Barcelona Mismanagement: Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez and Club’s Future
FC Barcelona, familiarly known as “Barça”, is one of the most successful and popular clubs in the history of the sport worldwide. The club was founded in 1899 by a group of Swiss, English and Spanish footballers. Joan Gamper, the Club’s founder, was the inspiration and driving force behind the Club. During the 20th century, Barcelona become a symbol of Catalan culture, with the motto “Més que un club” which means ‘more than a club’. In addition to a long history of signing some of the football world’s biggest names, including Johan Cruyff, Diego Maradona, Luis Figo and Ronaldinho, Barcelona also has developed a number of its own stars, such as Xavi and Lionel Messi.
Barcelona has delighted the world with their brand of football that is appreciated by fans all over the world. But now, the club is witnessing an end of a transcendent era. Barça are in a mess, but the downfall of such a giant club can’t necessarily be pinned on one person. Currently, those with the power at Barça are president Josep Maria Bartomeu, vice-president Jordi Cardoner, board member Javier Bordas and newly appointed sporting director Ramon Planes. No real “football people” in the list, though there are so many former playing stars with the genealogy to take the managerial helm.
Lionel Messi is the most celebrated player of Barcelona but the club’s poor decision making and swirling costs led to its most discreet of stars choosing to turn against the board. When news broke that the six-time Ballon d’Or winner has requested to leave the club, the football world went into meltdown. He blamed the poor performances on Barcelona mismanagement, which made the team weaker, despite spending €1,000 million since the departure of Neymar. ‘Mes que un club’ has become ‘mess of a club’ after a season defined by boardroom chaos, financial uncertainty and horrific squad mismanagement.
Lionel Messi slammed FC Barcelona for its treatment of club legend Luis Suarez, who signed for rival club Atletico Madrid. Suarez, who is third in the list of all-time top scorer in Barça and won 13 major honors during his six year stay at the Camp Nou, was told by head coach Ronald Koeman that he was no longer needed at the club via brutal phone call. Messi and Suarez were brilliant together on the pitch and football fans are wondering why on earth Barcelona have allowed him to leave for a La Liga rival. Maybe Barcelona handed Atletico Madrid a gold mine for goals. Suarez is a known goal scorer, a beast of a player with an extremely aggressive playstyle and with a manager like Diego Simeone behind him, there is no doubt that the duo can cause uproar in Spain. Diego Simeone has been a long time admirer of the striker and had been praising him since his Liverpool days. He is confident new signing Luis Suarez and Diego Costa can thrive together in the same team. Club’s president, Enrique Cerezo, also insisted that Costa was a player Atletico needed to keep despite the arrival of Suarez.
For better or worse, coach Ronald Koeman has no choice but to centre the team’s rebuilding process around Messi. Messi will be free to sign a pre-contract with another club in 2021, so Koeman has limited time to convince the skipper that he can build a team worth hanging around for. Meanwhile, Suarez would be willing to get a chance to play and score against Barça. But, will he score and celebrate, given the way Barça ended their relations with him, remains to be seen. This could literally come back to ‘bite’ the Catalan club!
