20 years is a long time though. 20 years ago Laporta's girlfriend wasn't even alive.
Let's talk about Xavi's replacement (2024)
- Thread starter Mrgandalf
- Start date
20 years is a long time though. 20 years ago Laporta's girlfriend wasn't even alive.
serghei
Senior Member
That's completely hypocritical from the club if you put huge pressure on Xavi to deliver you instant results almost, and then suddenly the next guy doesn't have to do any of that and he can go by being "pseudo competitive".
Xavi is leaving because because of this reason, that's the main source of his frustration this season. The club demanding too much, too quick, and giving too little in terms of transfers compared to the teams we're supposed to compete with for titles.
There is absolutely no issue with trusting young players and rebuilding. He does that plenty. The club demands results in the present, that's the root of the frictions between the manager, the board, the media etc.
Do you think the breaking point was the Vitor Roque transfer?
No funds, yet mustering up 60m w/ variables while Xavi is screaming for a defensive midfielder.
jamrock
Senior Member
Would explain why he does fuck with roque lol.
serghei
Senior Member
Unless the guy is some rare talent and we simply could not afford to miss out on him, the move is dumb. But it's not just that. It's the approach for this season. It is clear Xavi valued Busi and Dembele as key players of his team. He asked for quality reinforcements, he got none. He got scrap-yard signing Oriol Romeu.
It's extremely difficult to continue to improve a team while your rivals are all spending money to sign the best players and you can't do that. It is just mentally exhausting and frustrating, and that has taken its toll on Xavi imo.
Fati_Future_BallonDor
Well-known member
Barca needs a character, a big personality.
Not a Catalan wimp who coddles the players and blames the entire world.
Flick is the right man, he has personality + tactical knowledge🤔
khaled_a_d
Senior Member
Barca and Xavi knew what was happening from the get to go. Xavi knew he had only one summer to build the squad and after that there was non. Of course they put pressure on him to won something last year.
Xavi talked big, Laporta talked big. But this year the board supported Xavi publicly which was the only thing they could do.
They have been embarrassingly begging Xavi to stay FFS.
Media have been harsh on Xavi, sometimes rightfully and sometimes because it is what they do. This is going to be the same with next manager regardless.
Xavi complaining about it was a bit weird, because in comparison to every Barca coach during his playing career, only Pep was supported more. He knew what the media is doing before he joined but expected different treatment, which he has ironically got but wasn't enough.
So no, the club here will be consistent frankly.
If Marquez joined and we are still broke, it is a rebuilding project and they are acting accordingly.
The media will still do their thing, most likely more harshly because Marquez/Flick/Motta/Amorim etc aren't Catalan and we all know how xenophobic/nationalist the Catalan media is.
khaled_a_d
Senior Member
Roque deal was essentially 30M + 25M, 5M for each season he starts half of the games with maximum 5 season. And that is on 7 years contract not counting current one and he accepted they will register him whenever they wanted. Guy was on 4.25 amortization deal, and probably not a big salary. Which midfielder we would have signed that would have accepted such package?
If he is mad at that, he isn't the brightest bloke out there.
Flick starting line up when he won with Bayern
had Lewa, Muller, Neuer, Boateng & Presic as players over 30, Alaba & Thiago were late 20's. Gnabry, Kimmich & Groetzke were 24 and only Davies was a young player back then.
He isn't really a development manager tbh.
delancey
Senior Member
The likelihood of this happening is about the same as Hilary Clinton running as Trump’s VP… dude.
But that's because he initially took over interim.
There are articles like this that suggest him working with Bayerns youth for example.
Hansi Flick helping Alphonso Davies, Joshua Zirkzee and other Bayern Munich youngsters thrive
Not only has Hansi Flick steered Bayern Munich back to the league summit, he’s also rapidly improving the club’s next generation of players.
www.bundesliga.com
About Roque. Well considering his use, those numbers seem in line with a young player like a Roque for midfield. Think Vermeeran or Moscardo (I know injured now) who Xavi may have been more inclined to play.
Or a squad player like Dendoncker or Matusiwa, or someone expiring like Guido.
DonAK
President of FC Barcelona
If we're getting the 100m signing bonus from Nike this summer, and can get the 40-50m from Libero as well we'll be in compliance with the salary cap and be able to spend 1:1.
Sell Frenkie and a couple of other players in the squad and you might have enough money to sign a legit CDM and a legit LW that would improve the team.
The issue obviously would be the managerial hiring and who they spend their resources on. You cannot really trust this club to make the right decisions.
Sell Frenkie and a couple of other players in the squad and you might have enough money to sign a legit CDM and a legit LW that would improve the team.
The issue obviously would be the managerial hiring and who they spend their resources on. You cannot really trust this club to make the right decisions.
DonAK
President of FC Barcelona
Agreed. it all starts with getting a top manager, and let them cook.
Honestly I'd be okay with even letting Marquez stick around for a year if they don't want Flick and want to wait a year to try to entice Klopp or someone else.
But they need to make the right signings in that case which means a proper CDM and if they want a LW sign a proper winger with pace and 1v1 ability and not a pseudo-midfielder like Olmo.
We might eventually luck into a great manager, but if you spend your scarce resources on the wrong players/profiles it's tough to bounce back from that.
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