The trajectory of La Masia is back on the up, with the academy restored as a cornerstone of Barcelona's first team. The over reliance on expensive transfers has stopped with the club returning to the nurturing of their own talent, like Lamine Lamal, Pau Cubarsi, and Marc Casado. Barcelona has not only reconnected with its original identity, but set itself on a sustainable path.
Presenter Zac Djellab takes a deep dive into La Masia looking at the passion, style and the contribution of current manager Hansi Flick's commitment to embrace youth into the first team.
#lamineyamal #lamasia #barcelona #barcelonafc #laliga
Presenter Zac Djellab takes a deep dive into La Masia looking at the passion, style and the contribution of current manager Hansi Flick's commitment to embrace youth into the first team.
#lamineyamal #lamasia #barcelona #barcelonafc #laliga
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00:00Hello 442, how are you doing? Hope you're doing well. I'm Zach Jellub and the great people at
00:08442 have asked me today to make a video for them and jump on some content and talk a little bit
00:13about Barcelona. Now if you know me then I hope you are doing very well. Thank you for checking
00:19me out on here and I hope you enjoy the video. And if you don't know me, well I've been making
00:22football videos for nearly 10 years now over on a few different channels including my own.
00:28I'm no Adam Cleary, that is for sure. He's a legend of the game and I hope to honour his name in the
00:34best way I possibly can by talking enthusiastically about football. And as you can see by the title
00:42of the video we're going to be talking about Barcelona and more specifically La Masia, one of
00:47the greatest academies in football that once produced the likes of Lionel Messi, Xavi and Iniesta along
00:53with a lot more. Now we all remember the days when La Masia graduates with a heart and soul
00:58of the Barcelona team. But things changed quite quickly during the mid-2010s and went from a club
01:05that focused on the academy to a club that shifted its focus onto big money transfers and external
01:10signings. And the homegrown talent was sidelined. So we'll explore why Barcelona stopped producing so
01:16many academy products into the first team, what made them abandon their core roots and most importantly
01:22why they're turning back to La Masia, a decision that has already coincided with a very good season.
01:28So let's start off with a little bit of history. La Masia wasn't just a training ground but essentially
01:33was the identity of FC Barcelona. In the early 2000s the academy produced a golden generation that
01:39revolutionised the club and won countless titles and many other trophies along with changing the way
01:45football was played. In 2012 there was the headline the 11 from La Masia when Barcelona first fielded a
01:53full squad, a full starting 11 of 11 Barcelona academy graduates. This included the likes of Victor
01:59Valdez in goal, Carlos Puyol, Gerard Piquet, Xavi Iniesca, Busquets and of course Lionel Mene up top
02:06along with some others, Pedro being another one. But then in the following years Barcelona's strategy
02:12shifted. Under presidents like Bartomeu the club started spending astronomical amounts of money
02:18and brought in a bunch of high profile signings that weren't coming from the academy, the likes
02:22of Neymar and Luis Suarez who ended up being not too bad. Now whilst those two worked out quite well
02:27for Barcelona winning the Champions League along other things, there were other signings that didn't
02:31quite work out so well and later on we saw this move create a two-folded problem. Number one, it's quite
02:37easy to realise but with more players coming in from other clubs and more money being spent on them,
02:42there was a lack of first team opportunities for academy players and rather than giving them time
02:48to develop and try and become a solution for the club, it meant that Barcelona instead tried to
02:52find high profile costly fixes that wouldn't necessarily beat the club for a long time.
02:58And secondly, a cultural shift. With a constant influx of foreign players, it means Barca's identity,
03:04something that was grown when you're in the academy, tiki-taka, playing with the ball at your
03:08feet, pass and move, meant that it wasn't happening as much. It was fading away. As one commentator put
03:14it, he said La Masia was no longer the first option. It became a secondary route. Now statistics back
03:20this up. Between 2010 and 2015, the majority of the first team was made of La Masia graduates but
03:26seasons after there was a significant drop-off from academy players making the cut. During that period
03:31from 2010 to 2015, homegrown talents from La Masia made up roughly 50 to 60 percent of the first team
03:39roster. Now in the following seasons from 2015, that number dropped massively to 15 to 20 percent.
03:47And it meant that a lot of promising young talents went and moved elsewhere to find first team
03:52opportunities. Dani Olmo, Xavi Simmonds, Marco Correa and Nico Gonzalez all left Barcelona. Now the fact
03:58these guys had to move to other huge clubs to get the opportunities shows you that not only were they
04:03losing players because they couldn't get first team minutes, they were losing great quality players
04:07that other huge clubs were after. And also shows that La Masia was able to still create players that
04:13could perform on the biggest stage. And sadly for fans, it was a painful departure from what tradition
04:18felt like at Barcelona. The club's identity built on teamwork, technical skill, passing, a shared
04:25understanding of something they had learnt when they were kids at the academy basically started to
04:31suffer. Now if you fast forward to today, obviously things in the Barcelona squad have changed yet
04:36again. And there's a few different reasons as to why. Financial constraints and huge debts that were
04:41rising forced Barcelona to re-examine their current transfer strategy. With less money to spend on
04:46summer and winter transfers, it meant the club had to go back to what they know best, their academy.
04:51Enter the new era under managers like Xavi and more recently Hansi Flick, a man with a clear vision
04:57for the game. He has been super supportive about the growth of homegrown players. And in a recent
05:03interview said, we have 17 or 18 players who can play minutes. That is fantastic. And the club's
05:10successful season so far is a real big testament to that change. Under Xavi, of course, a couple of
05:15seasons ago, they won La Liga. Now this season, they've already won the Supercoppa under Flick. They're
05:21currently top of La Liga at the time of recording. They are level one points with Real Madrid. But
05:25again, a star-studded Real Madrid. They're still in the Copa del Rey. They're also one of the most
05:31feared teams in the Champions League. And they're set to face Borussia Dortmund in that competition
05:35in the quarterfinals. And then you can just look at some of the players they're producing. I mean,
05:39my God, on the right wing, they've got one of the most exciting players in the world right now,
05:45in La Masia graduate, La Minya Mao. At just 17 years old, he's already breaking record after record
05:52after record. I mean, just one to mention, he's the youngest scorer in El Clasico history. I think
05:57he's one of the youngest scorers in, if not the youngest scorer in European competition history.
06:03They just keep going. And of course, they've got other super exciting players like Paolo Koubasi,
06:08who's basically evolutionized that Barcelona defense and has been crucial to the way Barcelona want to play
06:14under Hansi Flick. Not to forget Marc Casado, who's doing really well in the heart of midfield as
06:19well, along with a bunch of others who are making significant contributions. And when reflecting on
06:24the resurgence of homegrown talent getting back into the Barcelona side, the former Barcelona La
06:29Masia director, Ruli Altamira, remarked, La Masia has always been the quickest and safest way to
06:35produce ready-made players for Barcelona. And now, more than ever, it's vital we protect and nurture
06:41that tradition. The previous manager to Hansi Flick, Xavi, had also echoed these same statements,
06:47repeatedly praising academy graduates for their fearless attitude, a trait he believes sets them
06:52apart from other players. These insights highlight a huge and deliberate shift that is happening at the
06:57camp now, and bringing their attention and focus back on the academy and what they can do for the
07:02first team. And again, the numbers back this up. Barcelona's resurgence has been super impressive.
07:08So far this season, the team has already scored 124 goals across all competitions, and remain
07:14unbeaten in 15 matches this year. Now, their dynamic play, combined with the confidence and very
07:20impressive technical prowess of these young talents, has revitalised the club's traditional
07:25ticky-tacker style, plus with a little bit of sprinkled German magic from Hansi Flick. And you can
07:30really put what's happened down to three key stages here. Firstly, the financial necessity. With reduced
07:36transfer budgets, it meant they had to bring players through. Secondly, managerial philosophy.
07:41Coaches like Xavi and Flick all believe in youth and the development of them, and how good
07:45La Masia actually is. And thirdly, a cultural reconnection. The return of La Masia players
07:51for the first team is reconnecting fans with the values that they feel Barcelona should have.
07:56And players themselves are actually shocked to see what's happened at Barcelona, and what's gone
08:00right for them. Pau Cabasi said in an interview,
08:02they told us three years ago that Le Min and I would be here, and we wouldn't believe it.
08:07And there was also a huge change in 2014. To find these high-level academy players,
08:12they got the academy coaches to go scouting for these players. The club believed it would mean
08:18that Barcelona would go back to their roots, and be able to find players who'd fit their system,
08:22because the coaches know what makes a Barca player. Now, I've mentioned him a few times,
08:26but we do have to go back to Hansi Flick, because he's an important piece of the puzzle,
08:30and his tactical system just embraces youth. Now, Flick's approach is something that is
08:35aggressive yet structured, and really blends the high-pressing style that he wants, along with
08:40fluid transitional attacking play. Now, when you look at the system, it perfectly suits players
08:46who grew up in La Masia with Barcelona's style of play. For example, Luminium's ability to take on a
08:52defender and put in a precise cross, find the right dribble, to put in a shot into the top left-hand corner,
08:58all happens because of this. Now, under Flick, the team hasn't just got better in the attacking
09:02phase, they've also got better with collective pressing as well. One key stat is that Barcelona
09:08now average over 8.7 high turnovers per game. Basically, it means winning the ball back up the
09:14pitch high in the opposition's half. You could just see Barcelona do this in every single game.
09:19They have a high line with the defence, high line with the midfield, and the attack is super high as
09:22well, all pressing really together in a collective way. And that's a huge improvement based off of
09:28previous seasons, and a lot of that, I think, is due to the youngsters who are really proving the
09:33way this can be done in the team. Now, the impact of going back to La Masia is clear. Barcelona aren't
09:39just surviving, they're not bobbling along, they're absolutely thriving. I mentioned earlier, they're one
09:43of the most feared teams in Europe right now. They've overcome the transfer mania era of bringing in
09:48super high profile players who don't necessarily do what they were set out to achieve at the club.
09:54Griezmann comes to mind, Griezmann was absolutely fine at Barcelona, but he didn't become the
09:58superstar that I think everyone wanted him to be with a fee that was paid. And they've gone back
10:03and shown the world that a club focused on its own identity can compete at the highest level.
10:08Now, as the season progresses, the blend of youth, tactical intelligence, and a deep-rooted
10:13footballing philosophy will no doubt bring even more success. To sum up, the journey of La Masia
10:20from a sideline academy now to a cornerstone of a very successful Barcelona side is quite simply
10:27remarkable. By stopping the over-reliance on expensive transfers and returning to the nurturing
10:32of their own talent, it means Barcelona is not only reconnected with its identity, but has also set
10:37itself on a sustainable path for the future. Continuing the growing number of over 200 academy
10:44players making their first team debut since 1979. The numbers, the style, the passion on display all
10:51point to one thing and one thing only. La Masia is back. So there we have it. I hope you guys have
10:57enjoyed watching this deep dive on La Masia, the rise, the fall, and the rise again of Barcelona's
11:02academy and one of the most historic academies in the world. If you have enjoyed them, please like the
11:07video, subscribe to the 442 channel. Let them know you've enjoyed it. Hopefully, I'll see you guys
11:12all again here on this channel. You can check me out by searching my name, Zach Jellib, and I'll see
11:17you guys very, very soon. Let us know as well down below what other clubs you'd like us to cover,
11:22stories, players, whatever it might be. Maybe we'll do it as well. So see you later. Thanks, guys. Bye.