Preseason tours are always good for a football club's brand. The marketing department works hard to expand the team's reach all across the globe, and traveling to different continents is a good opportunity to open new markets and make good money while preparing for a new season.
But sometimes, those preseason tournaments abroad are not the best sporting decision, since it forces the squad and the coaching staff to spend valuable training time on endless plane hours, non-competitive games and checking in and out of hotels all the time. There are plenty of examples of teams misusing their preseason in order to play worthless games just to make money, and the lack of real preparation has an effect into the performances of the actual season.
Barcelona has enjoyed both sides of the coin in the first two seasons under coach Luis Enrique. In his rookie year at the helm, Lucho and the team traveled to England for almost two weeks of training, training, and more training. Then, the club had four friendlies with short trips around Europe, and started the season with a healthy squad. After some trials of tribulations, the team won a Treble in exciting fashion, and it's impossible not to correlate their end-of-season success to their preseason dedication.
This season, they went to the United States for a preseason tour without their South American stars, a few players out of shape, and had to play against teams like Chelsea and Manchester United without being ready for it. The effect was clear at the start of the season: poor performances, a ridiculous number of injuries, and a couple of terrible losses thanks to a defense that wasn't prepared or fit enough.
Now, everything is back to normal, the Blaugrana ride a 31-game unbeaten streak, and look in prime position to compete for another set of major trophies. The rest of the season will be extremely intense and demanding, and if they are able to take home more championships, they'll need some good rest. The problem is: there isn't any. The UEFA EURO and the Copa América are just around the corner, and almost every Blaugrana will play with their national teams.
After such a difficult club season followed by key national team competitions, the most important players in the squad will certainly need some recovery time, and they don't want to spend it by going to Asia or North America. Which is why the players and the coaching staff have asked the board not to plan a preseason tour and to do a training camp at home, with friendlies to be played only in Spain and other countries in Europe, according to Diario Sport.
A couple of friendlies are already being planned: the unveiling of West Ham's new stadium in London, and CSKA's new ground in Moscow, Russia. Add to them the traditional Joan Gamper Trophy at Camp Nou, and these should be the three preseason matches the Catalan giants will play in preparation for Season 3 of Luis Enrique's era.
Train more, fly less. That's the goal for 2016.
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