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Barcelona Thread

nailsy

SC Supporter
Jul 24, 2005
30,536
46,628
Once Messi starts disagreeing with team selections, which apparently was the case for the second leg, it doesn't matter who you are or what you've achieved, you're out soon enough either way.

Plus I don't think you can overstate just how damaging their last two CL exits have been.

Agreed, but If you're going to get rid of a manager because Messi doesn't like his team selections then you might as well make him player manager.
 

leonspurs

Well-Known Member
Jun 8, 2006
1,550
912
Once Messi starts disagreeing with team selections, which apparently was the case for the second leg, it doesn't matter who you are or what you've achieved, you're out soon enough either way.

Plus I don't think you can overstate just how damaging their last two CL exits have been.
Messi's got so much stroke round locally, that he managed to get the flight paths of the planes coming into Barcelona changed from
Castelldefels (where he lives) to Sitges. Though he had a very sneaky plan:D
 

mil1lion

This is the place to be
May 7, 2004
42,344
77,598
To be fair Messi should be able to do what he likes when he plays the way he does. He is a God at Barcelona. Didn't they say they were bulding 10 statues of him at the new camp nou? There aren't many teams these days who build around a player but Messi is so special they have no choice really. They will still be able to do great things when he's gone because he has helped elevate them to a new level. There's no chance they'll ever be the same without him though. But they're also not the same without Xavi or Iniesta either.

When Messi leaves along with Busquets and Pique it will be the end of that era. It's a bit like the Avengers. The project finished with End Game and they'll likely never achieve that again. Yet there will be other great Marvel movies in the future. Just as there will be other great Barcelona sides in the future. It's easy to forget how special they have been long before Messi was around too. As long as they keep playing the beautuful game I'll be happy. Although the football hasn't been as beautiful under Valverde I have to say. It's tough without Xavi and Iniesta though. Hopefully Arthur and De Jong can get them there again.
 

Krule

Carpe Diem
Jun 4, 2017
4,534
8,686
To be fair Messi should be able to do what he likes when he plays the way he does. He is a God at Barcelona. Didn't they say they were bulding 10 statues of him at the new camp nou? There aren't many teams these days who build around a player but Messi is so special they have no choice really. They will still be able to do great things when he's gone because he has helped elevate them to a new level. There's no chance they'll ever be the same without him though. But they're also not the same without Xavi or Iniesta either.

When Messi leaves along with Busquets and Pique it will be the end of that era. It's a bit like the Avengers. The project finished with End Game and they'll likely never achieve that again. Yet there will be other great Marvel movies in the future. Just as there will be other great Barcelona sides in the future. It's easy to forget how special they have been long before Messi was around too. As long as they keep playing the beautuful game I'll be happy. Although the football hasn't been as beautiful under Valverde I have to say. It's tough without Xavi and Iniesta though. Hopefully Arthur and De Jong can get them there again.

Difficult to imagine ever seeing a player to surpass Messi in the future and yet the same thing was said years ago about Pele. To my mind Messi is without a doubt the most naturally gifted footballer ever to play this beautiful game.
 

mil1lion

This is the place to be
May 7, 2004
42,344
77,598
Have they ever really had a long term manager though? Even Pep went after 4 years. Looking through the history of managers they tend to only last a year or two. That's going all the way back to the early 1900s. Gamper was the longest ever and that was back in 1902-1917. Other than that there hasn't really been any others apart from Cruyff at 8 years and Rijkard at 5 years. Everyone else seems to be 3 years max. It will be no different with Valverde.
 

mpickard2087

Patient Zero
Jun 13, 2008
21,886
32,513
The pressure and expectation that comes at you from all angles doesn't lead it to being a long term job.

The standards that they are judged on are also ultra high, and there is a big proportion of them that have a certain psyche and ideas as to what the club is about. I lived with a guy from Barcelona for a year at uni, and he was one of a big section of the fanbase that above everything still consider it a Catalan club for Catalan people. The style of football is sacred, they should be using academy products as much as possible etc. and he'd even complain about stuff like them opening up the membership to fans from overseas.

For that type of fan, and many others, the Guardiola era cant really be topped I guess. Winning, whilst taking the football played to a new level, and achieved by and large by people they have nurtured and developed themselves - on and off the pitch.

In recent years they've tried to become more of a bigger brand worldwide to get on a stronger financial footing and compete with the other clubs. Sponsorships, Sign more players/names and star power, particularly in attack, and the academy is used like Chelsea or City etc. do - to make money rather than give chances to players. The trophies are still flowing pretty well, that placates some fans, but for many it just doesn't stack up against what they've seen in the not to distant past and the values they hold.
 

Spurger King

can't smile without glue
Jul 22, 2008
43,881
95,147
Difficult to imagine ever seeing a player to surpass Messi in the future and yet the same thing was said years ago about Pele. To my mind Messi is without a doubt the most naturally gifted footballer ever to play this beautiful game.

I can’t even comprehend how anyone could be better than Messi. Hat tricks in every game?
 

Frozen_Waffles

Well-Known Member
Jan 26, 2005
3,760
9,505
I think the game is changing now and barca need to be a bit more energetic in their team. Skill alone is not going to work anymore.

They need to put their trust in youth more than ever and although it would never happen, someone like poch needs to be in charge.

If I was barca I would immediately replace rakitic and vidal. They need youth and commit to the press.

Signings like kpb and Paulinho are just ridiculous and not smart.

Saying all that, fdj and buskuets is a mouth watering proposition.
 

Marty

Audere est farce
Mar 10, 2005
39,888
62,568
I think the game is changing now and barca need to be a bit more energetic in their team. Skill alone is not going to work anymore.

They need to put their trust in youth more than ever and although it would never happen, someone like poch needs to be in charge.

If I was barca I would immediately replace rakitic and vidal. They need youth and commit to the press.

Signings like kpb and Paulinho are just ridiculous and not smart.

Saying all that, fdj and buskuets is a mouth watering proposition.
De Jong, Busquets and Arthur should be a fantastic central midfield in their 4-3-3. Busquets is only 30, I thought he was about 34, so he should keep going for a few more years.
 

mil1lion

This is the place to be
May 7, 2004
42,344
77,598
Sounds like Griezmann will arrive in the summer. Massive signing that would be. I guess he'll replace Coutinho.
I wonder if we might see a 4-2-3-1 at times with Messi behind Suarez and Dembele, Griezmann either side.
 

'O Zio

Well-Known Member
Dec 27, 2014
7,405
13,785
To be fair Messi should be able to do what he likes when he plays the way he does. He is a God at Barcelona. Didn't they say they were bulding 10 statues of him at the new camp nou? There aren't many teams these days who build around a player but Messi is so special they have no choice really. They will still be able to do great things when he's gone because he has helped elevate them to a new level. There's no chance they'll ever be the same without him though. But they're also not the same without Xavi or Iniesta either.

When Messi leaves along with Busquets and Pique it will be the end of that era. It's a bit like the Avengers. The project finished with End Game and they'll likely never achieve that again. Yet there will be other great Marvel movies in the future. Just as there will be other great Barcelona sides in the future. It's easy to forget how special they have been long before Messi was around too. As long as they keep playing the beautuful game I'll be happy. Although the football hasn't been as beautiful under Valverde I have to say. It's tough without Xavi and Iniesta though. Hopefully Arthur and De Jong can get them there again.

Yes Messi is arguably their greatest ever player but I don't think any player should have the absolute run of the place. Ultimately the manager has to still have the authority regardless of how talented a particular player is. Obviously it's still possible to have success even with that kind of unhealthy level of player-power, but that doesn't mean that it's a good thing.

Love him or loath him, I think most people would say SAF was the greatest manager of the modern era (if not ever) and famously one of his core principles was that no player should ever be bigger than the manager and no player should ever be bigger than the club. It was based on this principle that he was able to build not just one but a succession of 3 or 4 teams that would go on to be massively successful and I don't think that's a coincidence.

The now legendary Barca team with Messi, Xavi, Iniesta etc. all managed by Pep was a truly great team. But now that it's kind of ended up with Messi being too powerful yes they're still a very good team, but they're nowhere near that level and I don't think it's possible for them to be. Same applies to Real Madrid with Ronaldo - they were a good team and won 3 CLs in a row or whatever it was, but as silly as it probably sounds, they were never a truly great team. There was just too many on and off the field issues, a lot of which were either caused or made worse by the fact that everyone at the club was just fawning over "CR7" the whole time.
 

DJS

A hoonter must hoont
Dec 9, 2006
31,262
21,760
They look like they're gonna be spending a lot of money again with De Jong secured, looking like they're gonna get Griezmann and aiming to get another number 9 and possibly de Ligt in.

How do they do this with FFP rules though?

I know in the past the Spanish government bailed them and Real Madrid out of massive debts...
 
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