Barça’s Youth Revolution and Real Madrid’s Woes
Well, well, well! It appears that FC Barcelona has taken a break from their generational crisis and has decided that the youth academy is now equipped with a talent vending machine! Seriously, at this point, if you stand still long enough at La Masia, you might just get a contract yourself. Caution: that could still be more effective than standing on a street corner trying to sell immense ‘potential’ to confused football scouts!
We’ve seen names like Gavi, Alejandro Baldé, Fermín López, and others emerging in recent months. Now, it’s Marc Casado’s turn to crash the party. You know, just while Xavi throws his hands up in exasperation thinking, “Didn’t I already say we’re too green this season?” I mean, last year, Casado was so underused he could’ve auditioned to play a tree in a local theatre production. But fast forward to today and he’s now representing Barça with the finesse of a Michelin-star chef cooking up a storm out of leftover ingredients.
The Unfolding Drama
Let’s break it down: The young lad had a measly 13 minutes in La Liga last season—good enough to play the world’s shortest game of hide-and-seek with the squad! In contrast, Hansi Flick, who seems to have discovered some magical potion for player utilization, has given Casado more opportunities this year than Xavi did in a whole season. I mean, 627 minutes in La Liga and a perfect 270 in the Champions League? If that’s not a new lease of life in a football career, I don’t know what is! You begin to wonder if there’s a ‘Youth Player Starter Pack’ somewhere in Germany that Flick just happened to receive on his last birthday.
Casado rode into the midfield against Real Madrid like he owned the place. Honestly, he might as well have walked in holding a trophy saying, “Look at me! I’m doing just fine without the trauma of waiting for my manager’s approval!” With a performance that left Aurélien Tchouameni looking more out of place than a cat in a dog show, things are not looking good for Madrid’s hefty new signing. Tchouameni, oh bless him, might want to sit down with a compilation reel of Casado’s works to grab a few pointers on what being an influential player looks like. Spoiler: It does not involve lurking around like a shy kid at a school dance!
Barça’s Return to Glory?
As for the young prodigy’s pass to Lewandowski for the opener, it was a whipped ball so mesmerizing that even Picasso would’ve reconsidered his career as a painter! And just like that, it seems Marc Casado might just be the aberration that shifts the pendulum of football back into Barcelona’s glorious direction after an unfortunate drought.
In the end, while Barça is busy dusting off the cobwebs of its glory days, Real Madrid might want to rethink whether they should be scouting across the Catalan borders for a bit of that youthful magic. Who knew that shaking a tree could yield such fruitful possibilities? The cycle of football is truly relentless; get ready for a wild (and cheeky) ride!
Hope you’ve enjoyed this cheeky peek into the saga of Barça and the audacious emergence of Casado among its ranks. Let’s see if he can keep it up or if he’ll become the next big “where are they now?” story in a couple of seasons!
After a generational trough observed in recent seasons, Barça is reconnecting with what has made it stand out over the last thirty years, namely its inimitable training. For several months, it almost seems that it is enough to shake a tree for talent to appear in Catalonia. After Gavi, Alejandro Baldé, Fermín López, Pau Cubarsí, Lamine Yamal and Marc Bernal, it is Marc Casado’s turn to experience a meteorite outbreak.
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Deemed still too green last season by Xavi, the 21-year-old midfielder had only played 13 minutes in La Liga. This is already 50 times less than the playing time given to him by Hansi Flick since August in the league (627 minutes, and 270 out of 270 possible in the Champions League). “ Flick and the team give me a lot of peace of mind », he summed up yesterday, after riding in the middle of Real Madrid alongside Pedri (0-4). Earlier in the week already, his major performance against Bayern (4-1) must have fueled a certain form of guilt in Xavi, who had continually preferred Oriol Romeu last season.
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Aurelien Tchouameni paid the price
However, there was no need to wait until yesterday, or Wednesday against the Kimmich – Palhinha duo, to know that the player was full of quality. The sure-footedness, the carefreeness, the football IQ that goes with it, but also this aggressiveness on impact like a Gavi… This is what we have seen since the start of the season in the player born in 2003 and from the same generation as Baldé and Fermin, who perhaps made yesterday’s Clasico his entry passport for the Spanish selection (Luis de la Fuente will unveil his new list in the coming days).
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On the first Catalan goal, it was he who put Lewandowski into orbit with a magnificent whipped pass (54th, 0-1). Before and after (until his preventive exit linked to his yellow card), he had also reigned over the midfield by reciting the lesson to Aurélien Tchouameni, the defensive midfielder opposite, arrived for 80 million euros ago is two years old, but still sorely lacking in influence on both surfaces. The Frenchman would be well advised to analyze his opponent’s compilation… Because in Madrid, we are starting to get impatient.
Pub. 10/27/2024 3:02 p.m. Updated 10/28/2024 4:24 p.m.
