From interior instability to woeful squad-constructing, monetary lines and underwhelming footballing shows, the 2019/20 campaign has been a dark one for Barcelona – with the unprecedented finale of the Champions League subsequent month guaranteeing the nightmare will not be somewhat over for the Blaugrana faithful.
But amidst the total chaos, disputes and handing over of La Liga titles to your most bitter rivals, an assuming Frenchman has emerged as a beacon of hope.
Clement Lenglet is a title that is on the total lost sight of first and major view in the dialogue of Europe’s simplest centre-backs. His reserved nature and conservative playstyle make certain it is somewhat easy to lumber Lenglet by.
Does he cling the dominant charisma of relate a Virgil van Dijk? No, no longer close. Does he play every sport esteem it is his final in the same vein to Matthijs de Ligt, hunt opponents down at supersonic tempo esteem Kalidou Koulibaly or make certain he’s the protagonist at any time when he enters the realm, Sergio Ramos vogue?
As soon as but over again: no, no and an emphatic no.
Despite his somewhat unspectacular profile and understandable omission from Twitter centre-back debates, it can be naive to downplay Lenglet’s upward push at Barcelona and, dare I relate it, into one among the absolute best centre-halves the continent has to present.
It is an ascent which predates to the French 2nd-tier and AS Nancy in 2013, when Lenglet – born 75km from Paris in Beauvais – made his senior debut at the subtle age of 18.
He shone as Nancy were promoted to Ligue 1 following the conclusion of the 2015/16 campaign and after appropriate a half of a season of strutting his stuff in the French high flight, he caught the content of Sevilla – who spent €5m to invent his services after favoured centre-half of Timothée Kolodziejczak had departed for Borussia Monchengladbach.
As it grew to develop to be out though, Lenglet used to be higher than a mere exchange for his compatriot in Seville.
He quick developed exact into a key spoke of Jorge Sampaoli’s wheel for the Andalusians, and all it took used to be 18 months of stellar centre-back play – which incorporated an imperious displaying in the 2017/18 Champions League spherical of 16 tie with Manchester United – for Barcelona to come but over again calling.
The Catalans were higher than willing to trigger Lenglet’s €35m originate clause in the summer season of 2018, with the membership at the starting place viewing the Frenchman as an optimal understudy for Gerard Pique, peaceable one among simplest defenders spherical, and Samuel Umtiti – whose stock used to be at an all-time excessive following a powerful World Cup campaign with winners France.
The instability of Umtiti’s knees, then but over again, supposed Lenglet used to be thrust into the limelight from the rep-lumber, and the customary Lyon man’s woeful injury narrative has proved to be a blessing in disguise for La Blaugrana – even though that blessing did exercise some time to shine via.
While Lenglet loved a elegant debut campaign below Ernesto Valverde at Camp Nou, many were peaceable left unconvinced by the Frenchman’s ability to be a lengthy-term option for the membership and of the requisite abilities to be a shoo-in starter for a bona fide European extensive.
Skeptics hinted at Valverde’s pragmatic vogue – which distanced itself from conventional Barcelona beliefs – suiting Lenglet’s conservatism to a tee and minimising his vulnerabilities. Below a manager who aligned themselves with the ‘Barça methodology’, Lenglet used to be destined to fight.
Effectively, following the inevitable but perchance quick departure of Valverde first and major of 2020 with the Catalans sitting atop of La Liga, the aforementioned theory regarding Lenglet used to be feature to be put to the test as La Blaugrana employed Johan Cruyff disciple Quique Setien as his successor.
It used to be a heroic pass by the reputedly incompetent Barcelona board and one which in the wreck did not pay off in the brief-term as Staunch Madrid’s post-restart surge saw them exercise their 34th Spanish title, but for Lenglet, the hiring of the 61-300 and sixty five days-customary would possibly perchance well indicate to be a watershed 2nd in his profession.
On the other hand, the contrasting forms of Valverde and Setien ensured the start of the latter’s reign used to be a moving one for the everyday Frenchman.
With the advanced surges of corpulent-backs so an most indispensable to Setien’s attacking play as they pains the horizontal compactness of opponents and facilitate the movement of Lionel Messi and co. infield, there is a most indispensable onus on the centre-backs to veil increased residence in extensive areas.
Due to the his lack of mobility, there were a few teething problems to start up with for Lenglet; he used to be incessantly caught out one-on-one when forced to protect the flanks and turn out to be rather too aggressive to overcompensate for his manager’s calls for.
But irrespective of his preliminary struggles and Umtiti, on paper, being a more harmonious systematic match attributable to his natural aggression and superior mobility, Setien opted to stick by the customary Sevilla man and the Barcelona boss used to be rewarded after the restart in June.
In his nine starts following La Liga’s resumption, Lenglet used to be arguably Barça’s standout performer who’s not tagged as the absolute best to ever carry out it. His willingness to adapt to the tricky calls for of his manager has been admirable, with extensive enhancements in previously weak aspects of his sport laid naked for all to ogle. While he’s persistently been blessed with astute positioning and ambitious anticipation, his ability to sniff out hazard down the flanks and outwit faster, stronger forwards has improved exponentially as of leisurely.
Lenglet starred against target-man Luuk de Jong in a 0-0 stalemate with his customary employers final month and the sequence in which he first denied Javier Eraso from cutting interior with some ultimate one-on-one defending earlier than instinctively clearing Miguel Guerrero’s eventual shot off the twin carriageway against Leganes in a 2-0 victory the sport prior epitomised Lenglet’s post-restart rep in a microcosm.
It is almost a one-man band at instances in the Barcelona defence.
Statistics would possibly perchance well underwhelm attributable to Barcelona’s conventional monopolisation of possession guaranteeing the defence is on the total resigned to merely sniffing out counter-assaults, but the content-test strongly means that for all his other concerns – including his job security – Setien has absolutely helped Lenglet morph exact into a more total centre-half of, whereas the Spaniard’s beliefs make certain the Frenchman’s ball-taking half in capabilities are laid naked.
Lenglet is in a position to riding raking vertical passes via defensive lines with the utmost class and precision, as smartly as handing over lengthy diagonals to penetrate a deeper defensive block.
While the Frenchman’s time with Setien can also very smartly be restricted, the Spaniard’s alternate methodology of seeing the sport when put next to Valverde has in the wreck ensured Lenglet’s profession remains on an upward trajectory.
Setien’s system in the wreck exposed his evident flaws but the rewards were quick reaped with stellar centre-back play to spherical off the campaign. Lenglet’s now no longer a ‘exact’ defender who defends the field smartly and looks tidy on the ball, he’s now a player who can adapt and regulate coherently to riskier calls for – and has emerged into one among Europe’s most total centre-backs attributable to it.
Overall, latest rep would indicate Clement Lenglet is the person to originate the Barcelona backline spherical as the membership seeks to enter a peculiar wreck of day following their Presidential election in 2021.
