Well, that was embarrassing. There comes a time in all men’s lives when they are met with defeat. If that man is a champion, the odds are that they have faced even more defeats than most, and it is their perseverance that has made them a champion in the end.
If you’ve lived on the Earth long enough and fought hard enough, it’s likely that, at some point, you will not only lose but be humiliated. One of the defining characteristics of a champion is that they never give up without a fight. So, when they do go down, they tend to go down hard.
Barcelona was not just beaten, but emasculated. I don’t think anybody, not even the most diehard of Barca fans, would have been surprised for us to have come up short against Bayern Munich. They are a great team in top form. But the result was our worst nightmare. It was about more than just X’s and O’s. It was about more than game-plans and Quique Setién’s astounding inability to understand the new substitution rule. Barcelona players, having long earned the respect of their peers all over the globe, not only lost the game but also lost what was left of their pride.
They were beaten not only physically, but mentally, and what was left in the waning minutes wasn’t so much a team in search of answers but a beaten boxer looking for an escape from the ring.
Who’s to blame? Success has many fathers while failures seem to always be orphans. But there are many points to look at. All of which were on display against Bayern Munich.
You could start by looking at the man in the middle of the opposing team’s attack, Thiago Alcantara. I can’t be the only Barca fan that feels a ping of regret every time I see Thiago wearing that red and white. I still remember being shocked by the news that Thiago would be leaving Barca for Bayern. Having watched him since Barca B, it was clear that this was a player that should be a permanent fixture in our midfield as soon as Xavi and Iniesta hung up their boots. Letting him get away was a travesty and it still hurts all these years later.
Not that he personally beat Barca tonight. I think the Bayern waterboy might even have scored against us this evening. But Thiago’s presence in a Bayern shirt represents something even larger. Thiago, and to a larger degree his entire generation of Barca players, were never properly bled into the first team in order to provide team continuity going forward. There are a lot of reasons for this. Let’s not forget the transfer ban season that coincided with the disbanding of a promising Barca B squad all happened simultaneously. This led the team to be without a generation of youth talent at the same time they were turning to a Galactico strategy for transfers by bringing in talent from elsewhere to suck up both playing time and paychecks. Thiago himself left as a result of a loophole in his contract triggered by the coach’s inability to find him adequate playing time.
While this happened nearly a decade ago, the results played out tonight and throughout the last couple of seasons for Barca. Our players fall into two camps. One, seasoned veterans with hard won reputations but aging legs. And young sensations like Ansu and Riqui Puig. Ridiculous talent but limited in experience. But there is no middle generation to be the core of the team aside from Sergi Roberto who, despite having played every position aside from keeper, cannot qualify as an entire generation by himself.
This leads us to two problems with the current squad. First, simply put, they are just too old. Messi, Busquests, Pique, Suarez, and the senior leaders on the squad are still some of the best in the game. Don’t get me wrong. But father time is undefeated. It doesn’t matter how advanced their skills remain technically, they simply can’t keep up with younger squads. It’s not their fault, it’s human biology. But, having amassed so much power within the club, many veterans still insist on playing every minute of every game. Were we to have hard-minded managers willing to take the risk of sitting some of these veterans, we might have more balance. But instead, we have players well past their prime trying to keep up with opponents just entering their own. And any attempt to shave off veteran minutes runs the serious risk of causing a locker room revolt.
Even if a coach was so inclined, because the board failed to properly sustain our player roster balance between the old and the young, the only options the coach is left with are the super young players. Having said that, we were extremely fortunate to have found two players this year in Ansu and Riqui (as well as De Jong who we acquired) who should be permanent parts of our starting line-up going forward. I say should because there’s nothing in the way Barca has treated its La Masia players in the last decade that suggests that they will get that opportunity. And with a board hard set on using it’s younger players as bargaining chips to pay off debt accrued through their own poor business dealings, I have a serious fear that we may find a way to screw up this new generation of talent as well. By the way, this might be the time for me to ask the basic question. How on Earth did Riqui Puig not get a single minute of playing time in the entire Champions League since the restart? But, I digress.
To be sure, we’re had decidedly uninspiring coaching options in the last two years. Valverde, being hired to coach Neymar, couldn’t have been too happy to have lost the Brazilian just before the kickoff of his inaugural season. I’m not defending Valverde. He earned his way out of FC Barcelona. But the ultra defensive direction in which he steered Barcelona could be viewed as his having little other choice in his first season. When he continued to coach in that conservative fashion in his second go-around, we blamed him for the team’s poor performances. Yet given what we’ve seen under Setién, is it possible that he was playing that way simply because he knew our players no longer possessed the physicality to play in a more attacking manner? When Setién came in, I figured that we might lose some games, but at least we would play attacking football. He started in that fashion, but very quickly the team was reverting to becoming Valverde: The Sequel. We even started the game in Valverde’s preferred 4-4-2.
There’s no question in my mind that Bayern was Setién’s final game. Losing was one thing, but losing one’s dignity is another entirely. But there are some, including myself, that argue that Barca’s problems start well beyond the locker room and begin with the board itself. Yes, they’ve made horrendous financial decisions in terms of signings over the last couple of years. But, why have they been making those decisions at all rather than developing our in-house talent? When I watched Neymar help PSG come from behind the other day to advance to the semifinals, I was reminded of his last big game in a Barca shirt helping us come from behind against the same PSG only a few years ago. At the time, the future seemed clear. Messi would be allowed to age gracefully while Neymar would slowly take on the mantle of the world’s best player and we would soon be talking about Neymar-dependicia while Messi eased into his twilight years.
Instead, Neymar left for greener pastures and a higher profile, even though ironically he seems to simply have ended up in the shadow of another teammate in Kylian Mbappe. Meanwhile, Barca were left without an heir apparent superstar to Lionel Messi at the same time they were left without a middle generation of talent. What they were left with was a bundle of cash from PSG to go out and buy a whole new team.
But, instead of being a blessing, it was instead a test to team identity. It’s like getting an unexpected influx of money from work or a big lottery ticket. Sure, you take care of some necessities. But you are more likely to go out and spend way too much money on stuff you don’t need simply because the money is burning a hole in your pocket. This has been Barca’s transfer policy since Neymar’s departure. Their new spending spree has gotten a lot of headlines but all it has earned them in return are a series of big name signings that haven’t paid off. One of them even scored a brace against us while providing another assist in Coutinho. Another didn’t even start the game or make much of a difference once he was introduced. Another was on the bench through injury. Of the three, Dembele still stands the best chance to actually pay off. But that assumes he is able to stay healthy and a future coach knows the best way to weave his unique wide talents into a team that seems determined to play ultra narrow.
There was a lot wrong with Barcelona against Bayern. I thought it would be the night that ter Stegen put his permanent claim on the German #1 shirt for the national team by showing up Neuer. Instead, he had one of the worst games he’s ever played in a Barca shirt. Messi didn’t so much disappear as he never saw the ball. Setién said last week that he was trying to make sure Messi stayed closer to the goal in order to get more goals without dropping so deep. But when your midfield can’t get the ball past the halfway mark, it means Messi doesn’t get nearly enough touches. Suarez was Suarez. 89 minutes of proving that he is now too slow to outrun most defenders, generally not making much noise, then scoring a world class goal out of nowhere. Semedo, who has been a bright spot of late, may have let Davies “end his Barcelona career,” in the words of the TV commentator, by letting the youngster embarrass him on the left side. Let’s also not forget that while we did technically score twice, one of those goals was scored by Bayern on our behalf. So, other than Suarez’s finish, we contributed very little going forward.
So many trouble signs to point to. But, the only purely criminal act of the night came in how the Barca players reacted to the butt-kicking they were receiving. A champion keeps his head high and fights back. A champion goes down swinging, even if it ends in defeat. Barca were more than beaten tonight. They were humiliated.
This team and its players have earned every last drop of reverence they’ve been afforded by fans and the press over the years. It’s not their fault that their superstars have aged out of dominance. It’s not the players fault, at least, that the board has failed to properly reinforce those superstars with complimentary players or adequate coaching. But, no matter how we assign the blame, the simple fact remains that this generation of Barca, the version we’ve all come to love, has reached its end point. We’re still talking about world class players. So, it’s not like I expect us to be relegated anytime soon. And any team with Messi in it has a chance to win a trophy. Even if it isn’t likely to be the one with the big ears.
The good news, however, is that we do currently have young players, who given the opportunity to stay at the club, could easily develop into being another golden generation. We still have our philosophy. Which, while seemingly lost in the last couple of years, is still lying there just beneath the surface waiting for the players who know how to take full advantage. And we still have the Barca name. That stands for something.
But in order to reclaim our honor after this season and the humiliation of this game, we must be bold and break up the current team. We have to accept the fact that our players are past their prime. We have to dedicate ourselves to developing the next generation of Barca talent and putting players around them who might not be household names, but who can do the job, run until their feet fall off, and understand the team’s philosophy. Less Galacticos, more Seydou Keita’s.
When I first fell in love with Barca, it was with names like Ronaldinho and Deco. Shortly after my fandom flourished, I was introduced to a new coach named Pep who promptly sent all my favorite players packing and handed the keys to a set of names I had never heard of before. At the time, I was confused. But that team ended up becoming one of the greatest squads the sport has ever seen. Regardless of what happens in the wake of the 8-2 defeat, we are still a distance away from those heights. But, you can’t win a marathon until you’ve taken the first step.
It’s time to dramatically retool the organization both inside the locker room and, especially, inside the boardroom. I realize it’s unlikely for the current board to agree to an early election. But starting fresh in the boardroom as soon as possible is essential to reclaiming our greatness. This generation of Barca players has made us proud. And regardless of nights like against Bayern, I will always be proud of what they give. But, all good things come to an end. And, in order for us to have a new beginning, we need to accept the fact that this particular chapter has come to a close, make the necessary changes, and take that first step into the next generation of Barca champions.
This was a guest post by Christopher Malcolm. Give him a follow on Twitter or Instagram!
