5 Ways Barcelona can improve next season

Barcelona have won 8 out of the last 11 La Ligas and are on course to win a 5th Copa Del Rey in as many years. But back to back humiliating exits from Champions League means there are changes that need to be done at the club to improve the squad. Hence we look at 5 ways on how Barcelona can improve next season.

#5 Sell Philip Coutinho

Philip Coutinho has been a disaster for Barcelona since his move from Liverpool.

On 6 January 2018, Liverpool confirmed they had reached an agreement with Barcelona for the transfer of Coutinho. His transfer fee was reported to be an initial £105 million, which could rise to £142 million with various clauses being met. In his first season, Coutinho was unable to represent the club in the Champions League which restricted his game time to La Liga and Copa Del Rey. Coutinho contributed to 13 goals in La Liga and 3 goals in Copa Del Rey in his first season which left the fans gasping for more.

But this season, Coutinho's numbers dried up. He has scored only 5 goals and assisted 2 times in La Liga at the time of writing. He is mostly invisible during large parts of the game and offers nothing going forward. He lacks the pace to help the club on the counter and defensively he is more of a liability. It's not that Valverde has not used him in the right way. Coutinho always starts on the left wing but drifts back and forms a part of a 4-man midfield when Barcelona are without the ball. When the defense wins the ball back, they supply it to Coutinho who from there takes the ball forward and drifts inside trying to create chances for his teammates or takes long range shots by himself. This is very similar to what he used to do at Liverpool. So for the club and the fans its been really disappointing to see Coutinho play at such a low level even after providing him a similar game environment he used to enjoy so much at Liverpool.

After the game against Liverpool at Anfield, the Spanish press gave him a 0 rating for his disastrous performance. Given that Coutinho has been given enough time to prove himself at the club, he has failed to nail a spot in the starting XI and the fans favouring Dembele over him it might be advisable for Barcelona to sell Coutinho and cut their losses.

#4 Buy a Left-back

Jordi Alba has really struggled at times without a proper back-up this season.

When Jordi Alba joined Barcelona from Valencia for €14 million in 2012, few would have expected him to go on and become one of the world's best left-back. This season alone, he has provided 13 assists and scored 3 goals across all competitions. Defensively Alba has been rock solid. He makes 1.1 tackles and 1.6 interceptions per game. He has been dribbled past just 0.8 times this season and clears the ball 1.6 times every game. But with football seasons stretching over 60 games every year, it is necessary that every player should be backed by a strong player from the bench.

So when Lucas Digne left for Everton at the start of the season, it was clear that Barcelona needed a back-up. But Valverde decided to put trust on the duo of La Masia graduates Juan Miranda and Cucurella. Unfortunately, Cucurella left for Eibar on loan and Miranda struggled to play at such a high level. So at times when Valverde decided to rest Alba, he brought on Roberto or Semedo to play at left back. Given both these players were playing on their weaker foot they found it hard to put crosses in the box or provide any defensive solidity at the back. This forced Valverde too even go with a back 3 in a few of the League games.

So signing a left back must be of the highest priority for Barcelona in this transfer window. Real Betis's Junior Firpo, Athletico's Philipe Luiz, Bayern's Alaba or even ex-Barca B player Grimaldo of Benfica should be the players the board should look for.

#3 Sell fringe players

The fringe players have only increased the club's wage bill and it would be very advisable to sell them.

La Liga champions Barcelona became the first football team to spend over half a billion euros in wages after their staff costs shot up by 42 percent over the past year, according to a study by KPMG. KPMG’s Football Benchmark study analyzed the squads and finances of the respective champions of Europe’s top eight leagues in 2018.

The Catalans, who signed Brazil playmaker Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool in January 2018 for a club record €160 million, have staff costs of €562 million a year. Along with the arrival of France forward, Ousmane Dembele in August 2017 and the renewal of several players’ contracts, including talisman Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba, their expenditure in this field has increased hugely.

One way to reduce the wage bill is to sell the fringe players. Jeison Murillo and Kevin-Prince Boateng are certainly going to leave the club. Then there are Thomas Vermaelen and Rafinha who are both injury-prone and can't get enough playing time at Barca. Jasper Cillessen is almost certain to leave. The Dutch keeper wants to become a starter elsewhere and the club respects his position. Denis Suarez will be returning from Arsenal only to pick up the stuff he left at Barcelona and head out. The midfielder has almost no chances to continue playing for Barcelona.

If Barcelona managed to sell all of these players, they would certainly reduce their wage bill by a good margin. This would allow the club to negotiate the renewals of players like Rakitic and allow them to splash some extra clash in the Europen market this summer.

#2 Sack Ernesto Valverde

Valverde oversaw probably the 2 worst European nights in the club's history.

After being humiliated in the Champions League 2 seasons in the running, Europe's biggest competition remains the only unsolved puzzle by Valverde.

A club like Barcelona simply cannot allow a coach who led the team to two disgraceful European nights to continue. Valverde might be a decent or even a good manager but the plain pride should not allow the Catalans to keep him. It is common sense that neither fans nor players would be able to forget the past two European campaigns and even the 2019/20 Champions League title would not make up for the two humiliations the club has lived through.

Many Cules have a firm belief that it is better to lose playing like Pep Guardiola than win La Ligas and Copa Del Reys playing like Ernesto Valverde. Valverde brought in the flexibility that Barca truly lacked at times. However, it also made Barca diverge from the path that Guardiola, Cruyff, and others created for this club. The unappealing style is one of the main reasons why Valverde's merits have been underappreciated.

Sacking Ernesto Valverde might be the easiest option right now but given that there aren't really a lot of good managers available in the market right now it would be interesting to see how does the Barcelona board deal with this situation in the summer.

#1 Add pace to the wings

With Dembele's injury problems the club needs a player who can perform constantly on the wings.

When Neymar left Barcelona for PSG at the start of 2017-18 of the campaign, Barcelona lost someone who provided them pace on the wings and scored a ton of goals. To fill his gap, Barcelona signed Ousmane Dembele from Dortmund for a reported fee of €120 million. But his campaign got disrupted when he injured himself in a League game in September and was forced on the sidelines for 4 months. This forced Valverde to play with a 4-4-2 formation which relied on the hard work of the midfield and the solidity of the defense.

Since returning back from that horror injury of last season, Dembele has been in and out of the team and has struggled to nail down a spot in the starting XI thanks to his niggling injuries. This means that the coach is left with no choice but to start Coutinho on the wings who provides no pace on the wings and is more of a liability for the team. Some might argue that Valverde should use Malcolm but he is someone who seems to have no trust of the coach and has really struggled for game time this season.

This has made Barcelona attacks one-dimensional. Their only attacking option is through Luiz Suarez who is man-marked by defenders as there are no wingers in the team who can stretch the play wide and force the defenders out wide thus creating space for Suarez to exploit. Hence signing a winger who is injury free and can score goals thus reducing the burden on Suarez and Messi is a must. This would mean the club could probably loan out Malcolm or even sell him if a decent offer comes and get rid of Coutinho as a whole.

Julian Brandt of Bayer Leverkusen and Hudson Odoi of Chelsea are players who would both cost the club below €50 million, add some serious competition to Dembele and give the club tactical flexibility when required. Hence, Barcelona should seriously think of bringing a winger to the club which would improve the squad on the attacking front.