Barca the end of an era

Andy_W said:
He was also free, no transfers etc.

Ronaldo's already paid his wages and transfer fee back to united (or they;ve recouped it) and he's only been there a couple of months.
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Sort of free. I'm sureties gave Newells old boys something for him, and they paid for his growth hormone therapy. But yeah, he got paid a lot but he also earned a lot for them
 
It's incredible how Messi dragged them to silverware these last few seasons.

Barca since 2008-2012 to now must be one of the biggest falls in football.

Back in 2008-2012 during Pep's era, they were genuinely the greatest team ever, literally ever, and in less than 10 years they're fielding players like De Jong, Braithwaite, Lenglet...it's ridiculous how the powers above have let them end up like this.

It looks like it'll be a long time before they will be competing for the Champions League again. Their problems run so deep that it could be decades in fact.

Koeman isn't the man to get them through this mess neither. Instead he's adding to their problems.
 
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motownjunk said:
I wonder if they will go back to how they were in the 60s 70s and 80s only won 2 la ligas and not a lot else. It is going to be very difficult for them at least in the short term to compete with Rich clubs and the premier league or even Real Madrid they reduced their spending a few years ago so in nowhere near as bad position as Barca. Barca are a brand these days and Messi was massive part of that but they ended up paying him far too much especially as his powere started to wane. Back when i started to watch football in the late 70s and 80s Barcalona were a bunch of thugs who definitely didn't play the beautiful game.
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Reminds me of just before they signed Ronaldinho and Eto’o actually. They were a relatively rank team then, finishing 3rd and stuff, but only a couple of great players away from being back at it.
 
Marvanelli said:
It's incredible how Messi dragged them to silverware these last few seasons.

Barca since 2008-2012 to now must be one of the biggest falls in football.

Back in 2008-2012 during Pep's era, they were genuinely the greatest team ever, literally ever, and in less than 10 years they're fielding players like De Jong, Braithwaite, Lenglet...it's ridiculous how the powers above have let them end up like this.

It looks like it'll be a long time before they will be competing for the Champions League again. They problems run so deep that it could be decades in fact.

Koeman isn't the man to get them through this mess neither. Instead he's adding to their problems.
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Koeman and Van Gaal are awful managers. So destabilising to have a rowdy arrogant Dutchman in charge and their teams are usually ****. Have no idea how they keep getting jobs.
 
Marvanelli said:
It's incredible how Messi dragged them to silverware these last few seasons.

Barca since 2008-2012 to now must be one of the biggest falls in football.

Back in 2008-2012 during Pep's era, they were genuinely the greatest team ever, literally ever, and in less than 10 years they're fielding players like De Jong, Braithwaite, Lenglet...it's ridiculous how the powers above have let them end up like this.

It looks like it'll be a long time before they will be competing for the Champions League again. Their problems run so deep that it could be decades in fact.

Koeman isn't the man to get them through this mess neither. Instead he's adding to their problems.
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Bang on that. That period in their history was outstanding. The team of that time would have won the World Cup if they were a country. Man United were unlucky to run into them twice in the CL Final.

It's a big fall from grace.
 
Low_Key said:
this could be a problem:

1. Frenkie de Jong £354,000 a week
2. Antoine Griezmann £345,000 a week
3. Sergio Busquets £258,000 a week
4= Sergio Aguero £230,000 a week
5= Memphis Depay £230,000 a week
6= Gerard Pique £210,000 a week
7= Ousmane Dembélé £210,000 a week
8= Miralem Pjanic £210,000 a week
9. Samuel Umtiti £208,000 a week
10. Sergi Roberto £170,000 a week
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Wild hey. Sergi Roberto!

But I reckon you could do the same list for Man United, the only difference is that they’re performing at the minute and won’t lose their cash flow - if they did, it would be same thing.

Massive risk with having one player on megabucks and everyone else in the dressing room wanting parity with them.
 
Nero said:
Bang on that. That period in their history was outstanding. The team of that time would have won the World Cup if they were a country. Man United were unlucky to run into them twice in the CL Final.

It's a big fall from grace.
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They did! Spain’s World Cup and Euros x 2 team was like 10 Barcelona players, playing Pep’s Barcelona system, plus Sergio Ramos and David Villa (who eventually signed for Barcelona.)

Staggering football team and honestly in my book, I reckon Pep deserves all those trophies to go with the rest.
 
I don't have much for these "institution" clubs; if they didn't have a touch of the exotic about them, we'd be no more dewy-eyed about them than we are about the decline of Arsenal. They're not special and they're not integral to the game.
Football would be a better place for a few of these clubs doing a decade or so outside the top flight.
 
Marvanelli said:
It's incredible how Messi dragged them to silverware these last few seasons.

Barca since 2008-2012 to now must be one of the biggest falls in football.

Back in 2008-2012 during Pep's era, they were genuinely the greatest team ever, literally ever, and in less than 10 years they're fielding players like De Jong, Braithwaite, Lenglet...it's ridiculous how the powers above have let them end up like this.

It looks like it'll be a long time before they will be competing for the Champions League again. Their problems run so deep that it could be decades in fact.

Koeman isn't the man to get them through this mess neither. Instead he's adding to their problems.
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Boro from two cup finals to relegation from a 3 point deduction has to be up there.

Boro from European Cup final in 2006 to relegation in 2009

It might sound harsh but I've got very little sympathy for Barcelona even without taking into consideration their involvement with the super league.

99,354 seater stadium
144,756 paid up members
105 million euros per season from Nike
60 million euros per season incoming from a 'Hong Kong-based company'
La Masia is one of the best youth academies in the world
and surely has to be up there with one of the most desirable clubs to manage and play for

Mes Que Un Club? More than a club? Less than a club, more like.. they were always going to need a successor to Lionel Messi
 
Barca's problem is who they signed, and the contracts they got them on, not who they've brought through. They should have been able to negotiate a lesser wage for their signings, due to being a higher stature club, with the opportunity of winning the CL and playing with Messi et etc.

It's like the reverse of how why we had to pay more, to get people to come to smoggie land and play alongside some absolute shockers.

1. Frenkie de Jong £354,000 a week - 75m not worth it, had a good CL for Ajax, and what else?
2. Antoine Griezmann £345,000 a week - 120m, not worth it, scored 19 and 15 the years prior to going to Barca
3. Sergio Busquets £258,000 a week - Seems high, but suppose that happens on incremental wages/ contracts with the same team
4= Sergio Aguero £230,000 a week - a lot of money for someone getting on, who is injured a lot.
5= Memphis Depay £230,000 a week - high wages for 20 goals in league 1, but at least he was free
6= Gerard Pique £210,000 a week - See busquets, but fair enough
7= Ousmane Dembélé £210,000 a week - absolute joke after a 6 goal budesliga season, 105m lol
8= Miralem Pjanic £210,000 a week - 60m? He's 31, no return on that
9. Samuel Umtiti £208,000 a week - not sure how he's worth 200k a week, he only plays < 20 games a year
10. Sergi Roberto £170,000 a week - can sort of understand this, as he's home grown, been there ages and plays loads, but 170k for a full back is still a lot.

I dread to think what the rest are on like Coutinho and Braithwaite etc, without even playing much.

Their recruitment team/ wage negotiation is worse than how ours was, and their accountant clearly doesn't know how numbers work.
 
That list is even funnier when you think Pedri is pretty much their best player atm and plays 75 games a year without complaint, while half the people on that list can’t get near the pitch.
 
Michael_Vronsky said:
Frenkie De Jong is a fantastic player. Bizarre to ask what has he done. He shone in Ajax's run to the semis of the CL a couple of seasons ago. He's only 21 too. Not sure what is expected of him!
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I'd expect him to be better than he is for a 75m fee and 350k a week? He's good, I'm not saying he isn't, albeit he doesn't score enough, I'm just saying I don't think he's worth that fee and wage, compared to others. What's he done for Barca? Every time I've seen him he's not stood out and their team is nowhere near what it was? He's also 24 now.
 
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Andy_W said:
I'd expect him to be better than he is for a 75m fee and 350k a week? He's good, I'm not saying he isn't, albeit he doesn't score enough, I'm just saying I don't think he's worth that fee and wage, compared to others. What's he done for Barca? Every time I've seen him he's not stood out and their team is nowhere near what it was? He's also 24 now.
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Have to disagree on this one.
 
Michael_Vronsky said:
Have to disagree on this one.
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Fair one.

The thing is, when he was at Ajax (who got knocked out by Spurs, who lost to Liverpool), they played a style that suited him and others, and now that squad has been broken up these young players seem to have got worse or stagnated, not got better, it's surprising. Maybe for that brief period, they were all just firing above their typical normal level?

I don't see as much of Barca as I used to mind, since the Spanish games are no longer shown, but their results and performances have certainly gone down the pan.
 
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