Barcelona’s Managerial Incompetence Is Paving The Path For Future Real Madrid Dominance
How Barcelona’s poor squad building and financial mismanagement is allowing their rivals to surpass them.
by
Om Arvind@OmVArvind Jul 6, 2017, 10:58pm CEST
Football Club Barcelona endured a trying 2016/17 campaign: they failed to defend their La Liga title, crashed out miserably in the Champions League, saw many of their flaws in midfield exposed, and as a result, relied overly on the brilliance of MSN (Messi, Suarez, and Neymar) to carry them to victory. The only soothing points were the capture of the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup, both of which will do little to ease the long-term restlessness that has been steadily growing inside La Blaugrana’s fanbase.
However, a lack of short-term success doesn’t necessarily hint at any fundamental problems; in fact, it is more likely than not that a sports team will experience more failure than success. Additionally, the difference between winning and losing can come down to key tactical decisions, injuries, or moments of individual brilliance. There’s no inherent need to panic because your team lost two trophies.
Indeed, that is often the reason that many sides fall short of success, leading to unnecessary overhauls and overreactions. Using this logic to peer at the surface of Barcelona’s situation, it seems like things are ok. The Catalans lost the league by a mere three points and their thrashing vs. Juventus happened on a day when Luis Enrique’s tactical set-up was poor and Lionel Messi had his worst game ever.
But peer even a little closer, and obvious fault lines appear, signifying an impending disaster of an unsure magnitude. The truth is, Barca’s failure in 2016/17 is only the symptom of a much larger problem of managerial incompetence that starts from the very top. La Blaugrana’s board has been setting this team up for failure for a very long time and we are finally starting to see the results.
The current midfield issue is an excellent example of how incompetence originating years ago has affected the fortunes of the squad in place today. Going all the way back to 2013, Barcelona had a chance to secure their midfield future in the form Thiago Alcantara - a La Masia graduate who had all the qualities to replace Xavi.
Thiago - once considered the heir to Xavi
With the maestro declining, everything was primed for Thiago to take his place... except... Thiago wanted to leave.
The player who grew up as a Barcelona player and had a brother in the same academy wanted to leave, because the people in charge of the club had failed to give him minutes. In a
complicated contract situation, Thiago signed a deal from 2011-2013, requiring that he feature in at least 30 minutes of 60% of Barcelona’s games, or else his release clause would drop from the sizable €90m to a pitiful €18m. Amazingly, Barcelona failed to live up to this condition and therefore communicated a lack of seriousness about Thiago’s future. Displeased, the brightest young midfielder in Spain left on the cheap to join Pep Guardiola at Bayern.
Fast forward to today, and Carlo Ancelotti has reaped the rewards of this transfer, while Barcelona have struggled with the subpar Andre Gomes as a fixture in their midfield. But even after selling Thiago, Barcelona had years to remedy the situation. It was their decision to sit on their hands until Xavi retired and Iniesta faded,
only to spend €35 million (which could rise to €70 million due to add-ons) for Gomes; a good but not great midfielder who clearly doesn’t fit the playing philosophy of the club. They did sign Rakitic in the interim, but considering that he turned 29 in March, it is obvious that he is little more than a stopgap option.
And yet, there’s still time for things to be fixed. Barcelona are only one year removed from success and have all the prestige in the world to lure almost any talent to their shores. So who have they gone out and tried to buy in this transfer window?
Paulinho - midfielder for Guangzhou Evergrande
Ummm.... What the ****?
Naby freakin’ Keita has been linked with Liverpool and is rumored to be considering his options this summer, and
Barcelona go for the average joe who flopped at Tottenham and is unlikely to be a proper tactical fit even if he possessed greater quality.
In case you are unaware, Keita is 22 years old, and is as close to a complete midfielder as possible: he defends like a proper ball-winner, dribbles like a winger, and creates like an attacking midfielder. He’s the perfect Barcelona signing: diminutive in stature, but possessing sufficient steel to compliment his excellent array of technical skills.
While there is still plenty of time in the transfer market to pursue him, Barcelona’s confirmed go at Paulinho signifies their amateurish transfer strategy and complete lack of a squad building strategy.
If you need further evidence, look only as far as Sergi Roberto, a natural central midfielder, who currently plays as a right back in Barcelona’s starting eleven. I say again, Sergi Roberto, a central midfielder, is the current replacement for Daniel Alves, the greatest right back in Barcelona’s history.
But to be fair, quality fullbacks are hard to come by and it’s entirely possible that no right back was available last summer. So why then, was Dani Alves allowed to leave?
Because
Barca’s board made Alves feel undervalued, causing him to force an exit in search of greener pastures.
I have to say that I didn’t feel as comfortable any more at
Barça.
Dominance