The Barcelona Transfer Ban....How BIG of an Impact?

Okay....how bad is this really? Because yes, initially this is bad because to NOT be able to bring in ANY new players for two transfer windows, is not ideal when competing against the two Madrid teams. But this is Barcelona who still, whether you like it or not, have the best player in the world. So the question is how hard will it hit them?

The main deficiency of Barcelona's that opponents have looked to exploit is their CRAP defense. Don't even talk to me about Pique and Mascherano never has and never will be a natural defender. So that was obviously where Martino, who likes his teams robust, would have strengthened by getting at LEAST two new defenders. The main replacement was obviously Stegen who would have taken over from the leaving Valdes. Well, all of that is now into disarray as this ban pretty much negates all of that.

It all began with Neymar which led to Rossell's resignation, as to how he was signed and how legal that was. Whatever the case, Neymar is still at Barcelona and even with their bad defense, they have a rising star who I HOPE can actually be given the freedom to express himself which will in turn pay dividends TENFOLD to Barcelona, as this kid is that good.


Beyond that, the most important thing above all is Barcelona have the best player in the world. Even if the ruling is not overturned and they have to manage with what they have for another season, the Argentine hobbit has already shown that he is capable of being that one-man ARMY who can win games all on his own for his club.

In the end, I think that if the ruling stays in place, Barcelona will find it hard. Because Madrid WILL strengthen, and teams will be even more confident when attacking Barcelona when they come and visit them. So for Martino, IF, he stays, he will need to really be smart in how he sets the team up and has to devise a ploy of adding a lot more protection for that defense. So this means getting players to work even hard to press and close guys down and restrict the amount of attacks that their defense will have to be up against.


But with Messi....those cracks can be papered over for a season....


HH