3 reasons why Barcelona's troubles aren't going away any time soon
Barcelona are in disarray. There are no two ways about it.
An ageing squad still reliant on the old guard of Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba ended a catastrophic campaign in ignominy with a humiliating 2-8 defeat against Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
It was Barcelona's worst defeat in more than seven decades. They conceded eight goals in a game in any competition for the first time since losing 0-8 to Sevilla in the 1946 Kings Cup.
In the aftermath of their crushing defeat against Bayern Munich, Quique Setien was given the boot, and club legend and current Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman was appointed as the new Barcelona manager.
Koeman is likely to oversee a revamp of the Barcelona squad which has become overreliant on captain and talisman Lionel Messi. The Argentine remains Barcelona's star player, but he needs a supporting cast capable of easing the enormous burden on his shoulders.
Following their loss in the Champions League, Barcelona ended the season trophyless for the first time in more than a decade.
Despite seething at the jibes of their rivals and the footballing world in general, years of poor planning have led Barcelona down a path of decline. There is no other way to put it.
For the last few years, the decision-making at Barcelona has been simply abysmal. Most player transfers didn't work out, managers came and went, Barcelona's playing style receded, and the influx of La Masia graduates stopped.
Back in the days, Barcelona used to promote young players from the academy regularly. But in the last few years, they have been spending millions on mediocre players. Barcelona have strayed away from the ethos and core principles set by their former manager Pep Guardiola and have suffered as a result.
However, if Barcelona supporters are hoping to see light at the end of the dark tunnel, they are in for a surprise. Their miseries are not set to go away immediately. The worst is yet to come for the Blaugrana. Here, we take a look at three reasons why Barcelona do not have any quick-fix solution at their disposal.
Three reasons why Barcelona's troubles aren't going away any time soon:
#3: Terrible player transfers
Simply put, Barcelona have been terrible in the transfer market. In the last six years, most of their signings have been simply awful.
Since 2015, the club have spent over €1 billion on signing players but not one of them has been a resounding success. That is how bad their player transfer policy has been.
Many of these players were unable to adapt to the club and its expectations or were played out of position while some signings were downright bizarre. The bottomline is that the club's transfer policy has been in shambles for a while, and it is wrong to expect overnight changes in that regard.
The most ironic aspect about Barcelona's Champions League humiliation was that none of their top three record signings started the match against Bayern Munich.
Ousmane Dembele remained unused while Antoine Griezmann was an ineffectual half-time substitution. Philippe Coutinho, the club's record transfer, came on and scored twice, albeit for Bayern Munich as he was loaned out after being deemed surplus to requirements at Barcelona!
There needs to be a drastic shift in Barcelona's planning if such exceptionally poor transfer decisions are not repeated again.
#2: Financial Problems
Barcelona's wage bill is the highest in the world while their squad is made up of deadwood and ageing players, most of whom have declined alarmingly.
The likes of Jordi Alba, Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets et all are no longer the players they once were. Captain Lionel Messi is still going strong, but the burden is too heavy on his shoulders. Barcelona need urgent reinforcements, but they are hard pressed to raise funds to overhaul their squad.
The older players will not fetch much money in the transfer market while the young ones have regressed to the extent that even if they are sold, Barcelona are unlikely to recoup their investment made on them.
The likes of Samuel Umtiti and Ousmane Dembele fall into this category. Philippe Coutinho will be in limbo once he returns from loan. There is very little probability that Barcelona would be able to recoup even half of what they paid for the services of the Brazilian.
Barcelona have some transfer targets, but raising money through player sales is looking unlikely. They had to make the complicated Arthur-Mirlaem Pjanic swap to match finances but need a large infusion of cash if they are to get in all their transfer targets.
#1: Looming presidential elections
Anybody with even little to no footballing knowledge know that there is no love lost between Barcelona fans and club president Josep Bartomeu. Many blame Bartomeu for the crisis the club finds itself in now and would be glad to see the back of him when he leaves his post next year.
Bartomeu cannot contest the Barcelona presidential elections next year. That may be good news for fans, but complicates things in other areas.
Victor Font is said to be the favourite to become the Barcelona club president next year, with one of his closest associates being Barcelona legend Xavi.
Xavi refused the Barcelona manager job back in January apparently due to his reluctance to work with Bartomeu. If Font wins the elections, he is likely to appoint Xavi as the manager. That means that any decision made by Bartomeu now is likely to be discarded next year.
Ronald Koeman has been appointed as Barcelona's new manager, but if Font is elected, Koeman is likely to lose his job, no matter how well he does.
If Xavi is appointed the Barcelona manager next year, he would want to work with his own type of players, meaning that a few incoming players this summer might be out of favour in a year's time.
With such uncertainty, it is no wonder that Barcelona are in turmoil, and it is likely to go on for a while. Koeman is a club legend and the fans will be behind him, but if results do not improve, it won't be a big surprise if he is removed from the helm.