"You can make Cubarsi a leader; you shouldn't, but you can"
Former Barcelona youth manager Franc Artiga, who coaches Russian club Rodina, gets emotional when talking about La Masia and his latest surprise package, Pau Cubarsi. After 11 years in the Barca youth academy, he approves of handing over the leadership role to an underage player, but not of demanding that he win the Champions League.
"You can give the role of team leader to a 17-year-old. You shouldn't, but you can. But without the demands of winning La Liga or the Champions League," he told 'EFE' at his club's training base in Moscow.
Artiga, who has coached talents such as Ansu Fati, Dani Olmo and Xavi Simons, brings some sanity to the debate about putting the entire weight of a team and even a club on the shoulders of players under the age of 18.
"It's that at Barca you win, you don't have 70% possession and they're going to kill you. If you win, you have 70% possession, but you don't play with your local players and they're going to kill you," he explains.
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