After another below-par showing against Valencia, the knives were out for Ronald Koeman again at Barcelona.
The Dutch coach’s belief in a rigid 4-2-3-1, rather than a more natural (for Barca) 4-3-3, which allows for greater freedom, is beginning to hurt the team.
That’s just one of many issues any new president will have to deal with once they’ve been elected on January 24.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that this will be one of the most important elections in club history, and the members have to get their selection exactly right.
Catalan journalist, Marcal Lorente, is in no doubt as to what’s required at this stage in terms of the character required from the new president.
“The club is at a crucial moment in its history due to its difficult sporting and economic situation,” he wrote in his column for Mundo Deportivo.
“[…] Barca now does not need cheap populism or political servility, but rather an independent surgeon who knows the complexity of the club and the world of football to get it right by passing the scalpel.
“This is not the time for just any Trump who likes to get photoshopped on banners and embrace the ladies by repeating cheap slogans and patriotic proclamations.
“Barca does not need any Catalan Berlusconi who during the summers, shows off yachts and blondes to demonstrate his personal success and the eroticism of power. Nor is it convenient for a novice who slips with every step he takes.
“There are some with clear political dependencies that are cheered by those who want to use Barca for their partisan interests. The members should prevent it because it will divide them further and create more enemies for the club.
“Barca now needs an Obama, a serious and discreet leader, who keeps independent of political, media and economic interests, who has always and unconditionally supported the club during all this time, who is transversal, who can share a table with the last club presidents and who doesn’t just show up when there are elections because they smell power.
“Barca needs a conciliatory president to manage the club without testosterone exhibitionism or false melancholy.”
The rebuilding job for the new president cannot be understated.
Former incumbent, Josep Maria Bartomeu, has left the club in ruins. More in debt that it’s ever been, unable to upgrade Camp Nou – which should’ve been finished six years ago – unable to buy big name players, getting current first-team stars to accept big pay cuts…
The list is practically endless, and if the new president can’t get to grips with things quickly, Barca are in big, big trouble.
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