The Argentine believes his old club will struggle when their midfield trio have all departed and the success of any replacements will hinge on how they link up with Lionel Messi
Argentina coach Gerardo Martino has dismissed the notion that Barcelona's success is built on the club's famous La Masia academy and believes their future success will hinge on replacing the current golden generation.
Much of the glorious last decade enjoyed by the Catalan club has been built around a foundation of brilliant youth products, most notably in the middle where Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets have dominated.
For the former Blaugrana boss, however, it is the individual ability of those players which has been the key factor in the club's incredible success, and there may not be any ready-made replacements waiting in the youth ranks.
"When you talk about La Masia, do you mean La Masia or Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets?" he asked when questioned by Goal over whether Argentina could learn lessons from the famous academy.
"Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta are just a part of La Masia. The question is, what will happen when they are no longer [Lionel] Messi's team-mates?
"We are not talking about winning games or not, because Barcelona won everything last year playing in a completely different way."
With Xavi having moved to Qatar at the end of the treble-winning season, Iniesta now 31 and Busquets linked with a reunion with Pep Guardiola in the Premier League, Martino insists that the players who succeed them must be up to the task, be they Masia products or otherwise. 
"The big issue is whether Barcelona will be the same when they are not in the team and if the players who replace them come from La Masia and if they will be the right players to play alongside Messi," he said.
source: GOAL
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