkaard definitely helped set the table for Pep. The talent that we had at the youth level while he was managing was very rare and he definitely primed the fuel for Pep's engine.
So while Pep alone wasn't the La Masia promoter, he had a system that made the transition easier and more familiar for the players to flourish. Yeah, Pep didn't unearth Messi. But Messi would blindly run to the corner and try and beat three guys when it wasn't on before Pep came along. Pep's system highlighted the strengths of his, Xavi's and Iniesta's and he taught Messi how to see the game the way he looks at it today.
So yes, Pep didn't promote Xavi, Messi, Puyol and Iniesta but he did promote Pedro, Thiago, Busquets and in a lot of ways, Piqué as well give ample opportunity for players like Bojan, Muniesa, Cuenca and Tello.
I hope Lucho will do the same but it's true the talent isn't of the calibre of when Rijkaard and Pep were here. However, playing players out of position isnt going to help them integrate nor judge whether or not they are at the level required.
The season hasn't started yet and it seems like Vidal and Arda will be all for now, which gives a big opportunity to a lot of the young players, particularly Rafinha, Roberto, Sandro and Munir. They have until January to prove themselves. If they flop and don't play to the required level, of course we should go to the market. But I'm going to be pissed for them if they (and I think Rafinha and Sandro might do this) have promising showings just for the club to sign big name players who sell jerseys to replace them.
