Cross-posting from the summer transfer thread with some minor edits to get this started:
Personnel wise, I think there are a few keys to the season:
It's been a quiet summer for the Catalans, but that is offset a bit by the fact that Coutinho arrived in January and Dembele barely played last season. Gone is the Illusionista as the list of players from the Pep core are down to 3 (Messi, Pique, and Busi). Arthur was brought in from Brazil to bolster the MF and perhaps Mina will see more time at CB.On defense, there is still some player movement that will occur. Digne has indicated that he wants to leave, although Palencia and Cucurella may be ready for backup duty. I actually really like Digne and if he can wait Alba out one more season, he could be the heir apparent (and Alba could use more rest). Mina is almost certain to go out on loan with the excellent Llenglet coming in. Umtiti will be the no doubt starter and Pique will still get tons of minutes, but I hope he gets more rotation. I think Vermaelen is still on the squad, but may not be come fixture 1 in which case, Mina may stay. La Masia prospects Cucurella and Palencia are getting close, but the club has shown little patience with young players in the last decade, in large part because their quality has generally dropped (e.g. Bojan, Munir, Deulo, Rafinha).
With respect to Barca's MF, I read about some rumors regarding Rabiot. But, like @speedracer said, it would make a lot of sense to see if Roberto can finally be a rotation piece (really a backup for Busi) in the MF. There are also a few academy players that may finally make the jump to fulltime squad (namely Alena, and to a lesser extent Samper). Arthur seems like he will get some real PT, but it's hard to say with South American imports (see: Douglas). Rafinha is still on the squad, but should be loaned or sold. Gomes is likely to be sold and Arsenal makes too much sense. Coutinho may have to play in MF more, so that Messi, Luisito, and Dembele can all get on the field simultaneously. Denis may also finally get more PT.
The biggest issue I see at the moment though is a backup CF. If it's Alcacer, there needs to be enough confidence in him, Dembele, and Coutinho to keep the offense in top shape when Suarez is off form and Messi needs rest (something I think will become a big issue this year finally, similar to CR7 last season). There are a few CF targets that make sense to me: Angel Correa (not much of a CF though), Lewa (would make a lot of sense), Morata (unlikely), Rodrigo, Immobile, Belotti, Kramaric (I think he plays CF for Hoffenheim), Mertens (if he plays CF for Napoli), Ben Yedder, Maxi Gomez, Dzeko (as a stop gap), Alario, Milik, etc. It's been the Barca MO in recent years to just go for the best available regardless of long term plans, which makes me think Lewa could be possible (total speculation on my part based on his barking at Bayern), but Barca are always apt to raid other La Liga teams too so Rodrigo and Gomez make sense too. On the wings, Messi, Dembele, Coutinho is not quite enough for rotation, especially if Couts is going to be used in MF. Vidal and Munir are still on the squad but not up to quality IMO. I hope Denis gets some action, or La Masia product Arnaiz gets a shot. I could still see a quality but not headlining deal here (similar to Semedo last year).
Personnel wise, I think there are a few keys to the season:
- Where will Coutinho play. Although he lacks speed, Coutinho is really at his best at LW. His combination play and outside shooting are best utilized there, but he may have to play in MF if EV wants to play Dembouz-Luisito-Messi in a front 3. The development and integration of Denis and Arthur's ability to step into MF are key here as well.
- RB. Semedo seems like the obvious answer here, but last season he wasn't a lock and Roberto played over him. If Semedo does step in, then Roberto could be a real key to the MF. If Roberto doesn't step into MF this year, he likely never will (at least not at Barca).
- Old guys. Pique, Busi, and Messi. I think this is the year where these guys finally slow down to the point where they will either alter their game or be rotated more frequently. The club should really be thinking about how to keep these legends fresh for the biggest matches and start integrating other players. For Pique, Llenglet, Mina, and Vermaelen should make this fairly straightforward. For Busi, there are lots of bullets in the chamber but no one knows how good Samper is, if Roberto can do it, or if Rakitic is there, whether there is someone else who can perform his other role. For Messi, no one will duplicate what he brings, but the team can also play a more straightforward scheme and play with 11 men. Messi brings nothing on defense and while he carries the offense for 80-90% of the season, when he goes off form the team has no alternative. Which brings me to...