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Barcelona FC: If Barcelona's Attack Isn't Broken, Should It Be Fixed?

Mohamed Al-Hendy@Mo_HendyX.com LogoCorrespondent IJune 18, 2011

MADRID, SPAIN - APRIL 27:  David Villa of Barcelona celebrates after Lionel Messi scores the opening goal during the UEFA Champions League Semi Final first leg match between Real Madrid and Barcelona at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on April 27, 2011 in Madrid, Spain.  (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Alex Livesey/Getty Images

Well, after another record-breaking season for Barcelona, and another league title and Champions League trophy to add to Barcelona's overflowing trophy cabinet, Barcelona are back in the transfer market once more.

They reportedly have a very respectable 45 million to spend, and President Sandro Rosell claims that this budget could be surpassed if needed to acquire their top targets, who currently seem to be Fabregas, Alexis Sanchez, and Giuseppe Rossi. 

But before breaking the bank to sign either Sanchez or Rossi, Barcelona ought to take a look at their very recent history and learn from their mistakes.

Back in 2008-09, made history by being the first Spanish club to ever win the treble. This was largely due to a very productive year from their front three. Thierry Henry had his best season in a Barcelona shirt with 26 goals and 12 assists, Eto'o was unstoppable with 36 goals and six assists, and Messi truly emerged from Ronaldinho's shadow and made his intention to be Barcelona's next legend known with 38 goals and 18 assists.

And yet, despite the 102 goals scored between these three strikers, Guardiola was not happy to let his squad sit and take another crack at treble with minor reinforcements. After some awful negotiating on the part of Barcelona, Samuel Eto'o was transferred along with a whopping 46 million euros to Inter Milan in exchange for Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

And as they say, the rest is history. Eto'o, despite not having a great goalscoring season to due to being shifted to the left flank to make room for Milito as the center forward, won another treble with Inter Milan and scored some very important goals down the stretch (the winner in the Chelsea vs. Inter second leg to take them into the semifinals of the Champions League), whereas Ibrahimovic had a decent goalscoring season (but nowhere near Eto'o's numbers from the season before) and majorly choked in the big Champion's League games of the season (he was virtually nonexistent over two legs vs his former team, Inter Milan). He was loaned out to Milan for the 2010-2011 season, and then recently sold to them for 15 mil, giving Barcelona a net loss of over 50 million euros on the deal.

It's also important to note that were it not for the emergence of Pedro in place of Thierry Henry, and Messi's unhuman goalscoring exploits, the Ibrahimovic transfer could've cost Barcelona the title too, and then the season would've been a true failure.

Luckily, Messi and Pedro papered over the cracks Guardiola had made, and when Ibrahimovic was shipped off and Villa was brought in, Guardiola could breathe a sigh of relief at finally being able to put his biggest transfer mistake behind him.

So why am I bringing up all the history up today? Because it seems that Barcelona are at risk of making the same mistake again.

There is almost no doubt that Barcelona will stick with the 4-3-3 that has served them so well since Guardiola arrived, and there is even less doubt that Messi will remain the center forward following another mind-blowing season from the forward. Pedro, as a player Guardiola coached from the reserve team to the first team, is also seen as a Guardiola favorite and likely untouchable.

That leaves David Villa, like Eto'o only two seasons back, the odd man out should Barcelona decide to change things up, and as transfer season wears on, this is becoming a more and more likely possibility.

Already, there are signs that people have forgotten just how great David Villa was this season. Just a few days back, I read an article on goal.com that claimed the following about David Villa:

"The Spain striker was signed for €40m last summer and is now 29. He is arguably now past his best, he struggled on the left flank at times this season and his 23-goal tally is somewhat mediocre considering he competes in the world’s best side."

Are you kidding me? David Villa played on the left flank, a position he has had no experience with in his previous years with Valencia and the Spanish National Team, and still managed to score 23 goals! He even scored the final clincher in the Champions League final vs Manchester United! What more do you want from the guy?

And to build up his resume further, the guy is the highest scorer in Spanish National Team history, and won the Silver Boot and the World Cup with Spain just last year. Seriously,what more could you ask from the guy?

Sure he struggled with form issues for a long stretch during the second half of the league, but all strikers, maybe minus Ronaldo and Messi, go through such struggles.

That he still stepped up when it counted, on the biggest of all club football stages in Wembley in the Champions League final, speaks volumes about his mental toughness.

He has great chemistry with the rest of the team at Barcelona, and has a track record that no more than three or so pure strikers today can come close to matching (ironically Eto'o and Ibrahimovic are two of the strikers who come close). 

There's no doubt that Alexis Sanchez is a very promising talent who is tailor made for the Barcelona 4-3-3 having already been a Forward/Winger for Udinese and the Chilean National Team, and there is also no doubt that Guiseppe Rossi is a tremendously talented forward with the potential to be the next great striking sensation.

But, if Guardiola is thinking about bringing in either of these guys to start ahead of Villa, he should pause for a bit, think about how the Ibrahimovic debacle went, think about just how much he'll be losing if he sells Villa, and kindly reconsider.

What do you think? Now that Barcelona have signed Sanchez, what should be done with Villa? Should he be benched, or maybe rotated with Sanchez now? Or should Barcelona decide that they've benefited from Villa, sell him for as much as they can to whatever clubs are interested, and move on? Feel free to share you thoughts and ideas in the comments section, I look forward to reading and discussing them.