Spanish Debate: Barcelona Clear-Out Beckons?
A nine-point gap and another winter of discontent have sealed Barcelona's status as second-best for yet another campaign. It also looks like some the old guard are preparing to move on as the blaugrana start to rebuild for next season. Ewan Macdonald looks at the prospects of a Camp Nou clear-out this summer...
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galleria zoom As Barcelona trudged off the Nuevo Colombino pitch after succumbing to a 2-2 draw with Recreativo, thoughts inevitably turned towards the next Liga campaign, for with Real Madrid set to face struggling Murcia the next day, it was odds-on that the blaugrana would end the weekend nine points off the pace.

This they did, and it now looks as if the Liga race is well and truly over. Barcelona have just the Champions League to play for, effectively, after what has been yet another dissatisfying campaign. It's a far cry from the double season of 2005-06, and indeed that now seems like ancient history.

So, too, do certain squad members. It's been less than a year since Ronaldinho was still putting in match-winning performances, but now he looks to be on his way out. Deco is another one who may have played his last meaningful game in the blaugrana shirt. Sylvinho? Ezquerro? The list goes on.

Indeed, while Barcelona saw just four in and six out (excluding loan/promotio ndeals) last summer, it seems likely that there'll be more changes this time around. It may not be a Real Madrid-style trolley-dash across Europe, but nonetheless, there could be major alterations in the offing.

But based on what we know, and what the club's said, it may not be the obvious positions that change.

Cleared For Departure

What is almost certain is that Ronaldinho is going. The Milan sides are having a merry old battle to sign him, agent Roberto de Assis is glad-handing across Europe in an attempt to seal the best deal, and the player himself has, not to put too fine a point on it, chucked it. However, as this is both seemingly inevitable and not too big a deal - while 'Dinho was once the world's best player in the blaugrana, he's done very little this season - we must not dwell on it.

Of slightly more import is Deco. Another one who has seem great days at Camp Nou, this season has been one to forget. The arrival of Touré Yaya signalled a more defensive direction for the central midfield slot, while both Xavi and Iniesta have had all-but guaranteed berths further out. The Portuguese, then, isn't happy - and even at one point this season declared that he did not wish to play defensively in the middle - and could well head to the Premier League.

Gianluca Zambrotta is said to be ripe for a return to AC Milan, and to be fair, that would do both him and Barcelona a world of good. He's a superb player on his day, but he has yet to well and truly adapt to the Spanish game, and as such must be considered somewhat dispensable.

Then there's supporting cast. Sylvinho, who is something of an underrated player in my estimation, will most likely leave as his contract ends; so too will the almost-forgotten Santiago Ezquerro. Edmílson will almost certainly be told that his own deal won't be renewed, and Lilian Thuram could be moved on due to his age and his own deal's expiration.

A lot to think about, then - but these want-aways and contract-enders are only the beginning.

Who Else Should Go?

One name absent from the above list is Victor Valdés, but it is debatable that the departures should begin with the embattled goalkeeper.

Barcelona do have the second-best defensive record in the Liga, and Valdés has put in some fine performances this season, but it is becoming apparent that he is not world-class. Yes, he perhaps has a case to be in the Spanish squad, perhaps at the expense of Palop, but who can really say that he's on a par with Iker Casillas?

Well, Johan Cruyff implied it, for one thing, saying that Valdés produces fewer saves than Casillas only out of the fact that Real Madrid are apparently flimsier at the back, but the Barça man does it just as well.

Sure, there is a case for that. Valdés does save the ball just as nicely as Casillas. But what Casillas offers is an almost rock-steady consistency, while Valdés does not. For all his qualities, he is cursed with a tendency towards errors, and that is the kiss of death for a goalkeeper looking to become a legend at one of the world's biggest clubs. This, in turn, spills over into the defensive line, who may play with a bit more shakiness.

Were Valdés not a club product and a local boy - a symbol of Barcelona - he may well have been replaced more easily, but as it stands, he must be treated with caution. He's not a bad goalkeeper, to be sure, but if the blaugrana are to avoid situations like last season's Champions League elimination, then they'll need to put head before heart.

Whisper it, but this may also apply to Carles Puyol. Please note: I am not for one minute suggesting that the captain needs to be removed from the club, or even from the first team - he is there to stay, and rightly so. Nonetheless, I feel that more cover is needed at centre-back due to his age, and a tendency this season to lose concentration.

To be fair to the captain, he is trying to marshal a back line that, while solid for the vast bulk of games, shares with its goalkeeper a maddening tendency towards brief but eventful self-destruction. Much of that is down to the squad. Gabriel Milito has been a decent, if uninspired addition to the squad, but the likes of Lilian Thuram are starting to show their age, while Rafael Márquez is so dogged by injury that he cannot find consistency. Both have had their day in the sun, but younger blood could be required not only as a partner to Puyol, but also as an understudy. Ezequiel Garay is the obvious choice, but others are available, too.

At left-back, Eric Abidal is here to stay, but he's yet to win over many of the fans. With the aforementioned Sylvinho already being on the way out, then, there is scope for competition for the Frenchman who, to my mind, has in fact been given something of a raw deal. Zambrotta, of course, needs replacing. And Oleguer is under contract until 2010, and while he did form one of the great defences of 2005-06, he's fast falling out of favour and could be set for a move elsewhere.

To summarise the above, fully 50% of the defence - he who partners Puyol, and the right-back - may be altered wholesale, while the other central position and left back could also see alteration, but the one spot that may not change - that of goalkeeper - is maybe the most urgent. A strange situation, to be sure.

Elsewhere, Eidur Gudjohnsen is under contract for another two seasons, but may be tired of a lack of opportunities. Could a return to the Premiership beckon? Finally, Giovani dos Santos is said to have an uncertain future at the club, although how much of this is paper talk remains to be seen.

And Those Who Stay?

For all these departures both probable and desirable, though, there remains the makings of a world-class team, and nowhere is that more true than up front. Yes, the "Fantastic Four" hype has been a lead balloon, but the forward line, for all its problems, remains formidable. Even with Messi out, Barcelona seldom fail to score, and considering that Rijkaard currently has to shoehorn one of Eto'o and Bojan - both on form, but both decidely central - into a wide position, that's no mean feat.

Indeed, for all the criticism that the likes of Henry have endured - and it is not without foundation, that's for sure - it often seems to come at the expense of a back line and goalkeeping position in far greater peril than the strikeforce.

One possible change, though, may be required to compensate for Ronaldinho. At the moment, Henry sometimes fills in on the left, but despite his experience at drifting out wide and cutting inside to meet through balls while at Arsenal, he has not yet made the position his own. The coach could either continue working at it, or maybe give Andrés Iniesta further scope to play the 'Dinho position - something he has already done to decent effect this season. That leaves a gap in midfield, of course, but it's one that Deco's successor may well fill.

But whatever happens, the likes of Iniesta, Xavi, Eto'o and Puyol remain: in other words, the spine of a team that, while not always on form, certainly has the star power and the capability to mount a fair challenge. As for the rest, it's about filling in the blanks, and if Barcelona can make a more thorough fist of it this summer than last, then the fans could finally have a reason to cheer.

Ewan Macdonald, Goal.com

Schuster: Shame We Could Not Win The Title

Bernd Schuster admitted his frustration at not being able to celebrate winning the league on Sunday following Real Madrid's win against Athletic Bilbao and praised Javeir Saviola for his performance.

The German coach was keen to clinch the championship as soon as possible and hoped that Villarreal would lose at Real Betis and allow his players and the fans to have a party on Sunday.

Villarreal won and denied Madrid their party, but Saviola, Arjen Robben and Gonzalo Higuaín all scored in a game that saw Iker Casillas save a penalty to cap a fine display.

"Personally, I would have liked to have won the league after this game because everything was ready. The public were expecting it and there was a great atmosphere. It was the perfect day. But we depended on other results and could not do it," Schuster said.

"What was most important though was our scoreline. We should never expect anything and it al depends on us now.

"This was not one of our best games of the season, but it was a good performance. It was important to respond to a difficult situation. At times it could be a problem to know the other results and know that you cannot win the title.

"I thought that may happen in this game, but the team reacted well from the start we are all happy because it was a difficult game and because we are now even closer."

Saviola opened the scoring and impressed with a lively performance and Schuster was pleased for the Argentinian striker: "This was Saviola's day. He deserved it. In the last few games he had warmed up and something happened that made it so he could not come on. He played well and scored and that will do him a lot of good," he said.

Next weekend, Madrid can win the league when they travel to the Reyno de Navarra, a ground that will give them a hot reception.

"Without doubt, for Real Madrid going to Pamplona is never easy. But that will not bother us. We want to win the league as soon as possible and if it is there then that will be perfect," Schuster concluded.