FC Barcelona 2012/13 Season in Review: Cristian Tello

Report: Cristian Tello began the 2012-13 season with a surprisingly large role, starting the first two La Liga games and appearing in both legs of the Supercopa de España against Real Madrid. Tello displayed good form in those appearances helping his team with two assists, but he was forced to wait for his first goal of the season, however, not for long. It came against Spartak Moscow in the UEFA Champions League in mid-September.

But Tello's role slowly began to diminish, and by December he struggled to even make the bench. In the time from late November to early February, a span of ten league games, the young winger made only one substitute appearance, while not being named to the match squad five times. However, Tello's fortunes were about to change as from 10 February until the end of the season he featured in all but three league games. Though his performances left quite a bit to be desired as he only scored four goals over the nearly four month period.

But the lack of goalscoring wasn't the only problem in Tello's game. He is one of the worst players on the roster in the defensive phase of the game. With his speed he should be a nightmare for opponents when tracking back, but it's a rare sight when Tello helps out. However, even when that does happen Tello's tackling technique is poor and he rarely gets away with the ball. Tello's lack of aggressiveness can be summed up by one number: 4 - the number of fouls he committed in the entire season.

On the international stage Tello appeared exclusively for La Rojita, the Spain U-21 team. In eight games for the outfit he scored two goals and added three assists. Tello was a member of the team that won the 2013 U-21 European Championship, but he failed to score a goal in the competition.

Moment of the season: Tello's best game of the season came on the largest European stage, the Champions League. On 19 September the youngster scored a goal and added an assist in the 3-2 Barcelona win over Spartak Moscow at the Camp Nou. For his performance Tello was named Man of the Match.

Barcelona vs Spartak Moscow 3-2 Liga de Campeones 2012-2013 (via leon4072)

Stats:

*BB Community Rating represents the average rating (out of 10) Barca Blaugranes community members gave to the player for his performances throughout the season

Record with Cristian Tello in the starting lineup: 13-3-0

2013-14 Outlook: Going into his first season as an official member of the first team Tello will continue to be the low man on the depth chart. But because he's capable of playing on both wings Tello will get plenty of playing time, especially in games against weaker opponents. If he continues to develop the way he has in the past few years an increase in offensive production is not out of the question. But for Tello to have a larger role with Barcelona in the future he will have to improve on his defensive game, and there's no time like the present to improve that facet of the game.