How do Barcelona rebuild?

[Harry190]

what roof?

On Thursday morning, Tusquets told RAC1 that there are chunks of the Camp Nou roof coming off, the stadium in a desperate state of repair. He said that the club had lost more than €300 million in the past year. He said that players' salaries have been postponed to the tune of €160m; had they not been, Barcelona would not have made it to the end of the year. He said there can be no signings unless there are sales. He said that there is no money. And, most surprising of all, he said it would have been better to have sold Lionel Messi.



https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.es...othing-to-save-the-club-he-loves?platform=amp

Recommend reading the whole article. Paints a dire picture.

 

[Xaviesta]

From a United fan perspective beat us in two Champions League finals. But many feel whilst they are a very talented team they have dived to victory in many of their Champions League wins. The semi final at Stamford Bridge being the stand out game. I can think of many games where the leniency of the referees has got them through. Even the 6-1 win against PSG was won by two ridiculous penalty decisions.

That's the fault of the referees in question, not the club.

 

[Walrus]

They should’ve sold Messi. The cash injection and getting him off the wage bill would have freed up enough money to have a proper rebuild. Now it seems they are more likely going to lose Messi on a free, and for what? Another drawn out season of mediocrity? He isn’t able to single handedly carry the club to success.

 

[monosierra]

They should’ve sold Messi. The cash injection and getting him off the wage bill would have freed up enough money to have a proper rebuild. Now it seems they are more likely going to lose Messi on a free, and for what? Another drawn out season of mediocrity? He isn’t able to single handedly carry the club to success.

Indeed. But the political circus at the time and all the emotional turmoil overrode financial considerations. Messi can be replaced and should have been to give the club a clean slate to rebuild - not to mention more wiggle room as far as salary goes.

 

[Gonçalo Motta]

Their dumb power struggle with Messi is probably going to bite them in the ass. A demotivated Messi has no benefit for Barça and it's showing.
Even if you don't consider the covid factor, selling him was still the smart move to make. They would win some wage gap for new reinforcements and probably would sell him for around 150M.

Now they are stuck with a demotivated Messi while paying his massive wages and he can walk for free. For an FC like Barça, that has to be easily one of the dumbest moves by any top club.

 

[Xaviesta]

While I agree that Messi leaving might not have been so bad after all, the issue is that he believed he had the right to leave for free. So getting say 150m for him wasn't realy an option. It's also worth taking into account that Bartomeu didn't want to be the president who not only lost Messi but lost him for free.

Victor Font and Joan Laporta, the two favourites to be the next president have both made it known that having Messi stay at the club is their prime aim. As brilliant as Messi is, I'm not convinced the much needed rebuild can happen while he's at the club.

 

[Gonçalo Motta]

While I agree that Messi leaving might not have been so bad after all, the issue is that he believed he had the right to leave for free. So getting say 150m for him wasn't realy an option. It's also worth taking into account that Bartomeu didn't want to be the president who not only lost Messi but lost him for free.

Victor Font and Joan Laporta, the two favourites to be the next president have both made it known that having Messi stay at the club is their prime aim. As brilliant as Messi is, I'm not convinced the much needed rebuild can happen while he's at the club.

And I believe that's a mistake. It's time for Barça to move on from the Messi era and benefit while they can imo. His wages are unsustainable at this point.
The only way I can see making sense for Barça to keep Messi is if he agrees to a big pay cut (something I don't see happening).

 

[Gasolin]

This is an incredible situation, but I think they might implode potentially if they don't control those costs. It's sad, but they should have sold Messi and recoup some of these costs. Now, it seems inevitable...

 

[meamth]

Club is in financial crisis, Messi is leaving for free, on field performances is dwindling, political circus off the field, aging squad, what more could go wrong for them?

Such a ridiculous situation for a club of it's stature.

 

[JSArsenal]

They should’ve sold Messi. The cash injection and getting him off the wage bill would have freed up enough money to have a proper rebuild. Now it seems they are more likely going to lose Messi on a free, and for what? Another drawn out season of mediocrity? He isn’t able to single handedly carry the club to success.

I don't think you can just look at it solely in terms of what Messi takes out of the club in terms of wages. You also. need to consider the revenue that he generates. How many casual fans turn into Barcelona games because of Messi? How many advertisers want to be associated with the club because of him? The money earned from winning La Liga last year and other trophies. Do they win those if Messi isn't in the side?

I'm tired of these football clubs playing the victim card and acting like the players are fleecing them. With a player of Messi's stature and commercial value you can be sure that the club crunched the numbers and came to the conclusion that it was financially viable for them to give him that contract. If they want to sell him, sell him, but what will they lose in terms of payouts from on the field success and commercial deals off of it.

Then there is the problem of replacing Messi the player, which I alluded to earlier. Granted the commercial side of it becomes less important the older he gets because outside of Beckham, you don't particularly see many footballers still being viable commercial entities once their performances wane and they retire. Ronaldinho was everywhere from say 2004-2007. After that, almost nothing.

 

[FootballHQ]

Club is in financial crisis, Messi is leaving for free, on field performances is dwindling, political circus off the field, aging squad, what more could go wrong for them?

Such a ridiculous situation for a club of it's stature.

Feels like Real Madrid 20 years ago. Is the Catalan government going to buy the training ground off them for 100m?!

 

[Gonçalo Motta]

Tbh, I can’t wait to see them struggle when Messi leaves. They went from being a club that almost every neutral could respect to arguably being even more despised than Madrid.

They are already struggling with him on the team. Imo they will improve their current form without him.

Messi is pretty much part of the reason they are playing so bad atm. He isn't on form/motivated and the rest of the team always seems to force the game through him. A lot of times players like Coutinho and Griezmann have better options to pass the ball and they still try to find Messi that ends up losing it.

Not sure if it's a tactical issue or Messi's influence over the team but they will move one easier without him imo.

Honestly, I feel like a big part of their problems would be solved if they sell Messi and get a guy like Bruno Fernandes and a finisher like Haaland.

 

[saivet]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

It won't help the debt immediately but those wages must have crippled Barca. It's really best he goes and they start the rebuild from there.

 

[paraguayo]

It was quite crazy that they were still playing bunch of players from the 8-2 like Busquets, Pique, Alba etc

 

[Harry190]

They genuinely look like they do not care.

 

[meamth]

It was quite crazy that they were still playing bunch of players from the 8-2 like Busquets, Pique, Alba etc

The problem of modern football.

Players with big legacy, reputation and salary is something of a big headache for clubs.

This is something SAF was so great at doing, moving on star players even in their prime. Barcelona doesn't have that authority, the coach is just a coach, the president is very self driven to maintain order.

Until they fix their base model of club authority, rebuilding barca will be monumental task.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

They're fecked. Going forward they can still score goals and produce nice moments but in terms of the collective and especially the defensive/defensive midfield spine, they're completely broken.

Will be quite a while imo before they challenge the best teams. A good 4-5 year transition period imo.

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

I could see them going trophy-less for multiple years.

They are in massive trouble.

 

[sourdough satellite]

The problem of modern football.

Players with big legacy, reputation and salary is something of a big headache for clubs.

This is something SAF was so great at doing, moving on star players even in their prime. Barcelona doesn't have that authority, the coach is just a coach, the president is very self driven to maintain order.

Until they fix their base model of club authority, rebuilding barca will be monumental task.

Yep, as long as the president's priority is to not risk pissing off the fans in order to get himself reelected, they will never get their finances in order, never mind rebuilding the team.

 

[TheNewEra]

Forget Messi for a moment, how do they replace Busquets?

I thought they'd struggle when they lost Pedro honestly because he was always a good option.

You lose Neymar, Xavi, Iniesta, Suarez it's impossible to replace those.

Suarez I think it was his time to go, but Messi and his wages, he's the GOAT of course but those wages will really balance the team.

They will struggle for a few years, but that's just part and parcel of the transition, United didn't only lose SAF, they lost Paul Scholes who was literally our dynamo who set the pace of the entire match.

Barca always had mediocre managers, I think it's going to be hard for them to recover for a few years.

 

[Bebestation]

For me it's not really under Barcelona's control - it's more of a sign that La Liga has died; a bit how Serie A died at one age, a bit like how Bundesliga was big during the Bayern vs Dortmund final stage before going back to normal, a bit like how the PL was huge (the drop isnt as big because of economic reasons) until Messi vs Ronaldo got big in La Liga.

La Liga just doesnt look like quality anymore. Seems like the players are ageing, the players are confused and the managers are very average.

La Liga as a league is going to take some time off - I dont see many big players joining Barcelona or Real Madrid except a very few who dreamt of the T shirt only. Pogba to Real Madrid is probably a sign of this; not the type of player that was good enough during the Messi vs Ronaldo era but would seem like a big signing for them now which is a bit different to say the least.

 

[Thiagoal]

They need to clear out all the past it players on huge wages, put their faith in La Masia and build up slowly. They don’t have the finances to do anything else at the moment. They are however, ripe for a takeover from some oligarch though!

 

[Skills]

They'll be fine, it's Barcelona. I'd still back them to win their next CL title before we win one inspire of them being in financial ruin and losing their best ever player pretty soon.

 

[Guy Incognito]

They should've sold Messi. You can't rebuild with him in the side.

 

[Josep Dowling]

They'll be fine, it's Barcelona. I'd still back them to win their next CL title before we win one inspire of them being in financial ruin and losing their best ever player pretty soon.

Lets not forget before Pep and Messi they were hardly the most successful European team. Their last 10 years is an outlier of success, not the norm. I think their debt is too much to suddenly turn things around that quickly. Plus they were looking to renovate the Nou Camp as well.

I guess they will place reliance on La Masia again, which isn’t a bad thing. Their strategy of buying big name players just hasn’t worked.

 

[giorno]

Start with electing a good president. Hopefully Laporta is old and past it, too

 

[RedRonaldo]

They need at least 10+ years to rebuild. Look how much we’ve spend since Fergie retired, it took us 7 long years already but we still couldn’t win any major trophies (league or CL). They are totally broke and 10 years rebuild period is already very generous.

 

[GoldanoGraham]

Every cycle ends and then it’s a painful transition.....don’t we know it

the only plus for Barca is that their main rivals Real Madrid are also going through a rebuild so they won’t have to watch them lifting the CL anytime soon.

 

[Sean_RedDevil]

Barca's aura in the Champions League is definitely over.

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

 

[Gehrman]

Why is they keep going for shit or average managers? It's just plain weird.

 

[meamth]

They need at least 10+ years to rebuild. Look how much we’ve spend since Fergie retired, it took us 7 long years already but we still couldn’t win any major trophies (league or CL). They are totally broke and 10 years rebuild period is already very generous.

We had a stupid rebuild period with Moyes, LVG and then Mourinho.

Right out of the bat, we should've hired a proper manager that understood United, or the club should've done its business like it's doing now earlier. Signing young players instead of spending for the big players.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Lets not forget before Pep and Messi they were hardly the most successful European team. Their last 10 years is an outlier of success, not the norm. I think their debt is too much to suddenly turn things around that quickly. Plus they were looking to renovate the Nou Camp as well.

I guess they will place reliance on La Masia again, which isn’t a bad thing. Their strategy of buying big name players just hasn’t worked.

Before Pep and Messi they enjoy similar amount of success as us, so even they are not the most successful European club, they still up there among one of most successful for sure (same tier among Real, Barca, Juventus, Milan, Bayern, Man Utd, Liverpool)

Remember peak Cruyff (mid late 70s), Maradona (early mid 80s), Lineker (mid late 80s), Romario and “dream team” (early 90s), L.Ronaldo (mid 90s), Figo, Rivaldo, (late 90s) Ronaldinho, Eto’o, Henry (mid 2000s) etc did play for them over different period and enjoy some level of success. They have always attracted some of the biggest football star at their peak over different era and won quite a number of trophies too.

Messi becomes first team regular at around 06-07, and Pep starts to manage Barca in 08. Then followed by that, with combination of Xavi-Iniesta and then later Neymar-Suarez, they have enjoyed some of the most successful period in their history for sure.

Before that, Barca has won 18 league titles, 24 domestic cups, and 2 CL.

After that, they had won further 8 more league titles, 6 more domestic cup, and 3 more CL.

If we look at their success at domestic and European competitions over different period:

70s - won 1 league, 2 domestic cup
(Cruyff)
80s - won 1 league, 4 domestic cup
(Maradona, Lineker)
90s - won 6 league, 2 domestic cup, 1 CL
(Romario, Stoichkov, Laudrup, Koeman, L.Ronaldo, Figo, Rivaldo)
00s - won 4 league, 1 domestic cup, 2 CL
(Ronaldinho, Eto’o, Henry, Deco, Messi, Xavi, Iniesta)
10s - won 6 league, 5 domestic cup, 2 CL
(Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Neymar, Suarez)

It seems ever since early 90s, Cruyff’s dream team era, they have suddenly become major force and has been one of the most successful side in the continent.

 

[Pep's Suit]

They're absolutely finished and stucked with Griezmann, Dembele, Coutinho or Pjanic while they even renewed Pique until '24 when he'll be 37 (!!!), Umtiti who can hardly walk these days, Alba and Busquets until both are 34 years old. Next two, three seasons at least will be extremely tough for them.

 

[Spaghetti]

Forget Messi for a moment, how do they replace Busquets?

I thought they'd struggle when they lost Pedro honestly because he was always a good option.

You lose Neymar, Xavi, Iniesta, Suarez it's impossible to replace those.

Suarez I think it was his time to go, but Messi and his wages, he's the GOAT of course but those wages will really balance the team.

They will struggle for a few years, but that's just part and parcel of the transition, United didn't only lose SAF, they lost Paul Scholes who was literally our dynamo who set the pace of the entire match.

Barca always had mediocre managers, I think it's going to be hard for them to recover for a few years.

This is a different matter, but he’s never been good enough. When they kept the ball with short passes waiting for some genius from Xavi, Iniesta or Messi, it was ok to have someone like Busquets to foul a bit when the other team got possession.

Now, he’s actually expected to do something as he’s not with Xavi and Iniesta and he’s being found out. It’s what everyone knew all along, but it’s more obvious now.

 

[Bwuk]

They're absolutely finished and stucked with Griezmann, Dembele, Coutinho or Pjanic while they even renewed Pique until '24 when he'll be 37 (!!!), Umtiti who can hardly walk these days, Alba and Busquets until both are 34 years old. Next two, three seasons at least will be extremely tough for them.

Yep. They have too many players with little resale value on huge wages, and they don't have the £££ to replace them.

Unless they have some brilliant players in the youth academy I think the next few seasons will be tough for them.

 

[Gehrman]

It's kind weird watching them these days as I barely recognize half of their players.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Forget Messi for a moment, how do they replace Busquets?

I thought they'd struggle when they lost Pedro honestly because he was always a good option.

You lose Neymar, Xavi, Iniesta, Suarez it's impossible to replace those.

Suarez I think it was his time to go, but Messi and his wages, he's the GOAT of course but those wages will really balance the team.

They will struggle for a few years, but that's just part and parcel of the transition, United didn't only lose SAF, they lost Paul Scholes who was literally our dynamo who set the pace of the entire match.

Barca always had mediocre managers, I think it's going to be hard for them to recover for a few years.

Too many poor decisions to recover anytime soon imo.

Mediocre owners. Multiple expensive flops. Low key signings also didn't work out. Poorly run football club financially and otherwise. Selling Suarez to a rival who will win the league. Your plan just being Messi.

 

[RoyH1]

Why is they keep going for shit or average managers? It's just plain weird.

Three reasons in my view. One is that the manager in the two Spanish giants doesn't really have the authority and decision making power he has in similar clubs in other countries. You're kind of expected to win, no matter who you are and if you do, it's as much the players and the club that get the accolades.

Second, job security is very tenuous down there. While the big PL clubs are more trigger happy than in the past, they still give managers more time and space to work with.

Three, Barsa is still very caught up in that the manager has to play 'the Barsa way'. This rules out a bunch of managers who are maybe more pragmatic.

 

[DannyCAFC]

They are proper dogshit aren't they? Should have just sold Messi when they had to chance and alleviated some of their debt problems a little.

Fati and Pedri are the only real bright sparks they seem to have at the moment for the future. Griezmann is nearly 30, Dembele has been a total waste of money, De Jong doesn't seem to have hit the heights expected so far either, their CB's are all woeful and long gone are the days of Xavi & Iniesta spearheading the midfield.

The best they can do at the moment is move on from Messi, try and get rid of some of the high earners and trim down the wage bill and add the likes of Depay, Wijnaldum and Eric Garcia on frees.

 

[Bobcat]

Lets not forget before Pep and Messi they were hardly the most successful European team. Their last 10 years is an outlier of success, not the norm. I think their debt is too much to suddenly turn things around that quickly. Plus they were looking to renovate the Nou Camp as well.

I guess they will place reliance on La Masia again, which isn’t a bad thing. Their strategy of buying big name players just hasn’t worked.

They have been doing some really dreadful buisness the last decade or so. 140 million for Coutinho is madness