What has Happened to Barcelona

Jedi boro

Well-known member
And other top teams across Europe.

barca sat in third and are currently drawing 0-0 with elche, after drawing with Cadiz and losing to Sevilla.

this really is a weird season across Europe
 
Barca’s recruitment policy has been awful for years and they have also shot themselves in the foot re Messi who should have been sold for a fortune last summer. Instead they are left with a disgruntled player who will leave with nothing.

Getting rid of Suarez was also a crap decision, especially when Braithwate still there!
 
Same as most, they're broke, crippled by wages and terrible transfer fees.

They must be bad now though, as I couldn't even name their team, never mind a squad of 15 or 20.

Some transfers have not paid off: Coutinho, Griezmann, Dembele, those four must be knocking on for £400m in transfer fees and £1m a week in wages, and none of them would get in the Man City team.

Then Braithwaite? WTF? He's not a bad player, but nowhere near Barca's level, well actually now he is, but he shouldn't be.
 
We used to hear about playing the Barca way and this being ingrained throughout their youth teams. They seem to have lost their identity by relying on Messi every season. I hope they can return to the former Barca as they were an absolute joy to watch regardless of the opposition.
 
Same as most, they're broke, crippled by wages and terrible transfer fees.

They must be bad now though, as I couldn't even name their team, never mind a squad of 15 or 20.

Some transfers have not paid off: Coutinho, Griezmann, Dembele, those four must be knocking on for £400m in transfer fees and £1m a week in wages, and none of them would get in the Man City team.

Then Braithwaite? WTF? He's not a bad player, but nowhere near Barca's level, well actually now he is, but he shouldn't be.
Braithwaite was only singed because it was an emergency signing ie it had to be from La Liga I think.

Barca, apparently, are struggling with crippling debts, even before the pandemic. Plus many of the squad have been moved on and replaced by players who don't seem to be doing it yet.

Plus they have Koeman as manager, which can't be helping!
 
Messi's top scorer in La Liga again now, after a slow start.

Thought this season would be a poor one given the shambles at the club and his own mindset, but 18 league goals with 14 games left to play, nothing to sniff at.
 
Stopped following them as much but I think they had some huge issues at board level, along with an ageing squad, masses spent on players who are past it and very poor managerial choices have left them in this position. Without messi they wouldn’t have even finished top 4 the last few years, think it just shows how good he is that they have actually won anything in the last few years. Once he goes the decline will be incredible, we won’t see them in Europe for a good while.
 
Barcelona have 1.1 billion pounds of debt and are on the verge of going bankrupt. Had to ask players to take a wage cut and sold some players like Suarez, Vidal etc... Players like Coutinho, Griezmann and Dembele have flopped and were paid big bucks.

Barcelona Debt Crisis
 
Barcelona and Real Madrid have spent massively for so long that surely it was going to catch up. Perhaps COVID is doing to them that not playing Champions League did for Leeds in 2004.

Borrow loads based on big crowds and guaranteed Champions League football. Once one revenue stream disappears their backers get nervous and start putting on the pressure. Hence why Suarez was moved out.
 
Barca and Real Madrid have bought badly in the last few years, the moneys not there to replace and they can’t sell the players they want to sell for what they paid for them.
A few teams in Spain are struggling badly at the moment, look at what’s happened at Valencia.

Italian teams apart from Juventus have struggled for awhile after the Italian league was dominant for awhile.
 
Their best players are aged too, Messi is 33 and yes still amazing, but asking him to play every game (29 starts) and perform at that level, on his own in a very average team is asking too much for a 33 year old.

Jordi Alba (30 starts) 32 in a few weeks
Busquets 32 year old (26 starts)
Griezemen 30 in 3 weeks (3 starts)
Pique 34 year old (13 starts)
Pjanic 30 (13 starts) a mad signing for 54Mill at 29 year old, what were they thinking!

The only younger outfield player that comes close most of these players in appearances is De Jong. They've allowed the core of their team to age, without bringing in players that could challenge them. They have a load of 21-24 year olds who've never held down a first team jersey, that have fallen behind where they should be at this stage of their careers, and are lacking in the quality of the players they were meant to replace. It's an absolute FUBAR of a situation and if Messi leaves in the summer, which he certainly will, then they could collapse without that talisman. The shadow of replacing him will weigh down on anyone taking his place.
 
Their best players are aged too, Messi is 33 and yes still amazing, but asking him to play every game (29 starts) and perform at that level, on his own in a very average team is asking too much for a 33 year old.

Jordi Alba (30 starts) 32 in a few weeks
Busquets 32 year old (26 starts)
Griezemen 30 in 3 weeks (3 starts)
Pique 34 year old (13 starts)
Pjanic 30 (13 starts) a mad signing for 54Mill at 29 year old, what were they thinking!

The only younger outfield player that comes close most of these players in appearances is De Jong. They've allowed the core of their team to age, without bringing in players that could challenge them. They have a load of 21-24 year olds who've never held down a first team jersey, that have fallen behind where they should be at this stage of their careers, and are lacking in the quality of the players they were meant to replace. It's an absolute FUBAR of a situation and if Messi leaves in the summer, which he certainly will, then they could collapse without that talisman. The shadow of replacing him will weigh down on anyone taking his place.
The Pjanic deal was involved in Arthur deal, I don’t fully understand at as both players are quoted as having fees paid but also linked.
So although still crazy for his age, not sure if they truly paid 60mil for him as they got something like 72mil for Arthur.
 
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