Barça Needs To Clean House.

Barça’s disappointing culmination on what seemed to be a promising season is coming to a bitter end. The hopes of capturing the league crown remain miraculous at best since it is no longer in their hands. With the FIFA transfer ban on hiatus now, the club can make new signings. If the club’s proclamation that new players will be bought is true, then it’s time they clean house; from top to bottom.

This season has been a roller coaster for Barça fans with lots of highs and lows. It was also nostalgic to the 2003-2004 and the 2006-2007 seasons to which I alluded to earlier in the season. 2003-2004 saw two new managers, Frank Rijkaard and Carlos Queiroz, take charge at Barça and Madrid, while 2006-2007 was a nightmare of a season for the Blaugrana where they saw their lead atop of the standings disappear down the stretch and finish runners-up.

I gave Tata Martino the benefit of the doubt earlier in the season but that sailed away following his questionable decisions that saw this team squander their five point lead atop of the standings and kiss good bye to any chance of silverware the past few weeks. Clearly, this hiring has back fired and is yet another black eye for Sandro Rosell who made the decision to hire Tata in the first place. To be fair to Tata, he did request new players which were never provided, much like what Carlos Queiroz endured back in 2003-2004. They both squandered big leads atop of the standings down the stretch, lost in the Copa del Rey Final and exited the Champions League prematurely. Now, Tata falls on the sword that was set in place by this board. In order to go forward, we still need someone new to manage these players and someone who has ties to the club.

Speaking of players, I have been always of the opinion that this team needed to be gutted for a long time. This team could easily see over ten players leave in the summer. Puyol already indicated his career as a Barça player was over and Valdés had his bags packed since last season before he suffered his injury. Injured players such as Jonathan Dos Santos, Afellay, and Cuenca are also surplus to requirements. It’s also time for the club to look into cashing in on Tello, Alex Song, Mascherano and Alexis. Tello hardly plays and if Deulofeu returns from his loan spell at Everton; then he should be getting those minutes instead. As for Alex Song, it was doomed from the start and if Napoli want him, and Mascherano, then cash in on them. Mascherano has played his heart out for the club but is not a defender and will hardly feature as Busquets’s substitute. There’s already talk of Alexis joining Juventus and after three years, it’s time to cut our losses and realize he has the energy of Eto’o but is not a factor against defensive minded teams. There are some fans who are also considering selling Cesc and I can’t blame them after he managed to pull off his disappearing act in the second half of a season for three straight years now. As for Dani Alves, he no longer is the player he once was and his mouth seems to be turning off the fans more than his endless crosses to no one and that could be his final season as a Barça player.

 Thus, that’s eleven players who might not be a part of this team next season. However, before we discuss which players come in to reshape this team, we need to discuss the resignation of this board first. Current Barça president Bartomeu and his board need to resign after sitting on their thumbs and not reinforcing this squad when it was obvious last season. Zubizarreta has done an abysmal job when it comes to signing players and by all means should not be entrusted in future transfers. No, if a revolution is needed, then it needs to start from the top with the board stepping down and allowing someone competent to come in and hire a new manager and have a competent sporting director who knows how to scout and sign players to strengthen this team again. Unless that happens, this team will not progress and just continue to frustrate the Blaugrana faithful and squander the talents of Iniesta and Messi.

Honeymoon over for Tata Martino.

Tata Martino endured his worst week as Barça manager following disappointing away defeats to Ajax Amsterdam and Athletic Bilbao. His honeymoon period is over and Tata will now brace himself for the firestorm of criticism that awaits him from the Barcelona based media as questions will linger about the team’s style.

This was Barça’s worst week ever in quite a while. Sure, we’re accustomed to seeing the Blaugrana lose here and there over the years, but the performances against Ajax and Athletic were ones you hope you never see Barça display again. Tata Martino had enjoyed a great start to his coaching career with the Blaugrana but that’s about to change with the media ready to pounce on him.

The media have not been too impressed with Tata this season mainly because of his preference for the team to be more direct. The team was winning, so the criticism seemed petty from a bunch of spoiled fans who are members of the media. However, those knives are being sharpened following these two defeats and Tata will have to be ready to face the music.

I have always been a firm believer that Barça must always adapt and not just fall into the same routine when it comes to their style of football. Tata’s arrival seemed to do just that with their smart cautious performance in El Clásico as the perfect example. His coaching allowed Barça to get the victory at his own style. However, these most recent losses did raise some issues.

Style of play will be one hot issue with everyone this week. The team’s sudden transformation from “Tika-Taka” to “Long Ball” is not winning over the fans and one has to worry if it is also not winning over the players. Xavi already voiced his concerns with Tata following Barça’s victory over Rayo where they had less possession than their opponents. What we saw against Athletic was a rather pathetic display by a team that can do better without resorting to chasing down long balls.

Another hot issue will be the re-occurring lack of no “Plan B” argument when the going gets tough. In both matches, Barça struggled to break down their opponents with their lone goal coming from a penalty. It seemed as if we were back to reliving the final days of Tito Vilanova where substitutions should have been made earlier along with the players looking lost and lethargic. Tata’s substitutions did not pan out and Barça seemed to resemble a team in search of an identity. Overall, we expected these problems to be sorted by now, not brought back to our attention.

Furthermore, one has to wonder if the club has the right personnel or need to sign more players in the upcoming winter transfer period. Sure, the club was missing a few key players but perhaps the depth is not there. If Tata’s style is not suited for the players, then perhaps they should sign some players in the upcoming transfer window that suit this style. Of course, he can always revert to the Barça style and make slight tweaks here and there. A complete transformation is not what many had in mind when Tata was hired to coach this squad and perhaps he should just focus on keeping the same style, with minor adjustments like he did in El Clásico along with squad rotations.

Fortunately for Tata, the upcoming schedule will be friendly with an upcoming Copa del Rey match against Cartagena on Friday and then the final Champions League group stage match against Celtic at the Camp Nou the follow week. Hopefully he can give some players some rest to recharge and minutes for others in need to gain some form and confidence. There’s still a lot of football left to be played and it’s very premature to panic. However, with Atlético and Real Madrid also in the hunt for the league title, Tata needs to settle on a system that works best for his team.

 

First Clásico For Big Two Managers.

For the first time in a decade, we are about to witness El Clásico featuring managers in their first ever El Clásico. Gerardo “Tata” Martino and his side will host Carlo Ancelotti this weekend in what will be their first ever encounter as managers of the big two clubs in Spain. As both men prepare their teams for this upcoming clash of arch rivals, one manager seems to have his team playing the way he wants to play while another is juggling between finding the right system and lineup of his liking.

For the first time in a decade, we are about to witness El Clásico featuring managers in their first ever El Clásico. Gerardo “Tata” Martino and his side will host Carlo Ancelotti this weekend in what will be their first ever encounter as managers of the big two clubs in Spain. As both men prepare their teams for this upcoming clash of arch rivals, one manager seems to have his team playing the way he wants to play while another is juggling between finding the right system and lineup of his liking.

Even though both clubs have went through managers over the past few years, this upcoming Clásico will feature for the first time in a decade new managers for both clubs. Although 2008-2009 season saw Pep Guardiola face Juande Ramos, Ramos was hired  with only a few days to prepare for El Clasico. You have to go back to first year of the Frank Rijkaard era when he tried to match wits against Real Madrid’s new manager, Carlos Queiroz. Both managers had a proper summer to prepare their teams. By the time El Clasico rolled around, Rijkaard and the Blaugrana were struggling to find any form while Queiroz and his Galacticos were sitting atop of the league table with a ten point lead over Barça. That December night in Barcelona saw Real Madrid finally win a league game at the Camp Nou for the first time since 1983. 

The second half of that season though would not only see Barça exact revenge by winning at the Santiago Bernabéu, but would reduce the 10 point gap to just 4 points before eventually surpassing them in the standings. At the time, Real Madrid were battling Valencia for the league title which Valencia would end up winning. Real Madrid’s season spiraled out of control after losing to Barça by losing all of their remaining fixtures and finish fourth while Barça ended the season in second place.

While Queiroz had the great start, the late season collapse saw him get fired while Rijkaard would remain with the club and guide them to consecutive league titles and the club’s second ever Champions League title. Quite a contrast when you look back at the awful December night for Blaugrana fans who were wondering if this team was ever going to return to its days of prominence. 

Which brings us to this weekend’s upcoming El Clásico. Tata Martino is off to a record breaking start for a new Barça manager, while his adversary Carlo Ancelotti, is off to a somewhat rocky start and has failed to impress in the Spanish league during this early part of the season. Martino’s only issues have been injuries to key players who are now cleared, with the exception of Jordi Alba, to return to action. Meanwhile, Ancelotti will have to try to figure out who to start and who to bench, especially Gareth Bale, and figure out the right system. It’s not easy when the club directors are involved in the lineups that has Casillas on the bench and Bale rushed into action instead of being brought along slowly after not having a proper preseason to stay in shape this past summer. 

 Not much is different about this upcoming Clásico clash and that December night in the Camp Nou ten years ago.  Only the roles have been reversed with the Blaugrana atop of the standings and adjusting well to a new manager and playing the role of the hunted. Meanwhile, Los Blancos are still trying to figure it out and play the hunter as they try to keep pace with the league leaders. We will see if history will repeats itself this weekend and the remainder of the season too. Nothing will be decided this weekend since the domestic league is always decided in the final five matches. We have a lot of games left and it will be interesting to see how this season plays out the rest of the way.