What Next for Barça?

I made this thread as a wish list of things I would like to see happen at the club. I'm aware some of the changes will not happen and users might disagree with some.

To keep:
Ter Stegen: One of the best goalkeepers around and certainly the best goalkeeper for Barcelona. You’re very lucky to have him.
Semedo: I wasn’t a fan of him at all when he joined and still don’t think he will ever be as instrumental as Dani Alves. However, he has improved immensely in the past couple of seasons and for his lack of creativity he is physically a top player and has very good technique for a RB. Should start ahead of Roberto
Roberto (back up RB/CM): I know Barcelona fans don’t like him but I think he is a versatile asset as a back-up option for both right back and midfield role and he is at a good age. He is Barça through and through and doesn’t complain when he doesn’t play. A good figure in the dressing room too.
Piqué: While he is ageing, he still has a couple of top flight footballing years left in him. He was never the most physical defender, but his intelligence and his commitment to Barça grants him a contract for a few years.
Lenglet: Always great, hardly brilliant. The quiet Frenchman stole the spot from his countryman Umtiti and has played tidy over the years. Better than most overrated EPL centre backs like Laporte et al.
Alba: He is old but he is still one of the best at his position. Should be looking to slowly but surely retire him from first team duties by signing a very good promising LB to take over, however finding decent wing backs in the current market is very challenging.
De Jong: Barcelona spent a lot of money on this guy, and while I don’t think he is bad, I haven’t seen anything special from him. Then again, he has been playing out of position. I think he is the future of DM at Barça, and at least should be given the chance to prove himself. I certainly consider him better than both Busquets and Rakitić in the DM role.
Aleñá (back up): Not sure why he was loaned out, I believe he was playing well as he was slowly introduced to the first team. A young midfielder with Barça DNA to replace the ageing midfield. I’m not convinced he is starting 11 material, but under current financial climate, he should be given the benefit of doubt.
Puig (back up): Guardiola once said to Xavi that chameleon eyes will replace him at Barça and Iniesta will retire both of them. What he forgot to mention is that Puig will retire all three Okay, I'm getting over the top but I really like this kid. If he is nurtured well he can start for Barcelona in a couple of years.
Pjanić: Like it or not he is here and he is going to play. A 23-year-old Pjanić was levels above Arthur, however I’m not sure how the 30-year-old plays now. Seems to have had a dip in form lately.
Messi: The undisputed player. He is not without his problems (lack of movement when not in possession of the ball) but still wins Barcelona matches on his own consistently.
Braithwaite (back up): He cost €7 million more than Carles Pérez was sold to Roma for, but I’m not sure if he is any better than the Spaniard. Still, he seems to connect well with Messi and the rest of the players so he has earned himself the back-up role in this squad.

Maybe:
Umtiti: Hasn’t looked good at all since coming back from his injury. We know that he can a very good player as we’ve seen it in the past, but keeping him is a risk.
Rakitić: He has been a true soldier ever since joining the club. I closely watched him at Sevilla, Barcelona and Croatia National Team. A player who always puts the team’s needs first. But age is not on his side and I imagine his is on a high salary too. Looks to be offloaded in the summer.
Busquets: He was never a top player physically and in modern football he has no place to start at a top team any more. Considering the fact that he is on high wages, Barcelona should look to off-load him unless he is happy with lower wages and a accept a back-up role.
Vidal: He brings energy to the team and has looked better in recent times. If I had to keep one of the three ageing midfielders, I would probably keep him. His passing is not very tidy.

To offload:
The entire Barcelona board: To put this board in the same or worse than the Barcelona boards of late 90s is not an exaggeration. Lots of dodgy deals, poor sporting decisions, hundreds of millions down the drain, wasted prime years of the best player in history of football and hardly won anything to boast about save for some La Liga titles while frequently coming short in the Champions League. Time for everyone under the current board to be sacked and their names blacklisted so they can never hold a position at the club again.
Firpo: Absolutely not Barcelona material. No idea on what merits he was signed as he is suspect defensively and offers no creativity in attack.
Suárez: The current Suárez is only in name. He has lost a lot of speed and acceleration, and he doesn’t look like he has the same stamina as he had a few years ago. Kind of sad to watch him these days, but his days are truly over.
Dembélé: Injury prone, poor attitude and nowhere as good as the incompetent Barcelona board hoped he would be. With a stricter coaching system, he could come good but I think he is a lost cause. You’d be lucky if you get €50 million for him.
Griezmann: Not a bad player, but certainly not fit for this team. The earlier he is offloaded, the more money can be recuperated from his sale. His performances certainly aren't going to increase his value.
Coutinho: Not a bad player, but not a great player either. Mental midget and certainly not fit for this team.

To sign:
TBC

Not sure we should sell Griezmann. He's good enough to play in a post-Messi world (who is 33... how many more years does he have at the club starting consistently, 2 tops?) when he's not stuck on the wing. At least as a stop gap measure he should be kept.

Can his fee even be recouped in a post-covid world where every club will have taken significant financial hit? will players be sold for similar fees in the next 2 years?

I would also move Busquets from 'maybe' to 'gone' unless we want to keep him in a sub role. But he should no longer start.

we have to move on all the guys that are at the end of there line, and to be honest I dont think any of them will leave until there contracts run out. No one will pay them the 200 something thousand a week they make with us given there age. Basically the issue Arsenal have with Ozil. He is on a large wage, and refuses to leave because he knows no one will pay him that amount anywhere else. So yes, in theory we should off load Alba, Rakitic, Umtiti, Vidal, Suarez...maybe even Greizeman and also toss in Braithewaite but lets be honest we have tried to some of them before and they refuse. Especially in today's global economy. Meaning most of them will be here for the upcoming season and then the next, which is when most of those guys contracts run out.

Next summer hopefully we finally move on from the Rossell/Bart group (they already have a guy who works with them saying he will run for office, which means that would be 3 guys in a row all associated with each other and doing shady stupid crap).

If it were up to me I'd do this...

For defence :
Bring in Emerson from Betis and sell Semedo. I'd also sell Sergi since he is still young enough to get SOME sort of cash for and replace him with Dest from Ajax or a player like that. Someone with high potential who can be behind and rotate with Emerson. If I can't sell Alba, I'd sell Firpo and bring in a properly scouted left back to push Alba to be a back up until I could find a buyer for him. For defence I'd sell Umtiti if possible, and promote Araujo to take his back up CB spot. Pique isn't going anywhere lets be real, but I do think he is reaching that point that he will need to go soon/or be replaced. I don't think the club has a ton of money so I wouldn't start saying lets just buy a whole new back line as I don't believe thats really possible. But buying a new LB, and bringing in Emerson while selling Umtiti, Firpo, Semedo and Sergi I think would work and would also help us generate funds and also free up wage bill space.

Midfield:
Promote Puig and keep Alena when he comes back from loan. This would be one area of the pitch I'd splash cash on and buy Havertz, and I'd act fast as it looks like Chelsea want him. Sell Rafinha, Vidal and Rakitic if possible. that would leave us with Pjanic, Busqs, De Jong, Harvetz, Alena and Puig. The starters would be Hatvetz with Dejong and Pjanic. Busqs would basically have to take the roll Xavi had in his final year when he would be a super sub with Puig and Alena being the rotational players.

In attack, this one is tricky. Lets say we manage to move on from Grizeman and Suarez. What then? Messi cannot be touched as we know that he is only leaving when he is ready not the other way around. We also still have Coutinho an Pedri/Trincao coming in. I think Lautoro is extremely over rated. I get the fuss of his work rate and all that but that guy isn't some world class clinic, dependable striker. Neymar is injured more than Dembele and honestly I wouldn't mess with him given the way he left. That means, we still need a striker. I honestly have no idea who I would tap for that role. I think for the way we play, we can keep Dembele, Trincao and Pedri for now to play along with Messi. We can do that for at least one more season but that still leaves us with the issue of a striker. We could try and offer Coutinho or Dembele plus cash to Dortmund and try and grab Sancho. Sancho with the kids we have coming with Messi as a false 9 for now wouldn't be the end of the world. And once Messi is gone, Sancho can be our future. But for a 9 I think we can depend on, that isn't going to cost a massive bundle I simply can't think of one. Short term maybe grab Aubu from Arsenal but then in a year or 2 we are still back to square one trying to find a 9 again.

@BarrileteCosmico
The reason for selling Griezmann is his lack of chemistry with the Barcelona style of football. The Frenchman has never played in an attacking team. Sociedad (other than when Arrasate was the caoch), Atlético and France National Team all play defensive counter attacking football which is not really Barcelona style. I honestly don't think he will ever learn the style of football. Why spend time and money on a guy who is likely not to ever adapt when you can sell him and sign someone who can?

@windkick
Not sure why you want Semedo sold. Is Emerson really better than him? I don't watch Eredivisie, so I can't comment on Dest. But even if Emerson is good, why sell Semedo? He can be the back up for Emerson and he costs nothing.

I also strongly disagree with the notion that Lautaro Martínez is overrated when you nominate Sancho, the guy who played 5 months of really good football but has gone missing since January. I've watched Martínez a lot both at the NT and Inter, I think he will fit right in with your style and seeing as you need a CF I can't name any young strikers who are better than him. He might not be the most clinical but he is very versatile and is very good at link up play. I personally think you'll need both a natural LW and a CF. So maybe both Lautaro and Sancho could be nominated transfer targets.

And yes, certainly you should not pursue Neymar at all. The guy is not young any more, is proven to be injury prone and going to cost you as much as PSG paid you for a younger player with more potential value.

Next, there is nothing. Barca was already running on fumes with borrowed money and such before Covid. Now at least 20 % of the overall income is gone (matchday revenues). Also Barca blew everything on duds like Griezmann, Démbéle, Coutinho etc. There is no money, Barca is making shady deals like the Arthur-Pjanic swap to balance the books. AC Milan 2.0 is next. Next season:

Messi: 34
Suarez: 34
Pique: 34
Vidal: 34
Rakitic: 33
Busquets: 32

Replacing them was already going to be tough without the Covid situation but now it's near on impossible.

I don't think my "solutions" have anything to do with money. In fact I've suggested more sales than purchases to balance the books and to use the youth team to build for the future.

Selling the three of Griezmann, Coutinho and Dembélé could earn you €70m+€50m+€40m=€160m. Letting Suárez, Busquets and Rakitić leave on a free transfer would free up a lot of wages too. They could go to China for all you care.

This sounds great in theory but you know this board doesn't know one thing about squad building. They're just in this game for the bread

danyjr wrote:
@windkick
Not sure why you want Semedo sold. Is Emerson really better than him? I don't watch Eredivisie, so I can't comment on Dest. But even if Emerson is good, why sell Semedo? He can be the back up for Emerson and he costs nothing.

I also strongly disagree with the notion that Lautaro Martínez is overrated when you nominate Sancho, the guy who played 5 months of really good football but has gone missing since January. I've watched Martínez a lot both at the NT and Inter, I think he will fit right in with your style and seeing as you need a CF I can't name any young strikers who are better than him. He might not be the most clinical but he is very versatile and is very good at link up play. I personally think you'll need both a natural LW and a CF. So maybe both Lautaro and Sancho could be nominated transfer targets.

And yes, certainly you should not pursue Neymar at all. The guy is not young any more, is proven to be injury prone and going to cost you as much as PSG paid you for a younger player with more potential value.

Lautaro has 12 goals in 26 Serie matches (2 were penalties so only 10 from open play).
From what I've seen of him from the Inter games I've watched and the Argentina games, is that similar to Suarez he has crazy work rate and ability to drop back and link up and create space for players around him and himself. But he doesn't (at least to me) have that killer natural x factor of scoring goals. He is basically current version of Suarez except athletic. So is that a good thing or a bad thing? I will say given his age, 22 years old, he is probably amongst the higher top 5 or so strikers for the future. So yea, I can see why the board think they have the next Argentinian star to come in and develop the tools he has. He could thrive in our system, which has been great to a similar work rate striker in Suarez since he arrived from Liverpool. thing is at 22 years Suarez was much more dangerous in front of goal, and by a large margin. As far as strikers his age, or younger, he is facing competition as being the next big thing from Mbappe, Haaland, Jao Felix, Rashford, and I guess Tammy Abraham. From all those I'd say only the first 2 guys are better. So fair point. But is he worth the 100M Inter is asking for? That's another 100M player for a potential 10 goal a season over haul? For that cash I'd want a guy that has been stupid clinical already like Halaand. Lautaro has Loren Moren from Real Betis numbers pretty much. If he wasn't at Inter, and he wasn't Argentinian I don't think we would be discussing him.

Semedo turns 27 already in a few months and this is basically, after being with us 3 seasons or so with us, is what we have got. A player that is fast, not lightning quick but has good pace, that can defend pretty good but is not really good at linking up with the attack nor does he have good cross accuracy. Basically if we could merge his good tools with that of Sergi, we would have a great right back. But right now Sergi is good at everything except defending or having pace, which Semedo is good at. So why do we have these 2 guys when no matter who is playing, we are going to be weak in 1 area or the other. Why not have a guy that can do both? Or at least be GREAT at one of those 2 things. Sergi isn't GREAT at going forward but he is good. Semedo isn't GREAT at defending or having pace but he is good. Emerson leads all full backs in la Liga in assists and chance creating. Not saying that means anything, but given we already own half of his rights he would be relatively cheap to bring in and see if he develops into something, since we know neither Sergi nor Semedo are going to develop any further than what they currently are. And Emerson is only 21 years old. There was also some articles last summer that Semedo wants to be a regular starter at this stage in his career and doesn't like being a back up to Sergi.

Dest is a guy that I think has great tools but is hella green. I'm Mexican so I track and see how the American players do, rival watch. Big reason why I think he would be a good pack up to develop, not a starter.

And Sancho has a crazy chance creating skills. He can also score some goals too, and yes he has been streaky but when he is on he is on. I think he will develop into a top player and it's someone I wish the board would go after.

Lautaro is not player who would wow you like Mbappé does, for me it is the sum of his parts that makes him special. He is an incredibly versatile player. Despite his small stature he has fantastic physical qualities like stamina, strength and ability to head the ball well with his high jumps. He has shown in the NT that he clicks with Messi and as you said can drop back and link up with others. I agree that he is not El Pistolero. Prime Suárez was undoubtedly a better finisher and had a certain tenacity about him that you can't find in many strikers these days. A nightmare for any defender, but I'd say Martínez comes close. The lack of goals can be attributed to Lukaku playing as the more forward CF in Inter and that he is the one who makes runs between the lines whereas Martínez often drops back to combine and create. This is something Griezmann has shown to be completely unable to do.

As for Håland I'm not sure if he would work in Barça. Yes, he is a sublime clinical finisher but what else does he provide? It is a different game playing for Barcelona with layers defensive lines to have to break through week in week out. He hasn't been challenged in situations like that consistently with Dortmund.

I think if you see good potential in Emerson, then selling Semedo for a handsome price may be a risk worth taking. I hear City and PSG want him and they both have cash. Sancho is a big risk for me due to his price tag. I've watched him at his best, and at his best he would be the perfect Neymar replacement, but I'm just wondering, can he play consistently like that or not? I argue that his price is too high considering the risk (he seems to be amongst the world's 10 most expensive players).

Suarez finished?

He has been the most clutch player for Barcelona this season.

If you play good football you won't need clutch players to save your ass. Just saying.

Also it is not like he's been saving Barça all season. One or two clutches doesn't justify having him on the pitch for 30 matches a season. Especially considering he's on high wages too and already on a steep downhill.

So we are going to extend Semedo's contract and look to buy the rights of Emerson as I had suggested but then flip him to get funds because the club is broke. I would of rather brought in Emerson to rotate with Semedo and move Sergi to the midfield (or sell him, instead)

Even if Bartomeu and his whole board resign today (which they must, if they have an ounce of dignity), there won't be any hope for this team short term. With COVID and the financial state this board has left the team in, it will take years to recover financially. Footballing matters will come second, so forget about winning titles for a few years.

Sad day to be Barca fan . This is humiliating defeat. I cant remember last time barca concede 8 goals in a single match.

danyjr wrote:Even if Bartomeu and his whole board resign today (which they must, if they have an ounce of dignity), there won't be any hope for this team short term. With COVID and the financial state this board has left the team in, it will take years to recover financially. Footballing matters will come second, so forget about winning titles for a few years.

yup this is unfortunately the truth

sell everyone (messi and suarez included) and rebuild around... frenkie and riqui puig?

The lack of new faces is the real issue here, the board has failed to invest in the future and prepare us for a generational take over

I still maintain what I said in the OP. All of it is still valid in my mind. I didn't make that post in the heat of the moment. It had been a long time coming. It was merely repeating what a lot of you had been saying for years.

Bartomeu: "I'm very sorry. It was a disaster. We have to make decisions and some of them we already had in mind. We will announce them soon"

F u get out

Mauricio Pochettino is the main candidate to take over from Quique Setién. The club have been working on the Argentine's arrival for weeks. [rac1]

Bartomeu will not resign but will fire Abidal and Grau. [di marzio]

Presidential candidate Víctor Font calls for elections and wants Bartomeu to resign as soon as possible. @albert_roge

ffs

If Fart had any dignity he would resign.

Messi should leave for his own sake.

windkick wrote:If Fart had any dignity he would resign.

But he doesn't, so it's a moot point

Myesyats wrote:Bartomeu: "I'm very sorry. It was a disaster. We have to make decisions and some of them we already had in mind. We will announce them soon"

F u get out

Motherfucker needs to resign. Fans should protest outside Cam Nou tomorrow.

He will first sack everyone around before looking at his deceitful rat face. Puta merda

The board of directors is seriously considering calling for the elections this year. @quimdomenech

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