What will Barça do after Messi’s Last Dance?

ESPN’s The Last Dance miniseries about the one and only Michael Jordan was well received by many when it aired recently. The miniseries discussed Michael Jordan’s career and his final season with the Chicago Bulls. Of course, talk on Barça social media was how much they looked forward to a similar miniseries made about Lionel Messi when his playing days are over. Yet, as much as I look forward to enjoying a miniseries about Messi, I am also concerned of about Barça after Messi’s last dance with the Blaugrana.

The idea of Messi walking away from football struck a nerve last December when Messi addressed the media after winning the Ballon d'Or for a record-breaking sixth time. Messi said, "I'm aware of how old I am. And I enjoy these moments so much because I know that retirement is approaching. Time flies." Barça fans have been under the illusion that Messi was eternal and would play on forever. Yet, that December night woke Barça fans from their stupor and made them realize that nothing lasts forever.

All good things must come to an end, and the day Messi walks off the pitch as a Barça player will be one of the most gut-wrenching days as a fan. Messi has been representing the Blaugrana for almost 20 years, ever since his arrival from Argentina as a young teenager who made his way through La Masia ranks before reaching the first team and becoming a married 32-year-old man who is also a father to three children. Throughout those years, the one constant was Messi representing FC Barcelona. Eventually, we will have to bid farewell to Messi when the wonderful magician walks off the pitch as for the final time as a Barça player. However, is the club ready for when that day arrives?

Since I started following my beloved Blaugrana, I have seen a couple of great eras and great players come and go. The club survived after they sacked Johan Cruyff and survived after Pep Guardiola left the club in 2012. The club survived after Romario, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, and Ronaldinho departed the club. But there is a cause for concern about of FC Barcelona after the departure of Messi.

The Chicago Bulls never tasted success before Michael Jordan’s arrival and have not since his departure. The Bulls allowed their successful coach, Phil Jackson, and Dennis Rodman to walk away while trading Scottie Pippen to Portland. The Bulls began a new era with Toni Kukoč as their best player with the hopes of enticing other players to join their team. However, players ignored the Bulls and their history and opted to join other teams while the Bulls slowly slid into an abyss of failure. Also, the successful Boston Celtics of the 80s paid the price for not having players ready to step in for Larry Bird and Kevin McHale when they retired in the early 90s and would struggle for many years until becoming competitive again. I am concerned that Barça seem to be following in the footsteps of the Bulls and Celtics regarding future planning of the squad at the moment and when Messi retires. Luis Suárez and Gerard Piqué are both 33, and Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba are both 31. While Frenkie de Jong seems to be Busquets’ successor, the club still lacks the necessary successors for those other players, and for Messi as well.

The grand plan of former Barça president, Sandro Rosell, was for Neymar to be Messi’s heir apparent, either after they sold Messi or after Messi left the Blaugrana. However, that plan went down in flames when Neymar opted to join Paris Saint-Germain F.C. in 2017. Barça received quite the windfall, €222 million, from Neymar’s departure to Paris Saint-Germain but the club squandered that fortune on expensive transfers that have failed to deliver. Barça splashed €105 million on Ousmane Dembélé whose bad luck with injuries have frustrated the fans. Coutinho cost €145 million and lasted a season and a half before being sent out on loan. Meanwhile, Liverpool used that €145 million to sign Virgil van Dijk and Alisson and win the Champions League.

While looking ahead to determine what signings Barça need to make, one has to wonder how dire is Barça’s current economic situation when they cannot afford to sign Neymar or Inter’s Lautaro Martínez without selling other players first. They were able to gobble up players before, but now, Barça seem to have tightened the belt across their waist twice. Will they have the financial capability to sign other “Cracks” when Messi leaves or is the financial hole they’ve dug themselves into is far too deep to crawl out from?

We lived through this financial mismanagement under Joan Gaspart’s presidency and it took Joan Laporta a year to clear the club’s deadwood. Elections are next year and will the next Barça president have the funds needed to replace Messi and strengthen the team? Moreover, will the next Barça president be brave or crazy enough to contemplate the thought of selling Messi to recoup the funding needed to pay off the club’s debts and sign new players. Besides Messi, the only players that could warrant a big transfer value are Marc-André ter Stegen, Arthur Melo, Frenkie de Jong and a healthy Ousmane Dembélé.

If Messi walks away, careful planning will be needed to usher in the new Barça project. This club will always rebound but the appropriate decisions need to be made to ensure a smooth transition to life without Messi and not become what Manchester United and A.C. Milan are today. Failure to do so will be catastrophic for this club.

Changes Need To Be Made At Barça.

The shocking 4-0 loss to Bayern Munich rocked the foundation of FC Barcelona last week. Sure, there had been hiccups along the way this season but this was a colossal wake up call for the Blaugrana. Issues have to be addressed from the top all the way down to the players on the pitch. Changes have to be made with regards to transfers and the change of guard with regards to the veterans at the club. By no means am I saying this is the end of era but perhaps the cycle has run out and the club needs a transformation.

Bayern Munich’s 4-0 victory was a bitter pill to swallow albeit a deserved victory for the German club. Sure, there were some iffy calls and perhaps Barça’s Wembley dreams would still be alive if those goals were disallowed. Nevertheless, Barça’s effort that night was one to forget. Barça just never really got it going in the second half of the season. Barça hasn’t caught fire these past few months. Better yet, it’s safe to say the match hasn’t been struck. Last week, their lackadaisical showing cost them dearly.

Football simply comes down to scoring goals and defending well. If you can do either one well, then you have a chance at winning. If you fail to do either properly, then you will fail miserably. That was exactly what we saw in Munich last week. After that final whistle blew in Munich, the calls for end of an era started rearing its ugly head ahead once again. However, the same was said last season and the club once again was chasing a treble till last month.

Spanish media referred to “Era” as “Cicolo” which can also mean cycle. I think cycle is a better term to use here. The team has had a great run, cycle, but some changes need to be made for this team to continue to remain among the best. It first starts with club president Sandro Rosell. Rosell has made this club follow other clubs’ model with shirt sponsors, tours, deals with Arab sheiks and so forth. However, it would be nice for the club to actually sign players that the club needs and not gimmicky players who are midfielders but probably can be defenders. The club lacked a center-back and the club did not sign anyone during the summer break and are now paying the price. Rosell has to learn from this season’s mistakes and not repeat them again.

The other issue is Tito Vilanova. His coaching has come into question recently with regards to lineups, tactics and substitutions. One fatal mistake was not giving Montoya and Bartra more minutes and now, these two are set to start in the second leg of Bayern tie after gathering rust following a handful of appearances since January. What caught the ire of the fans the most was his choice of using his first substitution in the 83rd minute after the game in Munich was out of reach. Was that an indication that he did not trust his bench and subsequently, has he lost the team by ignoring the non-starters as a result?

Furthermore, Rosell and company will have to discuss with Tito whether or not his health will prevent him from coaching next season. If so, then they better start preparing their list of candidates for the coaching seat of FC Barcelona. If he does feel healthy to return, then he has to ensure that some changes will have to be made. This past weekend’s draw against Athletic displayed how Tito does not have a “Plan B” and would rather stick with “Plan A” even though it has been known to be ineffective at times. Why did he bring on Iniesta when he could have brought on another defender and have him play alongside Song to congest the midfield and support the back four?

If Plan A is not working, then sticking with it without any minor changes is not an upgrade either. Sticking to the same style is not a step in the right direction when it costs you points and victories. Perhaps he should take a page from Rijkaard’s book where for that one season he had van Bommel partner Motta or Rafa Marquez as the two defensive midfielders. If Barça keeps making the same defensive errors, then it is on him to address those problems and not ignore. As my buddy told me after Sunday’s draw, Pique is one of the most undisciplined players the club has when it comes to errors, so address it and make him better.

Sadly, I think the upcoming season will see a changing of the guards. Puyol may be retiring because of his numerous leg injuries while Valdés wants to leave the club in 2014 and Barça might want to cash in on him this summer. Also, Xavi’s legs cannot allow the legend to play week in and week out anymore. As I mentioned in the past, Achilles injuries are impossible to overcome and perhaps it’s time to slowly put him to the pasture, i.e. the bench. Xavi simply cannot play week in and week out and next season will be no exception where the club will play more midweek league matches. Xavi just doesn’t perform like he used to and most of the time, the possession and passing is more of keeping the ball than delivering that well placed sublime through ball for opponents. Rarely do we see those assists like the one he provided Villa with against Milan.

Barça cannot afford to rely to on the old guard to always be there. A perfect example would be the late 80’s/early 90’s Boston Celtics and the current Boston Celtics who relied on their veteran players on their last legs for far too long much to the detriment of the team.  Barça needs to mix it up with veterans and youth along with players in their prime. So it’s time for Puyol and Xavi to be slowly taken out of the lineup and have the team entrusted to other players such as Bartra, Thiago or even Cesc (why was he signed again?). FC Barcelona needs to start planning for the future without destroying the future.

Yet again, we are also witnessing a tired team with Messi fighting through a Semi-Final with an injury while other players seem to be sluggish and short of freshness. The talk of the club shortening the squad next season has to be re-examined after what we witnessed down the stretch the past two seasons. We need quality depth and quantity in depth.

Furthermore, a lot of attention was given to the fact that FC Barcelona have struggled recently without Messi. Some would blame it on Messi being greedy. I blame this more on the manager. It is no coincidence that Barça became more Messi reliant ever since he started trying to break goal scoring records left and right. I am not blaming it on Messi but perhaps bad habits set in with the rest of his teammates because they were interested in assisting Messi break records and haven’t shaken off the bad habit. I long for the days when Messi, Villa and Pedro were the M-V-P trio that scored 98 goals combined in the 2010-2011 season (22 goals for Pedro, 23 for Villa and 53 for Messi). Again, have they forgotten how to score or were too occupied in making sure Messi broke every record that it became a bad habit that resulted in most players standing idle as they watched Messi.

I haven’t completely given up on Barça’s chances on overturning this 4-0 result. Bayern has 6 players who are one booking away from missing the Final. Perhaps, that will be on the back of the Bayern players’ minds and slightly make them a bit more cautious. If the score is 2-0 at the half, then Barça has a strong chance. If they are losing of it is a scoreless draw, then expect a long ahead.

Overall, the era is not even close to coming to an end. It just needs some minor tinkering here and there from the top to the bottom. It’s time the club changed the mentality on how things are done in the front office and on the field. We cannot afford to waste the talent and youth of some of these players. This club can do better and should be better.