Barcelona mismanagement leading to a decline

Reports coming out of Soain claim Messi's new contract will pay him an average(including signing bonus) of €40M a year, after tax. That means well over £1M a week

They're beginning the transition period from Iniesta/Busquets/Pique/Mascherano now, which was always going to be difficult, especially because of what those players represent to the fans. Add to that an hilariously incompetent board and a crook of a president who's worse than Florentino(flo is good enough to not get caught), who put equally incomoetent people in charge of the key positions, and a crook of a former president and close to the current president already in jail

I was genuinely terrified at the prospect of Laporta being elected in 2015
 
They will undoubtedly decline post-Messi. They don't have the money to compete with England either it seems.
 
They have a problem with the Masia, but I still don´t understand what it is. I think that after Guardiola, for a while they thought that any kid in the academy was talented, however on the other hand they stopped trusting them, signing second-class players instead.
That chaos and uncontrol in the academy has to be visible to the players themselves, since the leaks of young players are continuous.
The board has had no luck with the signings. Gomes reminds me of Illarramendi. He has conditions but the Barcelona shirt weighs too much.
Arda's attitude has been very disappointing (although he left Atlético saying that he didn´t want to run so much).
Vermaelen, Matthieu, Digne, Douglas, Alcacer are simply bad choices in my opinion, but bad choices that earn a lot and increase the problem they seem to have with wages.
The board has been always very slow in getting the best players.
Asensio, Theo and now Ceballos, who possibly will choose Madrid because they have been more than a year behind him.
Bartomeu was lucky because he renewed Luis Enrique shortly after winning the league. I still remember the photo before the elections. In addition Laporta was too confident, took the electoral campaign to the political terrain and lost.
Recently he has re-appeared in the press with a much more diplomatic and calm tone.
So it sounds like the people in charge aren't doing a good job.. Can't that be changed? I thought Barcelona's president? had to be elected?
 
So it sounds like the people in charge aren't doing a good job.. Can't that be changed? I thought Barcelona's president? had to be elected?
yes they have elections. Rosell won the previous elections but had to resign (he is now in jail) and Bartomeu was the vicepresident.
I guess that can be changed with a motion of censure but if not the next elections will be in 2019 I think
 
yes they have elections. Rosell won the previous elections but had to resign (he is now in jail) and Bartomeu was the vicepresident.
I guess that can be changed with a motion of censure but if not the next elections will be in 2019 I think
Doesn't sound good for them...

I expect you guys to consolidate your advantage and get stronger if Barcelona can't sort themselves out. So weird to see them this disorganised.

They'll really struggle once Messi is no longer effective.
 
Their front 3 remains the best and most exciting in the world but their recent transfers are really odd, they can't seem to sort the RB situation out and now they are trying to buy Paulinho from one of the Chinese teams after Gomes flopped. If they beat Real Madrid to Ceballos though they'll have gotten a gem if he doesn't go off the rails outside the pitch.
 
Their front 3 remains the best and most exciting in the world but their recent transfers are really odd, they can't seem to sort the RB situation out and now they are trying to buy Paulinho from one of the Chinese teams after Gomes flopped. If they beat Real Madrid to Ceballos though they'll have gotten a gem if he doesn't go off the rails outside the pitch.
I'm surprised they let silva go to city but read somewhere silva wanted to play for guardiola
 
I'm surprised they let silva go to city but read somewhere silva wanted to play for guardiola

Yeah he seems suited to them and in the past I'd have thought it was because they don't deal with Mendes but that changed when they bought Gomes.
 
I remember when people were saying the same thing when Pep left and the likes of Puyol and Xavi were declining, they would drop off and go into transition...

They went on to win 3 La Liga's and 1 Champions League in 4 years

With a forward line consisting of Suarez, Neymar and Messi they will always be up there challenging for major honours
 
Real are stockpiling the top Spanish talents, while they are buying back the average ones.
 
This mismanagement is the norm for the club. It's clear that most people here only started following them since Pep Guardiola took over. Since I started watching them in the 80s, this constant cycle of melancholy, mismanagement and political in fighting have been the norm. Only when Johan came did Barcelona start having sustained success. He took away their inferiority complex and gave them an identity, hence he was honoured as the manager of the Catalan National Team.

Now, those running the club are doing all they can do dissassociate with his vision and it is showing. La Masia has declined in both the coaching and training. Youth players are leaving at an unprecedented level, the first team have abandoned the position game so the youth players cannot even be utilised properly. Nunistas still run the club.

The Catalans as Johan said are always suspicious. The Socios have doomed the club for the next decade. The same situation is occuring at Ajax.
 
The same situation is occuring at Ajax.
Hasn't Ajax improved lately regarding the new players who are arriving to the first team from the academy?

Also, have they not improved their international scouting lately in South America?

And the new coach who will replace Bosz, is he able to keep up the same level of football they played last season?

Sorry, know this is a Barcelona thread, not knowing what is happening at Ajax makes me feel Barcelona looks more lost at their management inside and off the pitch imo.
 
Barcelona aside, We are paying more wages to lingard than marcelo or morata or rakitic for their respective clubs according to stats from that article. Simply amazes me that is lingard really or could be that level
 
Real are stockpiling the top Spanish talents, while they are buying back the average ones.

Why do england lacks top talents? and technical ability that former english talents used to have?
 
Idiot article, written by idiots for idiots.

If this person wrote an article a few years ago saying the current mgmt decisions would cede control to madrid then that would be cool.

Narrating the past is a skill but not one that takes mucj analytical talent
 
They will undoubtedly decline post-Messi. They don't have the money to compete with England either it seems.
Once Messi retires, that will free up a lot of salary space.

We are the joint-second richest club on the planet in terms of annual income. I have no idea where this myth comes from that we are poor.
 
Once Messi retires, that will free up a lot of salary space.

We are the joint-second richest club on the planet in terms of annual income. I have no idea where this myth comes from that we are poor.

Not poor, but Barcelona have highest wage bill and its just very near to european permissible limit so barcelona can not pay huge wages for world class stars in competition those payers will get else where.
 
Why do england lacks top talents? and technical ability that former english talents used to have?
A few reasons:

1. The Premier League is a victim of its own success. Why take a risk with your youth academy players when you can just buy the best foreign players?
2. English football prioritizes physicality over technical ability.

The lack of technical ability of Gerrard/Lampard compared to the top midfielders of their generation (Xavi and Pirlo) was never something that the English media acknowledged. Instead they focused far too much on statistical outputs like goals, and then they wonder why they keep failing internationally.
 
Not poor, but Barcelona have highest wage bill and its just very near to european permissible limit so barcelona can not pay huge wages for world class stars in competition those payers will get else where.

The recommended limit is 70% and Barca's wage bill is around 60%. It's higher than Bayern, Madrid and United who are normally spending 45-50% but it's still well under 70%.
 
The recommended limit is 70% and Barca's wage bill is around 60%. It's higher than Bayern, Madrid and United who are normally spending 45-50% but it's still well under 70%.

70% is allowed so one dont touch that number.
 
I think as a club they have gotten a little complacent recently. They have reached amazing hieghts that they felt they are invincible. Relying too much on the front trio to deliver and forgot about other positions. I get the feeling the board thinks as long as we have Messi we will keep being the best. This season proves this wrong. They still can save themselves quickly though with some good transfers this summer.
 
Once Messi retires, that will free up a lot of salary space.

We are the joint-second richest club on the planet in terms of annual income. I have no idea where this myth comes from that we are poor.
What happens when his performance level doesn't match his salary?
 
They still have an amazing team but now Real is simply even better.

Of course that's also due to Xavi not playing anymore and Iniesta's decline over the last two seasons but almost every team has these phases where an era comes to an end they can't really hold the level they have been at anymore and I reckon Barcelona is at this stage now.
 
Damning article.
Is it true MSN take a third of their wage budget? :nervous:
 
Their transfer window the past 2 seasons has been atrocious.

Looks to be perhaps continue. And if Ernesto isn't a hit, another declining season may be on the cards.
 
They will still outscore 90 percent of the league with the fire power they have. Dont expect them to be amazing in europe though
 
This mismanagement is the norm for the club. It's clear that most people here only started following them since Pep Guardiola took over. Since I started watching them in the 80s, this constant cycle of melancholy, mismanagement and political in fighting have been the norm. Only when Johan came did Barcelona start having sustained success. He took away their inferiority complex and gave them an identity, hence he was honoured as the manager of the Catalan National Team.

Now, those running the club are doing all they can do dissassociate with his vision and it is showing. La Masia has declined in both the coaching and training. Youth players are leaving at an unprecedented level, the first team have abandoned the position game so the youth players cannot even be utilised properly. Nunistas still run the club.

The Catalans as Johan said are always suspicious. The Socios have doomed the club for the next decade. The same situation is occuring at Ajax.
Excellent post. You are right in that many people seem to think the recent past is the norm for Barcelona. The fact is only in the Cruyff era did they start to have an identity of a successful football team that plays such an ambitious brand of football which was enforced later on by the likes of LvG and taken to another previously unseen level under Pep. The emergence of Messi also cannot be underestimated. When you have arguably the greatest player ever in your ranks, it is impossible to judge just how influential he is in your success. The point is what is happening now at Barcelona is far from unusual. The Cruyff, Messi and Pep years are the exception.
 
Anyone else think the shady dealings behind the Neymar signing were the perfect example of Barca's board being completely moronic? I wouldn't be surprised if there are more.
 
I know Messi is the best player in the world and all but he must see that signing a new 600k p/w contract that takes up a large chunk of their budget is detrimental to his team. Call me idealistic but I think if I was in his shoes I'd be happy taking 450k home and with the surplus money hope Barca sign someone better than Andre Gomes to supply me from midfield.

This post was stupid I admit but I've come too far to it delete now.
 
The wages says it all (if those figures are true), compare Madrid's to Barcelona's......I'm getting a headache.

Just to highlight a few examples.

-Douglas (loaned-out) 26 £35,000 3 Years (2019) vs Daniel Carvajal £35,000 (4 Years) 2020
-Jérémy Mathieu 32 £90,000 2 Years (2018) vs Marcelo £80,000 (4 Years) 2020
-André Gomes (new signing) 23 £80,000 5 years (2021) vs Isco £60,000 (2 Years) 2018

Now I'm sure some Carvajal and Isco will get a raise but the point still stands, its criminal that we pay such high wages for players who barely contribute.

Marcelo is really on 80k? What??? I mean, what??????? We should've gone after him with Rooney's wage.
 
Agreed barcelona is a bit stale nowadays by their standards. Of course, losing xavi iniesta is too much for any club of any stature. But they are a megaclub, they will start winning pretty soon. They aren't liverpool arsenal leeds or blackburn ffs.
 
All this "spanish team lacking PL money" will be soon over as they also negotiate better deals that put them in par or ahead of us soon. The cycle of "spain weather is more attractive" will soon make another revolution once again.
 
All this "spanish team lacking PL money" will be soon over as they also negotiate better deals that put them in par or ahead of us soon. The cycle of "spain weather is more attractive" will soon make another revolution once again.

I don't think La Liga will ever be able to rake in more money than the Premiership. It's a question of language as well as good marketing and tradition. The Premiership is the top English language league in the world and that counts for something when selling a product. The Spanish league has too many idiosyncrasies that are hard to understand outside of Spain and maybe Latin America. I also think the unique atmosphere in English stadiums gives an extra for the viewing public overseas that for the most part is lacking in La Liga (except in big matches and derbies of course). The only way I see that ever happening is if something catastrophic happened to the British economy as a whole.

That being said, the top Spanish clubs will always be able to compete. From a sporting and technical perspective, Spanish football is marvellous and they will always be able to put top talent on the field. And yes, then there is a question of culture and language. For the next big talent from Argentina, Uruguay or Brazil, the names Barcelona and Real Madrid will always be more enticing than Chelsea or Manchester United will ever be.
 
Barca were splashing the money around on Suarez etc when they were top dogs in Europe, as soon as that stopped the money stopped.
The same thing will happen to Madrid. Its long been suspected that their finances aren't as they appear.
They've had the most successful period of dominance that any side has had in decades yet still finds their revenue to be less than a United side suffering their worst 4 years in 30 years.
Our success couldn't be more polar opposite yet there we are. In a few years it'll get to the point that Real starts worrying about other English sides coming up behind them imo.
The Spanish media have started to massage sponsorship numbers as to be seen getting EPL money. Their kit deal includes the amount they'll make selling merchandise which isn't how Utd etc are reported. Thats where the 100m kit deal headlines come from.Madrid seem to be copying Bayerns model of hoovering up the leagues top young talent to compensate which is a problem for Barca. You can't have 2 Bayerns in one league.
 
Top South-American talent will usually play for Real/Barca. What I found a bit annoying is that Bale went to Real. How are you supposed to compete with Real/Barca when even the biggest British stars want to play for them?