Messi’s comments a few days ago to a radio station were unexpected but not surprising. Messi personally calling out a Barça director on the air and insulting him showed us a side of Messi that we had never seen before. However, to say this was unforeseeable is a bit naïve. Barça board needs to change their way of handling things and Messi’s outburst was a warning of things to come.
Barcelona VP Javier Faus idiotic statement that he saw no reason the club should improve Messi’s contract and referring to Messi as “un senyor (this gentleman)” were unnecessary and continued the club’s pattern of alienating important Barça figures. It is no surprise that Cruyff and Guardiola are not part of the club’s current regime but they are playing with fire if they want to include Messi in this group.
Messi responded soon afterwards in a manner we had not been accustomed to seeing before. He called Mr. Faus as someone who "knows nothing about football." Of course Messi was not having a great week what with Madrid media trying to drag his family’s name into the mud with bogus stories about ties to drug trafficking. It was an attempt to find Messi guilty in the court of public opinion and Cesc came to his teammate’s rescue by indicating this was all “An Anti-Messi Agenda”. Obviously the club cannot sue the Madrid media on his behalf but the last thing they should be doing is piling on during this difficult time for the magical player.
This board seems to be run by men who treat the club as a business and not as a club. These players are not assets, but actual human beings. The club should not haggle with Iniesta over one million Euros during contract renewals nor should they be discussing in public whether Messi deserves a new contract. Messi has been a godsend for this club and should always treat him as not just the greatest player in club’s history, but also as the greatest player in the history of football.
Barça’s board need to be proactive and not reactive in the way they run this club. Thus, Messi should always get a new deal if Ronaldo or anyone else gets a new contract which pays them more than Messi. So when club president Sandro Rosell says door to his office is always open, he is missing the point. Barça should be the ones going to Messi with a new deal already on paper and not waiting for Messi to come to any office. That way of thinking is dangerous because while the board is waiting for Messi to knock on their door, another club might be knocking on Messi’s door at the same time.
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