A good thread to demonstrate a school of thought that is not new. A one that I agree with the vibe of some parts of it, but also demonstrates how wrong the way this matter is discussed (both ways). 1) An either-or (Ruin everything or change nothing at all. 2) Results-oriented. https://twitter.com/Barsalev/status/1362443897209827331

Before defending what is good about what we have (I will), we need to correct some misconceptions that come along with the radical idea: What we do is unique, perfect, and it was proven by success, so let's keep it untouched. No need to evolve, just stick with it (what is it?)

First, a method is evaluated for what it is and whether it could be enhanced - beyond the outcome. Or else, we end up with a conclusion first then a narrative to get us there. "We played Mascherano and lost, see?" Yes, and we played Xavi and Iniesta against Bayern and lost 7-0.

"Our way of playing won us a lot of titles, why evolving?" If that's the measurement, other clubs won a lot more, so maybe... erm...
Besides, our way CONTRIBUTED in us winning, it didn't solely win us titles. Actually, more often than not we underperformed. With Cruyff, with pep?

Take the UCL, then we get to the league, last time we won it we played the exact opposite to "our way". Midfield was a punching bag. all defend back, pick the ball, and hoof it hoping one of MSN picks it and triggers terror upfront. How many would've "our way" won without Messi?

You know, Messi that starts dribbling people from home, all the way across the jammed streets till he scores against Getafe. Our way there was as relevant as Xavi's assist for that Messi goal (It is a stretch, but just making a point). What about Ronaldinho before Messi? Factors.

Actually, the best team we had was the team where we had players like Abidal, Yaya, Keita, Henry, and Eto'o (I'll add Alves there). Players who had their own profile AND adopted our core principles. It went down from there if you ask me. Once we got too obsessed with "our way".

To replicate what we've done in modern football we need to win a lottery ticket where a Ronaldinho (one of the most talented players ever) era hands the torch directly to a Messi (the best player ever) WHILE having the quality La Masia products that defined our way. Or we evolve.

How did "our way" proved to be perfect? Beyond the best cycle, you have to go all the way back to winning the big European prize with Cruyff in a game our way prevailed and... oh, sorry.. We won thanks to a freekick at the last minute against Samprdoria... Cruyff underperformed.

Talking about Cruyff, if we judge "our way" based on results here or there, we lost a UCL final 4-0 against half of AC Milan team with Cruyff. Maybe we should've turned La Masia into a parking space back then. Imagine the manager's name was Valverde :)
Not the right discussion.

I will say what I used to say on FCBtransfers blog at the best times this club had. Our way is great, but it needs to evolve. I don't care how many UCL we won since then. RM won more with a random structure. Evolve is NOT change everything. We can't get too obsessed and radical.

Pep evolved. PEP. He recognized that he needs to. He is trying. Stop looking for a midfield of one tall skinny guy, one pale one, and one who can spin around himself with the ball to replicate what we had once. I've said that when I defended Keita back then. And Raki at his best.

Two case studies to look at: Germany and England. England had that arrogance being the father of all football for decades (They invented the game) and kept being a laughable stock. Till they lately recognized their flaws. Changed their grassroots development. Started to progress.

Germany was a dominant football nation before struggling at the beginning of the new millennium. After 2006 they said "that's it!". They reevaluated, spotted the flaws including some of the most tactical concepts that identified their football as a nation. EVOLVED. Recovered.

Note the term used is "EVOLVE", not "change". A huge difference. Should we hire Mourinho if his Spurs win the UCL and EPL next season and play zonal defending, parking the bus, and count on counter-attacking? You are not serious. You do not clone what works, you LEARN from it.

We have a set of methods we base our game on (we are not unique with that). We teach our youth such methods and it runs in the veins of our football all the way to the first team. We should not give up on that. We can't do that. But in life, you either evolve or face extinction.

Now that our best team ever reached an endpoint. We have enough experience, good and bad, to learn. If there's one thing we need to teach our youth, besides the current principle, it is the quality to be adaptable. To be more diverse. Less predictable. The flaws of pep's Barca.

We do not need to give up on qualities we teach our youth including the possession game, ball retaining, pressing, etc... We need to add the qualities to mix things up sometimes to add more verticality to our game. And if we have to attack with speed, be it. That's contrevertial?

After Pep's FC Barcelona success, the whole football world evolved by doing exactly what I am demanding. They learned from us and the ones that succeeded didn't clone us. Liverpool is a good example. You can see clear traces to our ways in their football DNA, but far from a copy.

You see it in the overall german football DNA right now. Even in the new England generation & how they view the game. Even in a football stubborn nation like Italy. Elite managers took notice, didn't copy, but learned. Do we want to be humble and successful or naive and arrogant?

It's good to note that Rijkaard's team was not a copy of Cruyff's, Pep's was different than both, Lucho? don't let me start. Saying it is "thanks to our way" when we win but everything else faults when we don't doesn't work. We won when we had a good team and lost when we didnt.

Barcalev said in his thread: "The model is great, but its execution is very, very difficult." I like that. I used to call it "Access of quality" in 2009 on FCBtransfer's blog.

If "our way" works when our team players are a lot better than the rest, there's something to see there

Note: This is not against Barcalev. he is actually one of the fans who I have in the "Makes sense" category :)

His thread was just an occasion to not just share but also have my own 5 cents about the issue. Especially that I was the one who used "evolve" & "Outdated" before.