Mes Que Un Club. FC Barcelona has always believed in being more than just a football club. A club with strong values and a team that transcends football, the kit of our beloved men in claret and blue has been so sacred that no sponsor ever managed to make its way to the front.
As a kid, I fell in love not only with the magic of Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi but also the strong morals of FC Barcelona. Be it our philanthropy with UNICEF, our strong cultural, social and political identity, especially in the region of Catalonia, or our world-class academy, we were certainly more than a club. We were and still are a symbol of Catalan pride and the struggle for its freedom from Spain.
Today as I sit down to write this open letter to our president Josep Maria Bartomeu, I ask myself – Are we more than a club? With a heavy heart, I concede that we are just another European football club at the moment. What has happened to our identity? What has happened to our values?
In 2010, when you were appointed as the vice president of the club under Sandro Rossell, we were in the best period of our 117-year-old history. Under the guidance of Pep Guardiola, we capitalised on the foundations that legendary managers who graced our club like Johan Cruyff, Louis van Gaal and Frank Rijkaard laid down and became world beaters.
What made this team special was that most of the stars came through the ranks of La Masia – our pride.
However, you were keen to compete with teams like Real Madrid and Manchester United, who are the commercial giants of European football and have been for decades. Despite selling our soul to Qatar Foundation in 2012, I trusted that it was in the best interests of our club.
Also read: Reports: Luis Enrique has lost the trust of the Barcelona dressing room
I believed it was only a consequence of the extreme capitalism in our sport. I understand that it was too good an opportunity to resist.
Under Sandro Rossell, we started running our club like a pure business which is strictly against our values. I, however, do understand that this is only to cover up the massive debt that we have been in, but what worries me is the components we have sacrificed simply to improve our economic situation.
Post Pep’s departure, and the unfortunate loss of his successor Tito Vilanova, we have been a team with no clear direction.
Even Johan Cruyff, perhaps the greatest servant of this wonderful club, was outspoken about his disappointment over the current state of affairs. I cannot imagine what he would be feeling if he was here with us today.
With the departure of Txiki Begiristain, we lost a gem. He has now joined Manchester City, who probably have the best youth project in the whole of England. Under his guidance, the youth team has been making large strides, while Pep has always been a great bridge between the youth and the senior teams.
Their U-18 team’s record in the U-18 Northern Premier League of 67 goals scored in their 20 games, with 16 wins and four draws only goes to show what Txiki has been doing with the youth setup.
On the other hand, Barcelona B has gone from being a top half team in the Segunda Division to being relegated to the Segunda B. Sergi Roberto, Rafinha and Denis Suarez are the only recognisable players to feature in our first team from the academy in the last four seasons.
While the batch that produced Gerard Pique, Lionel Messi and Cesc Fabregas could be considered our golden generation, we have always produced world class players right from Pep Guardiola to Carles Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta and even Thiago Alcantara in recent years.
With the sacking of Andoni Zubizarreta as the Director of Sporting Operations and the departure of Carles Puyol, who was acting as his assistant, we have no idea where we are heading with this youth academy.
Coming to Luis Enrique, it is a fact that Lucho has been getting his tactics wrong for a while now. His first six months at Barcelona were transitional and his team-rotation policy did not help his case. After a rumoured dispute with Lionel Messi in January, we fixed things and went on a brilliant run. Lucho finally seemed to find a settled playing 11 and a perfect plan to approach games.
He stuck to Pep’s policy of starting from the back and dominating the midfield thanks to the abilities of Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta, Ivan Rakitic and Xavi. When it seemed like we needed a plan B, he was happy to play a more direct style and rely on the power trio of Messi, Suarez and Neymar to take the opposition by surprise.
However, post the treble, things haven’t been going according to plan.
In the season to follow, Lucho seemed to have mixed up his plans. There was no clear Plan A or Plan B. Either Barcelona played out from the back and lacked midfield control or approached the game directly, but did not have the defensive skill to absorb pressure like Atletico Madrid or Chelsea could.
Despite winning the double, our poor tactics were exposed in the 4-1 loss to Celta Vigo, in the first 30 minutes of the first leg tie against Arsenal in the Champions League, in the quarter-finals against Atletico Madrid and the poor run of form that started with a loss to Real Madrid.
The 4-0 loss to PSG was perhaps the final nail in the coffin for Lucho. We have been outplayed by teams like Athletic Bilbao in the Super Cup, Celta Vigo, Real Betis, Real Sociedad and even Deportivo Alaves in the league.
The only reason we were still feared was simply down to the individual brilliance of Lionel Messi and co. Without Leo, we would perhaps be outside the top four this season and I believe that is no exaggeration.
Our transfer policies have been ridiculous. Sandro Ramirez and Munir El Haddadi were good enough to play for the team while Paco Alcacer, no matter now good he might be, was simply not worth wasting €30 million on.
Signing Andre Gomes for €35 million plus €20 million in add-ons just to keep Real Madrid away from him is a pathetic move and does not reflect our club’s tradition.
The problem in our club is simply not with the coach’s lack of tactical understanding. It is not just a matter of attitude of the players. A team of this quality should not be conceding four goals that often.
It is a matter of management crisis. It is a consequence of poor leadership during a transitional stage. As a lifelong fan, I sincerely hope this will change before it is too late Mr President.
Yours Sincerely,A Lifelong Cule
