Barcelona's dismal 0-0 draw in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday night highlighted the problems manager Luis Enrique has had to contend with this season already: A major injury list, a lack of squad depth in key areas and a number of young talents who, impressive though they may have been at junior level, are not able to compete in the first team.
Being held away to Segunda B team Villanovense isn't the end of the world; Barcelona have a second leg to come at the Camp Nou and will likely finish the job then.
Even so, the manager was clearly displeased at his team's lack of invention with all of his major stars left out, even if he noted the effort put in.
Per Froilan Mora of Marca, Enrique said:
We controlled the game and only struggled, as we knew we would, in the set pieces. We did not generate enough chances though. That's the difficulty of matches like these. The players lack pace and it's not easy.
I didn't see any apathy, I saw them all going out for a good game and I am more than satisfied.
Obviously, with more minutes, players can give a better performance. The four lads from the reserve team were very good.
The club will have to continue to make do with resources stretched to the limit until some return from injury, with January the chance to invest and improve the options for the manager.
Former Barcelona forward Pedro has already been linked with a return, per Fichajes.net (h/t Adam Skinner of the Daily Express), but the club should be looking in other directions to rebuild that area of the team.
MSN...and P
There is no troika of attacking talent like Barcelona's in world football. Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar have genius in their boots; pace, skill, desire and above all else, goals.
There are other outrageously talented attacking tridents, of course—Real Madrid's "BBC" being one, Bayer Munich's option to switch between Thomas Muller, Arjen Robben, Robert Lewandowski and Douglas Costa might be another—but Barcelona's is somewhat unique on account of all three being different variations of, in their natural roles, centre-forwards.
Any other attacker coming to the club knows they are not going to be in the starting lineup as often as those three, which can make attracting top-tier talent a little awkward. If, however, the incoming targets are positionally versatile and more midfield-like than striker-like in their "forward" nature—more Rafinha than Neymar, in other words—then game-time opportunities in the centre of the park can make a potential move more appealing.
The previous incumbent of "fourth forward" was Pedro, who departed for Chelsea in the summer. According to the Fichajes article, he has indicated a regret that he ever left the Camp Nou and would now consider a return.
Pedro was, in many ways, the perfect replacement. Home grown for the Catalan side, he had an affinity for the club and would sacrifice himself often. The Spain international, 28, is a major talent, but falls short of perhaps being one of the truly elite—an undroppable name, a dangerous ego, a reliable producer in the final third.
It made him easy to play as a substitute, bringing him on in most matches and starting either side of the attack when opportunity allowed.
With Pedro allowed to leave the club, Enrique had to put his faith elsewhere. So far, that faith has not been repaid, and with each passing game, it looks more and more unlikely to ever come to fruition.
Munir and Sandro
Young forwards from the B team, Munir El Haddadi and Sandro Ramirez made the breakthrough last season and were named in the senior squad for this term.
Even so, when one of the first-choice front three were unavailable, Enrique still turned to other names before them this season, with Rafinha playing in attack and Pedro, before he left, also featuring.
Since Messi's injury against Las Palmas, however, and with the long-term absence of Rafinha affecting Enrique's rotation options, one of Munir and Sandro has started each of the last six games.
The starter was replaced by the other of the pair in each game until the fixture at Villanovense, where both played out the entire 90 minutes.
Barça XI: 25 Masip 2 Douglas 15 Bartra 17 Munir 19 Sandro 21 Adriano 23 Vermaelen 24 Mathieu 26 Samper 28 Gumbau 34 Kaptoum #FCBLive
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 28, 2015
And disappointed once more.
Santi Gimenez of AS noted Barca as having taken over an hour to register a shot on target, while Marca's Sergi Font was critical of the seniors who failed to take their chance against meagre opposition.
Font wrote:
Kaptoum and Aitor cannot be called to account. However, the rest have no excuses.
Players like Sandro or Munir have enough first-team football under their belts to swing a game like this, but their performances fell short on the night.
They failed to create many chances or take those they did carve out.
Marca also noted that it was the first time in 35 Copa matches that Barcelona had failed to score.
Between them, Munir and Sandro have now played a total of 991 minutes this season...without mustering a single goal.
Arda and Aleix
Of course, if we're talking about positional versatility and adding to the attacking line, Barcelona do still have two players awaiting a debut: Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal, signed from Atletico Madrid and Sevilla respectively in the summer and still not registered as a result of the club's ban incurred in 2014.
Turan would have been the perfect alternative to Rafinha being out injured, with his capacity to play as a creative midfielder or a wide forward option (as well as his quality, obviously), and it has been no surprise to watch Barcelona continue to press their claims to register him early.
It will eventually take the two a little time to find their feet in terms of the system and playing in front of an expectant crowd, despite the training time afforded to them before their debuts. However, they may also be helped by the pure necessity of putting them in the team straight away.
They'll get to rack up the minutes immediately if injuries continue to bite, with the boss already having to manage certain players carefully who have been called upon almost every match.
Per Marca, after the game, Enrique mentioned he needed to "manage the minutes" of some stars and said those on the pitch "didn't need" the interventions of subs Jordi Alba and Ivan Rakitic.
In all probability, he was simply thinking that Barcelona still had a second leg to get things right, and he'd rather save his key performers for the weekend.
Nolito over Pedro
Arda and Vidal will beef up the squad list then, but Barcelona will still likely seek to add a new name to their forward options, even if it means someone needs to be sold first—as has been intimated by Spanish press previously.
Most recently, Mundo Deportivo (h/t Daily Mail) indicated Nolito, Anwar El Ghazi and Robin van Persie have been noted as the three most likely targets for the Catalan club come January.
It is the Celta Vigo man, Nolito, who appears the best fit for Barcelona and has had the most links since the summer, even though he was offered a new deal to bump up his release clause.
The Spanish international has scored seven times in La Liga this season, including at the weekend against Real Madrid, and has shown both consistency and the ability to make the difference in big matches when playing in his left-sided role in Celta's three-man attack.
Nolito, of course, worked under Luis Enrique in the manager's season at Celta just before he joined Barcelona. He is 29, a year older than Pedro, but he is performing to a much higher level—this season and last—than the Chelsea man and would probably have more to prove, stepping up to a bigger team rather than returning to his comfort zone.
Both players are quite possibly vying for the same spot in Spain's Euro 2016 squad, too, as an added intrigue.
Even if they need to sell first—there are no shortage of candidates in defence with the likes of Douglas, Adriano or Jeremy Mathieu all potentially expendable without too much damage—Barcelona will certainly look to add to their front line in January.
Enrique has a big task on his hands to rotate the front line until that can happen and ensure the points keep rolling in during La Liga matches, though Suarez and, in particular, Neymar have been doing everything possible to make that happen of late.
Regardless of whether the lack of depth costs them in the next two months domestically, though, the Champions League is still a huge prize to aim for in the second half of the season. And a boost to the front line, if quality is maintained, will go a long way toward helping. But it's unlikely to see Sandro or Munir involved, nor to happen if they are continually and heavily relied upon.
Follow @karlmatchett