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On a hot African night at Soccer City, Johannesburg in 2010. , Netherlands and Spain tussled with each other to become the newest FIFA world champions. Barcelona's La Masia graduate Andres Iniesta received an assist by fellow alumni Cesc Fabregas to score the most important goal in Spanish history as Spain completed a historic World Cup triumph.
It was an impressive La Roja team that featured the mercurial David Villa who was in the form of his life and six of his future Barcelona teammates. Already snapped up by Laporta and co prior to the showpiece event in South Africa, the New York City FC veteran had no idea he would go onto become a vital cog in arguably the greatest club football side the world has ever seen.
Pep Guardiola's all-conquering Barcelona had just been thwarted by another historic Italian team, Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan, in the Champions League semifinals.
Guardiola, never one to dwell on past shortcomings, got to work. After bringing in Villa from Valencia,Barcelona also relieved Yaya Toure and Thierry Henry from their duties. Argentina legend Javier Mascherano was brought in and would accompany Gerard Pique for several years to come.
Another big talking point in the summer was the loaning out and eventual sale of Zlatan Ibrahimovic after just one season in the City of Counts. Over the next 15 months, FC Barcelona would go on to change the beautiful game as we know it, forever.
Fast forward to the present day, and it is starkly different tale. Developments in recent months have made things bad to worse for Barcelona. The club is struggling to replicate their dominance in the previous decade and are on the cusp of losing their La Liga stranglehold.
Barcelona haven't reached the Champions League final since their historic treble-winning season in 2015. In their last two campaigns in the competition, Barcelona were knocked by AS Roma and Liverpool after squandering three-goal first leg deficits on each occasion.
Lionel Messi, arguably the greatest football player in history, has not yet slowed down but he is unlikely to go on for ever at Nou Camp. Barcelona, today, are a pale shadow of what they used to be barely five seasons ago.
Barcelona have maintained the same core group of players for a long time. Player and managerial changes alone are unlikely to transform their fortunes immediately. The club now is in need of systemic changes starting from the very top if they are to return to their heydays.
Here, we take a look at which five personnel Barcelona need to make if they wish to reassert their dominance at home and in Europe.
Five personnel changes Barcelona need to make to regain their lost glory
#1: Club President - Joan Laporta
Current Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu's term ends next summer. In the five yearly club elections, Bartomeu will not be in the fray after making an announcement in this regard. That leaves Barcelona with two potential candidates: Victor Font and Juan Laporta.
The first one is Victor Font, a technology entrepreneur who is the first and only official entry so far to have thrown his hat for the Barcelona hot seat. Font is a quintessential new-age revolutionary who has proposed a plethora of changes.
He has advocated a new structure to the board of advisories and vouched for the expansion of Barcelona's commercial wing. Font has also promised a return to the famed La Masia academy for recruitment and implementation of Tiki-Taka, all part of his elaborate plan aptly named 'Si Al Futur' meaning 'Yes to the future'.
Although Font comes across as a competent guy who knows his stuff, it's all a bit familiar. It is not a new promise. Every time a new personnel arrives at Camp Nou, they're instructed to say things like 'a return to La Masia' and 'the Barcelona way' along with a bit of praise for Johan Cruyff to play to the masses.
It's all a bit stale and fans long for a change in philosophy as it has been a while Barcelona have reigned supreme in Europe.
Joan Laporta, on the other hand, is the most successful president in Barcelona's 120-year-old history. He served as the president of FC Barcelona from 2003 till 2010 before he was removed from power via a 'Vote of No Confidence' by his peers on the board, namely Sandro Rosell.
Laporta has been responsible for some epochal decisions made by FC Barcelona. It was Laporta who decided to go for Ronaldinho after David Beckham turned down the club.
Promoting Pep Guardiola as the first-team coach despite the former captain having no prior coaching experience was another. These and several other bold decisions made by Laporta indeed epitomised Barcelona's motto: Mes que en club (More than just a club).
However, not everything is hunky dory about Laporta. The former Catalan MP was voted out of Barcelona in 2010 after he started using the club as a tool to gain leverage amid the Spanish-Catalan tensions of the 2010s. He had also turned authoritarian towards the end of his reign and was credited for several rogue tradings in other sporting sections of the club.
Laporta has all but officially declared his candidacy for the 2021 Barcelona club elections. Considering the paucity of options, the former president seems the best choice to run the club as he has had success in the past and has familiarity about running a super club like FC Barcelona.
Besides, Barcelona also need to make the most of skipper Lionel Messi's final years, and the Blaugrana faithful can bet on Laporta to deliver on this front.
#2: Sporting Director - Luis Campos
A relatively unknown entity to the casual football fan, Luis Campos is one of the best Sporting Directors of our times.
After being relatively unimportant during his time as a player and manager, Campos's heydeys began when he was appointed the head scout at Barcelona's fierce rivals Real Madrid. A close acquaintance of both Jose Mourinho and super-agent Jorge Mendes, Campos during his brief stint at the capital club, gave the Merengues scouting theories and practices that are followed to this day.
Campos then went on to take the helm of Monaco in the capacity of a technical director. His tenure at the Stade Louis II coincided with billionaire owner Dmitry Rybolovlev's multi-million splurge on the world's top South American talent.
However, it was only after the French club's change in transfer policy and a switch to a more sustainable strategy that Campos came into his own. The Portuguese brought in the likes of Bernardo Silva, Bakayoko, Fabinho, Lemar, Benjamin Mendy among others. The cumulative sale of these players bringing in close to a billion euros in transfer fees.
Campos' latest innings at Lille can be deemed even more impressive as he brought the club from mid-table mediocrity to one that consistently finishes in the top 5; last season Lille finished only behind champions PSG in Ligue 1.
Barcelona are in dire need of a strong personality in their directorial personnel after having as many as four sporting directors in the past five seasons. Campos' extensive scouting network across Europe and close ties with the game's top agents would ensure that the Blaugrana get only the top talent.
Having already worked in Spain before, Campos would fit right in at Barcelona and work wonders with the Camp Nou outfit.
#3: Technical Director- Gerard Pique
FIFA World Cup winner and long-term Brcelona player Gerard Pique is a man of many talents, one of them being one of the best centre-backs in the world for more than a decade. The Catalan native has won almost every trophy under the sun.
However, it is his dealings outside football that add even more value to his brand. For starters, Pique is an avid poker player and often takes part in several high-stakes competitions held in the city.
The former Manchester United man also is the owner and president of a sports investment company through which he holds majority stakes in two lower-league Spanish football clubs. Pique has also been working very closely with the ITF and was instrumental in the revamping of the iconic Davis Cup.
His sports company, Kosmos Holding, is estimated to rise to a valuation of $16 billion in the near future. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is said to be an acquaintance of the La Masia graduate. Pique, along with his wife and pop sensation Shakira, played an instrumental role in Barcelona landing Rakuten as of their main sponsors.
On the pitch, though, the 33-year-old's powers are on the wane, and he is no longer the indispensable cog he has been for Barcelona in the past decade. Pique is infamous with a major part of Barcelona's fan base due to his recurring defensive gaffes and having Samuel Umtiti as his understudy does not help the cause.
Having stated several times in the past about ending his famed career at his boyhood club Barcelona, it could be a good time now for Pique to hang up his boots and put on the blazer as his club needs him in a different avatar.
In recent years, Barcelona have incurred increasing debts and have one of the most exorbitant wage bills in world football. The Harvard-educated Pique can use his entrepreneurial expertise and steer Barcelona to a position of strength. This could also be the first step for Pique eventually taking over as Barcelona president in the future.
#4: Head Coach - Massimiliano Allegri
What else can be said about Massimiliano Allegri that hasn't already been said many times. The Italian has overseen five consecutive Serie A championships with an potent Juventus side. Add to that four Coppa Italia triumphs and another Scudetto win in 2011 with his former employers AC Milan.
Allegri's Bianconeri side has gone till the last hurdle twice in Europe's elite competition, the UEFA Champions League, only to be undone by two Spanish juggernauts on both occasions.
Massimiliano Allegri's brand of football is based on defensive solidity, having top players in every position and most importantly, keeping things incredibly simple.
Unlike former Barceloa coaches Pep Guardiola, Luis Enrique and Tata Martino, Allegri comes from a school of thought where organic fluidity takes precedence over an authoritarian regime, much like Carlo Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane.
On paper, critics could point out the difference in ideology between Allegri and Barcelona, but an excessive emphasis on the style of play while disregarding the byproduct is exactly what has led Barcelona to the mess theycurrently find themselves in.
Allegri's direct approach could provide Barcelona with a fresh direction, something that is sorely lacking in the present. Quique Setien hasn't had a poor first season by any means but Barcelona haven't looked like their dominating former selves under him.
At the core, Allegri is an astute tactician and an effortless man-manager who has time and again proved how he can get his teams to perform better than expectations, no matter how high the bar is set. After years of club presidents selling false ideas of possession-based youth-led fantasy football, Barcelona could do well to appoint Allegri at their helm.
The Livorno native is an old-school instructor who doesn't overcomplicate things, and it may be exactly what Lionel Messi and co may need at the moment.
#5: Assistant Coach - Thiago Motta
The now 37-year-old, former Barca B and first team player, Thiago Motta has all the tools needed for a top coach. Throughout his decorated career, Motta has played under some brilliant coaches like Louis Van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Rafael Benitez among others.
The Italian already has some experience as trainer under his belt. He was a youth coach at Paris Saint Germain before taking over at his former club Genoa for a short stint.
In a recent interview, the former Inter Milan midfielder spoke of deploying radical tactics such as a 2-7-2 formation which includes the keeper as a ball-playing sweeping last man, saying that "my idea is to play offensively.
"A short team that controls the game, high pressure and a lot of movement with and without the ball, I want the player that has the ball to always have three or four solutions and two teammates close by to help. The difficulty in football is, often to do things simply, but to control the base, pass and get free."
Thiago Motta could be the perfect sidekick for Allegri to kickstart his managerial career at Barcelona. Motta, who is half Italian and half Brazilian, has spent almost a decade at the Nou Camp. His radical ideas would appease the Cules and the Italian duo of Allegri and Motta could be the catalyst in bringing glory days back to Barcelona.
Conclusion
Barcelona face a tough rebuilding job as fans and pundits alike try to make sense of this transitionary phase in the club's decorated history. How can they succesfully move on from the greatest football player of our times? It remains to be answered by the men in charge and they cannot afford to look at the Argentinean for an answer this time.
The appointments of Campos and Allegri would also mean laying off the likes of Abidal & Setien, both of whom have been recently recruited.
However, while retaining its motto of being 'more than a club', Barcelona need to look at a change in philosophy on the pitch, having been unable to conquer Europe for half a decade. A simpler footballing approach is perhaps the need of the hour as Barcelona's talismanic captain Lionel Messi approaches his twilight.
The Barcelona board need to take bold decisions if the club strives to remain competitive in the years to come.
