If you look at what happened with Pedro for example, it shows how great young talent at the club can be rewarded with a regular place in the first team after he earned it by stepping up and performing alongside the team with the same mentality and in the same mould. But then you look at the recently departed Bojan Krkic and wonder if there is room for another talent in the first team, after he fell behind Messi, Pedro and Villa, it seems to get harder every year.
For all the ball skills and attacking abilities that Barcelona have in abundance, one of their key advantages which gives them such strength is their team spirit and fluid consistency with the same players who have forged a fantastic understanding and connection on the pitch. As soon as you start to rotate and squeeze more players in, this breaks up the core of what the team have in their favour, which is unfortunate for players trying to break through.
I hope that Thiago Alcantara is given a chance this season to prove his worth, because he definitely brings a lot to the table for any top team. He shows flair and technique in a way that seems to exceed his years and appears to fit into the Barcelona system well when he plays for them. Maybe the influx of a couple of new players would change the formation slightly at the club, allowing Thiago to move further up the midifield order.
I’m sure that the more he plays in the first team, the more of an understanding he will get with his team mates, the more assured he will become in his role and the better he will get as a player. Whether or not his team are willing to give him a run of games to shape his future at the club is something only time will tell. One thing’s for sure, he isn’t short of role models at Barcelona.
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