FC Barcelona: 5 Areas in Which Barça Could Actually Improve in 2012

In 2011, FC Barcelona had a stellar year.

The best team in the world continued their dominance as they won five titles in the calendar year. This is a historic Barcelona team and there may not be many areas needing improvement.

But to stay on top of the football mountain, your team needs to constantly be progressing and improving. It may seem like Pep Guardiola’s team has nothing to improve on, but there are always possible weaknesses and areas that need to be addressed before they become serious issues in the future.

Here are five areas in which Barcelona could actually improve in 2012.

Center Back/Part-Time Right Back

As much as all Culés love Carles Puyol, it’s become clear that injuries are beginning to catch up with the 33 year old capita. Gerard Piqué has missed games due to injury as well.

Center back is an area Pep Guardiola could look to improve depth. Javier Mascherano plays the position well when called to do so. Sergio Busquets does not play bad as a CB, it is not his regular position and it’s taking away from the midfield play that Busquets plays a major part of.

Another reason to improve in the center back position would be to use said CB as a part-time right back.

Barcelona has a good right wing back in Dani Alves. But, many have criticized Alves and his tendencies to play more offense than defense. The knock on Alves is that he lacks skills that true right backs possess and this can cause issues when defending against speedy players like Cristiano Ronaldo or Kevin Prince Boateng.  

As we saw in the FIFA Club World Cup, Dani can play forward for nearly an entire game very well. Next year could be the year to look into bringing in a more defensive right back, not to replace Dani Alves, but to give the defensive support Barcelona needs at times.

Some of the names you’ll hear rumored to be heading to the Camp Nou are Sporting Lisbon’s Joao Pereira, Milan’s Thiago Silva—albeit he would be moved to RB from CB—and Chelsea’s David Luiz.

The most inexpensive route would be to give time to Andreu Fontàs or to call up Martin Montoya from the B squad.

Left Back

Since 2007, Eric Abidal has been Barcelona’s left back. He quickly became a fan favorite when he came to the Camp Nou from Lyon. Abidal is still negotiating a contract extension with Barcelona and there are many who would prefer that he is not re-signed so Barcelona can bring in fresh legs.

While Barça still have Maxwell and Adriano, both of them possess more left wing back traits than left back—yes, there’s a difference.

Rumors have been going around the Barcelona media about players like Tottenham’s Gareth Bale, Lyon’s Michel Bastos, Valencia’s Jordi Alba and Chelsea’s Ashley Cole coming to replace Abidal.

Even if Eric Abidal is re-signed, it still could be time to find a left back as a backup. 

At age 32, Abidal still has plenty of good years left in him. But, there are some who would like to see a younger left back for the blaugrana.

If Abidal leaves, the left back position will become arguably the most important area Barcelona needs to improve.

Striker

This has been, without a doubt, one of the biggest issues that has caused much debate.

Lionel Messi has been the “striker” for a while, but most will say that this is not his natural position. If you remember, Messi started his career at Barça as a right winger, while Samuel Eto’o played the striker position.

Later on Zlatan Ibrahimovic was the striker, until Messi moved into the position. When David Villa was signed last year, most thought he would move into the middle. This never happened, as Villa has played left wing.

To this day, Barcelona does not have a true striker.

This may be the toughest thing for Barcelona to improve because of Pep Guardiola’s style of play. David Villa fits very well in the system, even if he is not used as a striker, and most would say not to mess with the system.

Still, there needs to be someone that can come in and be a true striker for the team when needed.

The biggest name to be rumored is Santos hitman Neymar. He has publicly mentioned how he would love to play with Barcelona and Pep’s system. Neymar signed an extension recently, so seeing him at the Camp Nou may not happen for a while.

Another name that has come up in the past few weeks is Arsenal striker Robin Van Persie. Van Persie has had an amazing year for the Gunners and is looking to sign a long term deal with a club—whether it’s Arsenal or not.

Liverpool forward Luis Suárez has also been linked as a Pep Guardiola prospect—albeit Suarez is not considered a true striker.

There’s even talk of people wanting to see Fernando Torres in a Barça kit. The Chelsea striker has not been the same since leaving Liverpool and would come at a discount for Barcelona as Chelsea may be looking to get rid of him this offseason.

Torres would come cheaper, but it looks like his best days are behind him. Neymar may come later rather than sooner. I don’t see Arsenal letting two of their star players of the past few years go to Barcelona. They lost Cesc Fàbregas to Barça and I doubt they’ll let the same thing happen with Van Persie.

We’ll just have to wait and see what happens. But one thing I do know for sure, is that Barcelona needs at least one good backup striker to improve the team.

Giving Fontàs and Other Young Defenders More Playing Time

Pep Guardiola is excellent at evaluating his young players from the B squad, yet he does not give Barcelona’s young defenders sufficient time on the pitch.

Could all the young defenders not be ready to play with the first team?

It seems unlikely.  

Andreu Fontàs is their top young defender of the future and he has not been given enough time with the first team. Fontàs made his first team debut in 2009. In almost three years, Fontàs has made only eight league appearances and 15 appearances in all competitions.

How is Fontàs supposed to gain experience if he never is put in the lineup?

Fontàs is not the only one. Marc Muniesa and Martin Montoya are other players that are coming up and will need a good amount of playing time with the first team.

I understand that the Barça defense is good right now, but there does need to come a time when Fontàs needs to play and play often. Does this mean that Eric Abidal, Carles Puyol or Javier Mascherano need to be benched? No, but it is unfair that all the Barcelona youngsters that are being called up and getting time with the first squad are the forwards and not the defenders.

With Eric Abidal possibly not being re-signed and Barça’s need of both right and left back depth, bringing up young defenders is an area Pep will finally need to seriously consider in 2012.

Playing Against Teams They Should Beat on the Road

It's one of the great mysteries of the Guardiola era—Why does Barcelona tend to struggle against teams they should beat on the road?

It’s not just the few losses; it’s the ties and the 1-0 victories that need improvement. It is baffling how the best team in the world can be unbeatable at home and look so average on the road.

And yes, I understand that Barcelona cannot win 5-0 all the time, but they sometimes struggle to get 1-0 wins.

I'm not complaining about a victory; a win is a win. I'm just saying that they can do better than than a 1-0 final.

It is one thing to tie or lose to teams like Real Madrid, Valencia, or Athletic Blibao. But with all due respect to the teams I’m about to mention, FC Barcelona should not be losing to Getafe, tying Real Sociedad, and barely beating Granada and Sporting Gijon.

These problems on the road are not just a one-year issue; this has been an issue for years now.

Is it that they think that these teams are just going to roll over? Or, is it just that Barcelona thinks that they will win because “they are Barcelona?”

I don’t know, but it needs to stop.

I know Lionel Messi and company are trying to destroy all the teams they play, but there is something about them on the road against lower-table Liga teams that has given Barcelona issues.

All these issues on the road yet Real Madrid, a team Barcelona has beaten on a consistent basis, seems to have no problem taking care of teams on the road and by blowout margins most of the time.

I’ll give credit to those few teams that stepped up and deserved to beat Barcelona. But there have been too many games where the opposing team did not deserve a win or a tie.   

It may seem like I’m asking for too much but I don’t see it like that. This year has been a good example of the old sports phrase “beating the teams you should beat.” Many will say that there is no such thing as teams you should beat because any team can beat any other team on any given night.

But come on, let’s be real here. There are teams that others should beat not because of the talent one has, because one is just more skilled than the other.

Barcelona is both more talented and more skilled than most teams in La Liga. That’s why they should not be barely beating these teams let alone tie. As much as talent and skill are important, both talent and skill does not mean a thing if you cannot execute.

Luck is a part of the game but this is more about finishing teams off. With Real’s winning ways combined with Barça’s slips, this could be the year that those ties and 0-1 losses finally costs Barcelona the league crown.

Let’s hope not.

Visca el Barça!

Make sure to check out the "12 Days of Barça" as well.