5 Barcelona Players Whose Stock Tumbled in the 2014/15 Liga Season

Barcelona as a team have enjoyed a magnificent season so far.

However, for a handful of their first-team squad, this campaign has turned into a nightmare.

Perhaps there was too much expected of a particular individual and they haven't met those expectations, or maybe injuries have curtailed their appearances.

There will be players whose stock is now lower than it was at the beginning of the season, which benefits neither themselves nor the club.

Let's take a look at five of those players.

Sergi Roberto

David Ramos/Getty Images

Sergi Roberto hasn't performed particularly well when given the opportunity.

Back in January of 2014, Anna Segura of FC Barcelona was reporting on Sergi Roberto's desire to follow in Xavi's footsteps.

The youngster had played a dozen games for Tata Martino's side, albeit many were cameo appearances.

The player noted: "During this time I haven’t given up and I work hard every day. Now I hope to make good on his confidence by playing well and helping the team. I have to continue working hard and earning my playing time both in games and in training sessions."

Working hard he may be, but he still hasn't been good enough to make a mark at senior level.

Of his 13 appearances in all competitions per WhoScored.com, just four have been as a starter.

Worse than that, he has only played 90 minutes in four of those games and even then they were against teams that Barca were expected to, and did, beat handsomely.

He's no Xavi.

Thomas Vermaelen

David Ramos/Getty Images

A debut on the final day of the season says it all.

There was widespread concern that Barcelona were even in the market for Arsenal's injury-prone ex-captain.

Per an interview with Jordi Grau on Catalan TV station TV3 Esport Club (h/t Rhys Tyrell of the Daily Star), it was noted that Andoni Zubizarreta ignored the advice of Barca's club doctors who advised against the purchase.

It was a decision that came back to haunt the sporting director as, after the behind-closed-doors run-out against an Indonesian XI, a game in which Thomas Vermaelen scored, his injury problems reared their ugly head again.

Making a debut on the final day of the campaign after signing during the pre-season says it all.

Pedro Rodriguez

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

Pedro's best moments have been few and far between.

Pedro Rodriguez is a little unfortunate to find himself in this list.

But there is little doubt that his stock has diminished over the course of this campaign.

Still able to come up with moments of utter genius as we saw with his overhead-kick goal against Real Sociedad, the Spaniard just hasn't played enough minutes during this season compared to any other in recent times.

The form of Messrs. Neymar, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez are chiefly to blame, but Pedro, when given the opportunity to give Luis Enrique a selection headache, hasn't stepped up to the mark.

Munir El Haddadi

Associated Press

Munir El Haddadi has been sent packing back to Barca B.

Munir El Haddadi burst onto the scene at the very beginning of the campaign.

A debut goal and all-round great performance brought him to the attention of the wider football family.

Once people had viewed his goal from a previous campaign, scoring from his own half for Barca's U19 squad against Benfica in the UEFA Youth League Final, that was it.

We were going to be witnessing a star in the making. Or were we?

In his other 13 games per WhoScored, the youngster played just once for the full 90 minutes and provided only one assist.

Hardly the stuff of legend, is it?

Douglas

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

Douglas has played just 73 minutes this season in La Liga.

One of the more bizarre transfers of the season, it's doubtful that Douglas had too much stock to begin with.

When news began to spread that the Brazilian would be signing for the Blaugrana, even his old supporters at Sao Paulo weren't bothered.

Rupert Fryer of Goal noted:

"

Not that the Sao Paulo fans care all that much. They won't be overly disappointed to see Douglas depart in a deal that could net the club as much as €5.5 million. 

[...] Something of a 'patinho feio' (ugly duckling), he was often singled out for criticism in an under performing side that has reached just two of the last five Copa Libertadores campaigns...

"

New signings would generally be expected to perform at their best, but with just 73 minutes in La Liga under his belt before the final game of the season, it's safe to say that Douglas' stock will be at an all-time low.