Joan Laporta

PhilS

Active member
When you look back to the Laporta era as the most recent "decent" management for this club, that is a miserable situation. Laporta burned money, just squandered very large amounts for travel, food, corporate expenses. So, not exactly a team-first good guy. But, he has never been arrested or convicted. So, on an objective basis, significantly morally superior to Rosell and Bartomeu.
 

Richard.H

Senior Member
When you look back to the Laporta era as the most recent "decent" management for this club, that is a miserable situation. Laporta burned money, just squandered very large amounts for travel, food, corporate expenses. So, not exactly a team-first good guy. But, he has never been arrested or convicted. So, on an objective basis, significantly morally superior to Rosell and Bartomeu.

Very low standards indeed.
 

fergus90

Senior Member
When you look back to the Laporta era as the most recent "decent" management for this club, that is a miserable situation. Laporta burned money, just squandered very large amounts for travel, food, corporate expenses. So, not exactly a team-first good guy. But, he has never been arrested or convicted. So, on an objective basis, significantly morally superior to Rosell and Bartomeu.

I'd rather a president that squandered money on travel, food, and corporate expenses than a president who would hire companies to talk badly of club legends. Who was part of a board that stripped Johan Cruyff of his presidency, was part of the board that pushed away Pep, who employed several incompetent sporting directors that left us with a squad getting worse and worse year on year. All whilst relying on the players brought through during the club's previous presidency to still be the backbone of the starting lineup years later.


Bartomeu got rid of Joan Vila, who was instrumental at La Masia for so many years with developing players that were key components of the successful era, then hired Pep Segura who would publicly announce players were signing when they hadn't thus disrespected their current club. I'd rather a president that didn't stand by to watch whilst the side was getting embarrassed in Europe year after year before making a change.

If by low standards you mean supporting a president who helped build a side regarded as the best if not one of the best of all time, playing in a way admired by the world all whilst bringing domestic and European glory then I guess we do indeed have very low standards.
 
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Gnidrologist

Senior Member
Laporta seems like the easy going dandy type of character with "fuck yeah" bravado attitude in him, but his heart is probably in the right place. Laporta is obviously no expert in football and probably watched Barca matches only, when he had to, but i believe he has the street smarts to get some good staff in the club that will do that job for him. But Font is no football enthusiast either. He gives vibes of some weird autistic dweeb, who is more concerned about inconsequential things and full of psychobabble instead of pointing out simple things. He just heard somewhere that Xavi is next historically best Barca midfield genius after Pep himself so he infer that Xavi must be just like Pep and thus his fixation on him as the messiah savior and his key to presidency.
 
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Messigician

Senior Member
I'd rather a president that squandered money on travel, food, and corporate expenses than a president who would hire companies to talk badly of club legends. Who was part of a board that stripped Johan Cruyff of his presidency, was part of the board that pushed away Pep, who employed several incompetent sporting directors that left us with a squad getting worse and worse year on year. All whilst relying on the players brought through during the club's previous presidency to still be the backbone of the starting lineup years later.


Bartomeu got rid of Joan Vila, who was instrumental at La Masia for so many years with developing players that were key components of the successful era, then hired Pep Segura who would publicly announce players were signing when they hadn't thus disrespected their current club. I'd rather a president that didn't stand by to watch whilst the side was getting embarrassed in Europe year after year before making a change.

If by low standards you mean supporting a president who helped build a side regarded as the best if not one of the best of all time, playing in a way admired by the world all whilst bringing domestic and European glory then I guess we do indeed have very low standards.

Johan Cruyff presidency thing is cringe.

It wasn't a position based in legitimacy and the next board legally had to remove it
 

te amo barca

Blaugrana al vent
What's wrong with that? I can say Robinho was better than Messi in 2005,, Pep was better player than Xavi in 1999 or Fabio Capello was better coach than Alex Fegurson in 1994.

You really would take Arteta instead of Xavi if both were available? Are you out of your mind?
 

Cerberus

New member
If you want to convince top players or talents to join, having a top manager or a big name would help a lot.

Xavi is one of the greatest midfielders of all-time, incredibly passionate, a proper leader. It would be a risk to hire him off Qatar, but sometimes to win you gotta take risks and Xavi with his history is arguably a risk worth taking. His team in Qatar plays football at a really high pace. People lack perspective when they think he'll be your slow possession type of manager or obsessed with that.
 

Cerberus

New member
Wouldn't mind someone like Nagelsmann either. Pep won't return and Klopp won't happen as he's said on plenty of occasions that he doesn't like the footballing culture in Spain.

This is all assuming Koeman leaves. Wouldn't mind him staying another season depending how this one ends.
 

Birdy

Senior Member
If you want to convince top players or talents to join, having a top manager or a big name would help a lot.

Xavi is one of the greatest midfielders of all-time, incredibly passionate, a proper leader. It would be a risk to hire him off Qatar, but sometimes to win you gotta take risks and Xavi with his history is arguably a risk worth taking. His team in Qatar plays football at a really high pace. People lack perspective when they think he'll be your slow possession type of manager or obsessed with that.

You should show why it's a risk worth taking more than other risks which are much more safe.
Nagelsman is a much safer risk, Ten Haag is a much safer risk, and the list is long with risks that are less risky than bringing Xavi straight from Qatar...
 

fergus90

Senior Member
If you want to convince top players or talents to join, having a top manager or a big name would help a lot.

Xavi is one of the greatest midfielders of all-time, incredibly passionate, a proper leader. It would be a risk to hire him off Qatar, but sometimes to win you gotta take risks and Xavi with his history is arguably a risk worth taking. His team in Qatar plays football at a really high pace. People lack perspective when they think he'll be your slow possession type of manager or obsessed with that.

He also is incredibly intelligent and knows the game very well. You can hear it when he talks in interviews, and was a real student of the game under Pep and Luis Aragones.
 

fergus90

Senior Member
You should show why it's a risk worth taking more than other risks which are much more safe.
Nagelsman is a much safer risk, Ten Haag is a much safer risk, and the list is long with risks that are less risky than bringing Xavi straight from Qatar...

Safer risk based on their experiences in Europe?

If Xavi managed a team in Europe and they got relegated, would you still think he was the man for the job? Rijkaard of course suffered relegation, so did Klopp with Mainz.

Did any of that have an impact on their success later? Maybe...

Did any of those job give anyone an indicator they were cut out for better jobs, I’d say no. Whether Xavi manages Al Sadd, Mainz, RB Leipzig or the Kazakhstan national team, it has no relevance to his ability to manage Barca.

All the European experience does is give fans reassurance he’s the right man for the job.
 

Cerberus

New member
You should show why it's a risk worth taking more than other risks which are much more safe.
Nagelsman is a much safer risk, Ten Haag is a much safer risk, and the list is long with risks that are less risky than bringing Xavi straight from Qatar...

Whaddya want?

Perhaps I should post Al-Sadd, Leipzig and Ajax's xG maps? You would love that wouldn't you?

Xavi's history at Barca, the fact that he commands respect not only within the club, but worldwide, his leadership and football IQ makes him way more suitable than ten Hag. We'll also stand a better chance at getting some of the top younger talents or players available post-Messi because Xavi is a player a lot of guys grew up watching and knows and playing for him might be more attractive, similarly to how some players find Real Madrid attractive because of Zidane.

Being a more proven manager doesn't mean you're going to end up being better, or a safer risk, which is kinda an oxymoron, but anyway....Xavi is a calculated risk based on his history and personality. The sample size is small and skewed due to him coaching in Qatar where the level of competition isn't something to boast about, but we have some ideas of what he want to instill.

Sure he could end up like Pirlo, but Pirlo was never outspoken as a player and it's not like his predecessor, the great tactical genius Maurizio Sarri was great for them either.

ten Hag could also end up being a worse version of van Gaal. Nagelsmann could struggle due to the language barrier. There's never a guaranteed success anywhere unless you are the cream of the crop, which is something that we'll not get as far as a manager is concerned.
 

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