FC Barcelona Present and Future
FC Barcelona is one of the greatest football clubs in the world. Besides the strong success in Europe over the decades, the club has won several trophies.
FC Barcelona has had some of the best football players. From Lionel Messi to Ronaldinho, Neymar, the club boasts a long list of legendary footballers. FC Barcelona attracts followers from all over the world, similar to free spins casinos. Despite its powerful brand and history, the current state of FC Barcelona club has annoyed its fans and football experts.
The poor performance in the recent UEFA Champions League matches in the semifinal series against Roma (2017/18), and Liverpool (2018/19) is one of the reasons why the club experienced backlash from fans. The fans were not only angry toward the players. They were also opposing the FC Barcelona board of trusts and the managers.
When Neymar moved to PSG for a record fee of $263 million in 2017, the club did not find an equivalent. In that summer, FC Barcelona transferred Ousmane Dembele from Borussia Dortmund for $137.5 million. Sadly, the French winger has not achieved much to help the club recover its expensive transfer cost. Ousmane sustained several injuries, and his playstyle lacks consistency. FC Barcelona also spent 144 million dollars on Philippe Coutinho, a Liverpool midfielder/winger, in 2018.
He did not contribute a lot to the club in his first year, sadly. He is now leased out to FC Bayern Munich. He is likely to move to another club at the end of the season on loan. This unneeded signing continued when the club brought in Antoine Griezmann at a fee of $135 million. Like the rest, Antoine is yet to cause a notable impact on the club’s performance during his first year.
Transfer of players from one club to the other is not a good business strategy. These transfers do not compare to the players’ abilities and skills, which can limit their productivity and success. Some of these players lack the flexibility to pick up more than the role they know. It is, therefore, clear that FC Barcelona has failed at the business of player transfers. Another reason why the club may be facing backlash is because of poor management and leadership tactics.
Ever since Pep Guardiola, the former manager of Barcelona, moved to Bayern Munich in 2013, the club has not found an equivalent. The club was under the management of Luis Enrique in 2015 and had players like Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Luis Suarez. So it had some level of success combined with underachievements in the Spanish League and Champions League. Luis Enrique left the club in the 2016/2017 season, and the management failed from thereon.
The new replacement, Ernesto Valverde, brought dramatic changes that not even the board could cope with. The fans and other critics thought his style was more conservative and less creative. Moreover, Ernesto failed to offer the best leadership, which could explain why players ignored his halftime comments and on-field orders. It seems as if they did not trust his decision-making process. So the club lost in the semifinals to Roma despite having an aggregate lead of 4-1.
The following year they lost in the semifinals to Liverpool even if they had an aggregate lead of 3-0. So the club dismissed Ernesto Valverde in January 2020 and employed Quique Setien. We are yet to know how he would perform in the future, although the club recently lost 2-0 to Real Madrid. Aside from the failure of club managers, the sitting president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, has had his share of criticism.
He faces controversy because of many allegations during his six-year term that began in 2014. Although it is too soon to predict the future of the club, it is in the hands of Quique Setien right now.
