Some notes and comments about the Blaugrana present:
1. Messi is the best. No doubt. He can play walking, he can run or he
can do whatever he wants to. When he has to be, he is. And, while he is, we
will win titles. Then... we'll see.
2. The way to play Luis Enrique seems increasingly "it".
Interestingly, the more we resemble "that", the more important have
become players like Busquets who some wanted to send to the bench and put in his
place Mascherano. As if they were the same. As if a change of stamps.
3. In this line, the model was changed (it was not evolution, it was
change, for sure) to come back, now, as close as possible to the model. The
worst thing is we do not know if the model is for the Club or for the team.
4. Iniesta (84), Pique (87), Messi (87) and Busquets (88), were already
when the FIFA Club World Cup 2009. Thiago (91) and Sergi Roberto (92), should
be next. The first is gone. The second, is not yet consolidated. Danger.
5. If in January we should bring 5 or 6 players to save the
"B" (playing in 2nd B, do not forget, after relegation last year), it
means that something is being done badly. B's mission is to serve to prepare
the players for the 1st team.
6. So many players coming and going from the "B" also means
that something is not well done at the level of planning and scouting. The
"B" players should get there to go to the 1st team, not for
commercial transactions.
7. It is great that the Technical Secretariat goes up and down and tries
to have as much information about players worldwide. The problem is that we
have gone from "What we do not find at home, we’ll go to look for it
out" to "What we do not find out, we're going to look for it at
home."
8. The Club is in "excellent economic situation", but we can
not sign in January, because we would not be on-line with EBITDA and new
elections should be called. In other words, maybe we are not so well.
9. It seems that the only way for the club's new revenues is through
agreements with sponsors. Agreements that we do not know what they really mean
for the soci. What do we give in return? We're not told. They talk about
"confidentiality clauses". Given that everything had to be done with
"transparency"...
10. All this, with a reform of the Stadium that still we do not know if
we have permission from City Hall and the Generalitat or, either, how it will
be funded. Remember that 200M€ were coming from downgrading the debt from 400
to 200M€ to borrow again. Today, the debt is more than 300M €. Complicated. Very
complicated.
11. The Club continues at the courts (and losing lawsuits). The latter,
with bills paid for a work not done. In any normal place this should make those
responsible resign. Here...
12. We all know that guilty ones are Jordi Casas and the "black hand".
Interestingly, judges (both civil and sports), say the opposite. Why is that
way.
13. Do not turn around more. The team holds the Club. The day the team
stops winning (and we've seen this year after Anoeta), the situation will be
untenable. Those who know me know that I do not want the team to lose never.
Neither the team, nor the Club, deserve the officials we have. I know there
have been elections and Bartomeu won clearl. No doubt. But, that there are many
socis who vote based on whether the ball goes in or not, it is also very clear.
And, the same that voted Bartomeu now, will ask for his resignation as soon the
team loses two games in a row. And back to point 1. Will be able Neymar (beyond
the 57,1M€ or whatever), to do what has made the Argentine when this one is
gone? And, it is not about a couple of months, as he did recently because the
injury of Messi. It is doing so one year, yes, and next year, also.
And 14. The "repoker" this year has only one point of
comparison with the sextet or the Champions League in Paris. And it is that we
have been for 10 years at the top of world football. No one had ever been so
long up there. And it has to continue, because otherwise...
Anyway, only to wish Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!
Jordi Pascual
You can follow me on twitter: @JordiPascualP
