New Barca coach picks up where Pep left off - Luis Enrique leading La Masia revival

Posted Thursday, September 04, 2014 by Marca.com

Luis Enrique was one of the architects of the huge success generated in the Barcelona youth system during the golden years under Pep Guardiola. The current 'Culés' coach used to supply his former teammate with talented teenagers whom Guardiola would gradually integrate into the first team. Now that role belongs to Enrique himself.

The whole footballing world took note as Guardiola developed an attractive style of play that epitomised his four-year tenure at the club. He had no qualms about putting faith in promising youth-team players who had come through the ranks at La Masia, with Sergio Busquets and Pedro Rodríguez two key examples. Thiago Alcântara also made impressive progress following his first-team breakthrough towards the end of the Catalan's time at the helm. We also witnessed the first glimpses of Sergi Roberto, who is now regularly vying for a spot in Enrique's midfield.

Tata Martino's arrival in the Barcelona dugout saw La Masia take a temporary step back with far fewer youth-team products breaking through into the first team alongside Messi and co. Marc Bartra was given plenty of playing time, but that was mainly due to an unexpectedly long injury list in the defensive department.

The 2014/15 season has started very differently, however. Both Rafinha and Munir have been fixtures in the starting line-up so far this term, the former following a successful loan spell at Celta last time round. There was room for one more towards the end of Sunday's match against Villarreal when Sandro entered the fray and justified his coach's faith in him by scoring the only goal at El Madrigal.