20 Mar 2022 22:07:33
Madrid trounced by a Barcelona team perhaps showing us how to proceed. Barcelona have lost one of the two best players in the world and been forced to rely on a combination of younger players with free or cheaper new signings. They have got rid of one manager mid season and got in someone who understands what the ethos of theit club is and has the technical nous to get results and forge a good team spirit.

1.) 20 Mar 2022
20 Mar 2022 22:54:05
So you’re saying being back OGS?

2.) 20 Mar 2022
20 Mar 2022 23:23:13
No way. He had very limited technical ability as a manager. Xavi and Barcelona have the right model.

3.) 21 Mar 2022
21 Mar 2022 09:14:19
Barcelona have a great academy and have been fortunate enough to have players like Fati, Gavi and Pedri come through around the same time. Add to that a couple of good signings in Frenkie De Jong and Ferran Torres and they have a good core of talented young players to build around.

In Xavi they have one of their best ever players who seems to be an astute young manager. I'd imagine in the Barcelona dressing room when Xavi speaks everyone listens.

I don't there is a "right" model as if running a football club is like a paint by numbers kit.

Each club is different in philosophy, in set up, in aims, in structure. What they need is different, and therefore how they approach running the club also has to be different.

{Ed001's Note - that is not true, they pick up kids from around Spain just like United and Liverpool do. Fati was in Marinaleda while I was there, with his little brother (who was a better player), nowhere near La Masia. He did not develop there, just finished off there. Pedri had been playing professional football for Las Palmas after coming through there, nothing to do with La Masia at all.}

4.) 21 Mar 2022
21 Mar 2022 09:43:12
I can imagine the reaction on here if we had signed Aubameyang and Adama Traore in the January window lol.

Also its not all cheap/ free signings, they signed ferran torres for a significant amount of money and still have a huge wage bill.

They are now performing at a level that their set of players and wage bill should be performing at. Impressive job by Xavi to turn it around so quickly but he's hardly working miracles.

5.) 21 Mar 2022
21 Mar 2022 12:59:44
You have to give credit to Xavi after the mess Koeman made of it, but then again he does know what he is doing and what the clubs needs….