10 reasons Barcelona is in a crisis

It’s clear that FC Barcelona, revered for the last 15 years for playing the most attractive football in Europe, home to the world’s best footballer Lionel Messi, winner of 5 European Cups/Champion’s League titles, 4 in the last 15 years, and 4 La Liga titles in the last 5 years, is in crisis. Witness the evidence:

1. No Champion’s League title since 2015. Arch rival Real Madrid has won 3 since then.
2. Currently lying 2nd to Real Madrid in La Liga table, 3 points behind, having lost 4 matches of the 22 played so far.
3. Dismal Cup performances. Barca was knocked out of  Super Coppa in January 2020 and now Copa Del Rey quarterfinals in February. A 94th-minute goal from Iñaki Williams of Athletic Bilbao defeated Barcelona two days ago.
4. Tension between players and management is boiling over. Lionel Messi has retaliated to remarks from former team mate Eric Abidal, who is currently director of football at Barcelona. Abidal had remarked that some players were not working hard in training. The club’s sporting director told Sport, and reported in The Guardian, that some first-team players were “unsatisfied” with former manager Ernesto Valverde and didn’t “work much” during his tenure.Enraged by Abidal’s comments, Messi responded on Instagram by accusing the Frenchman of “dirtying” the players and challenged him to name names. Messi took to Instagram:                                         “Sincerely, I don’t like to do these things but I think that people have to be responsible for their jobs and   own their decisions.”The players [are responsible] for what happens on the pitch and we are the first to admit when we haven’t been good. The heads of the sports department have to take their responsibilities too and above all own the decisions they make. Lastly, I think that when you talk about players, you should give names because otherwise you are tainting everyone’s name and feeding rumours that spread and are not true.”
5. Tragicomic hunt for new manager, with no takers. Sacking Ernesto Valverde in January after losing the Spanish Super Cup semi-final to Atletico Madrid, Barcelona found it hard to get a replacement. Ronald Koeman and Xavi both rejected an opportunity to coach their former club. Mauricio Pochettino also turned them down, saying that he’d rather go back and work on his farm in Argentina than go and coach Barcelona. Finally the management of Barcelona had to turn to their fourth choice, Quique Setien, retired from coaching Real Betis.
6. New manager is out of his depth. Quique Setien is a master of making the best of what he has. He made Betis a competitive force for Champion’s League qualification. Under him, Real Betis went to Real Madrid and beat them twice in a row, they hadn’t done that for many decades. They also won 4-3 at Camp Nou. Setien believes staunchly in Dutch master Johann Cruyff’s possession football style. But he has never managed a bunch of stars like Barcelona has. And he has never won a major trophy of any kind.
7. Barcelona’s club president elections come up mid year 2020. This augurs for more wild promises, jockeying to show connection and rapport with players, and backroom politicking.
8. Messi could leave end of the season. With the team’s talisman now 32 years old, his best days may be past him. But if he leaves, the club’s downslide will definitely accelerate. Messi is being linked to moves to Italy, France and England this week, following the very public spat with Abidal.
9. Lack of new firepower in attack. Following the departure of Neymar in 2017, Barcelona management has not invested in enough new signings, to the frustration of the Messi and others. Only Antoine Griezmann and Frankie De Jong were signed in the summer, and their performance has been middling. With Luis Suarez out injured, Messi definitely needs more help upfront.
10. Over-dependence on Messi. The world’s best player may remain the world’s best player for another year or two at most. Barcelona is not planning ahead to the day when Messi retires or leaves. The club has been blessed, but has not invested enough when the sun was shining on them. There is no midfield strength of the class of Xavi or Iniesta, build-ups with an incisive pass can be a problem to construct. Add to that the lack of attacking options beyond Messi and the injury to Suarez, and you have recipe for unsurprising underachievement.

Will Barcelona find the managerial wherewithal, both pitch side and in the Boardroom?

The next two months will decide their fate in the UEFA Champion’s League and in La Liga.

Should they lose further ground to Madrid in the League, and fail to make the semis of the Champion’s League, not only will heads roll, Messi may also decide to not see his contract out, which expires 2021.

And should he do so, that would set the club behind by 3-5 years at least.

For a club that has been the sparkling centre piece of European football for so long, and arguably the best club in the world playing the most pleasing form of possession football that they practically invented with coach Cruyff in the 1990s, that would be a stunning fall from grace.