Rafael Marquez Leaves: Barcelona in Doldrums
According to the latest news coming out from Camp Nou, it has been finalized that Rafael Marquez would not renew his contract with Barcelona, as his contract expired this summer. Marquez, the Mexican International, has stayed with Barcelona for the last seven years.
Although, he was not known for his goal-scoring skills, as he has managed to get only 13 goals in all competitions, but, he was a decent defender for the team. He was a part of the treble winning team of Barcelona, under Pep Guardiola; however, he missed a lot of action due to the injury.
For the last few years, in the presence of more established players, Rafael Marquez’s role was reduced to that of a bench-warmer. However, he was a good substitute as the central defender and his role was enhanced when Gabriel Milito missed almost the whole 2008-2009 season. Apart from his role as a defender, Marquez also played in the defensive midfield position, which is very vital in the tactical settings of Guardiola.
This looks like the outcome of financial troubles at Camp Nou. The new President of the board, Sandro Rosell, announced a grave loss for the team, under the previous President, Joan Laporta. Therefore, Rosell announced a year of austerity at Camp Nou; as the departures of big players looks like a probable outcome of economic strictness under the new team.
This summer many players left Barcelona, such as Thierry Henry, Yaya Toure, Dmytro Chygrynskiy and now Rafael Marquez, while only David Villa and Adriano joined the club.
Keeping the players is also an economic burden, as wages have to be paid, therefore, the economic conditions will improve, at Camp Nou, with this step. On the other hand, in terms of numbers, this year’s Barcelona squad does not look good, as compared to last year.
Now, with the exit of Marquez, Barcelona looks in a little trouble. They are left with only three options in central defence; Carlos Puyol, Gerard Pique and Gabriel Milito. Also, with the departure of Yaya Toure, only one option is available in defensive midfield, Sergio Busquets. This will create a lot of problems for Barcelona, in the upcoming season, as they will get weaker if injuries struck their squad. This is highly probable, as a team like Barcelona is supposed to go much further in the Champions League as well.
Even during the 2008-2009 Season, Milito was missing for the most part, due to which they had to play Yaya Toure in central defence. Now, the problems will be aggravated with only three players to cover for the whole year.
However, Barcelona has also signed a Brazilian left back, Adriano, which widens their options a little. Now, Eric Abidal will be moved in the central defence, as he has already done it for France. However, he did not have a good campaign with France, but, nevertheless, he is at least there to cover for the inevitable circumstances. Also, there are two more options available to Barcelona in left back, in the shape of Maxwell and Adriano.
The real problem will be the cover for Sergio Busquets. Although, the Spanish international does not show any fitness problems, but he misses a few matches due to suspensions. He was the highest yellow card taker for Barcelona, in the last season. This means that Guardiola also needs someone to cover for him, in such circumstances. This problem was already there when Yaya Toure left, however, with the departure of Marquez the situation has only worsened.
Although the squad is getting weaker, while it seems that the board is not in a position to sanction further expenditure, however, there is also good news for Barcelona; Alexander Hleb has returned from Stuttgart, as his loan deal expired, which would strengthen the attacking options of the team. The real Achilles heal are the defensive options in the squad. Now, in the upcoming season, other teams have a rare opportunity to exploit this weakness of an otherwise fortress of a team. The new season might not be perfect for the Catalans, as they will trip on rare occasions.
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