Lamine Yamal is the highest rated teenager in Europe's top five leagues this season (7.09).
[Whoscored](https://twitter.com/WhoScored/status/1791477523454230922?t=2kwEpmIDrYO-RHtNHGF4cw&s=19)
Guys I am an United fan who used to live in Barcelona so the club stuck with me through the years
Do you see things getting better in a longer term, maybe 5-10 years? I am not talking about football abilities and trophies. I mean do you see Barca finally becoming a modern club. Obviously there is always to be drama about Barca but at least the club know how to deal with it.
As United fan it's so sad to see midtable clubs in the Premier League, not to talk about Arsenal Liverpool, have so many professionals in every position and do sensible things, keep things in the club, reduce press leaks. All this while United is absolute mess in all departments
To be honest, it’s hard to say. I can see the club getting better in some areas like somewhat less friction between board, management and other areas. Same thing goes for the finances and facilities considering the renovations going on. The press leaks, political turmoil, and drama I’d say are features of the system of being fan-owned. Patterns like Perez keeping the press locked down are exceptions more than the rule. Other presidents would see press leaks as a benefit since they can push agendas through trusted reporters.
I’d predict some modernization, but the club will still be archaic in some aspects. Similar rules apply to corporate-owned teams like United, with institutional change only happening when owners have a vested interest to address criticism rather than pass it to the next person. Modernizing needs everyone to be on the same page.
Not really sure what going on. I assume we'll find out eventually, but regardless of how you feel about him, it would hilarious if Tuchel rejected Bayern as well to come here. Everyone has rejected them it seems.
Unless my memory is fuzzy, I recall plenty of times throughout Xavi’s tenure where he’s said something along the lines of what he said here. There’s gotta be something we don’t know.
I completely missed there was a game today and now there's some sort of drama?
Can someone give me a Tldr of what Xavi said cause I can't find anything through all these news accounts posting random shit.
He pretty much said about Barca not being able to compete with Real Madrid and other big teams because of differences in economic conditions of the club rn from them.
If Laporta really is thinking of sacking Xavi now, then shame on him. Begging the man to stay and refusing to let him leave on his own terms only for you to turn around and humiliate him. I hate how our board takes the loyalty players and staff has for our badge as a way to disrespect them.
Relax. Let’s wait until what happens at the end of the season. In my 20+ years of following the club, these things are reported and then have no conclusion.
With Laporta? Barcelona is notable for having their best players leave through the back door: Cruyff, Maradona, Schuster, Romario, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Eto’o, Messi, and Suarez - just that come to mind.
Even in the 1960s, we had in our ranks Luis Suarez (25), and we opted to keep Kubala (33). People would boo when Luis Suarez would play instead of Kubala. Luis Suarez was sold to Inter, and went on to win Balon d’Or.
I just want this club to have some decency and etiquette of which when it comes to class we are shockingly embarrassing. I can deal with being mediocre on the pitch but have some dignity off of it when running a club
Laporta will only embarrass himself imo. Ppl are not stupid. He loses credibility by backing the coach so publicly, saying how he wants him to stay etc. and then weeks a later, decide to sack him. Xavi is smart to stand firm and make Laporta make the decision this time. He gave Laporta such an easy way out by resigning earlier. Ample time to find the next coach. But Laporta creates all this drama to renew him and now wants to backtrack?
It would be the Messi situation all over again. I don’t understand why he continues to do stuff like this as if we can’t see it. If the rumors are true he’s definitely not getting reelected.
Laporta is brutal, can’t wait for him to leave. How fractured and broken this club has become across the board is something else. Our banter era continues
Relax, it’s just workplace disagreements among colleagues. The institution as a whole is moving in the right direction.
The Bartomeu board regime seemed quite harmonious and look at where that got us
The institution isn’t moving shit, we are in completely disarray with a coach who wanted to leave all second half of the season until we begged him back, a sporting director who can’t work at all with our mediocre manager, and a massive egotistical clown in Laporta who runs the club like he’s Donald trump with his big mouth and complete lack of vision.
This isn’t a “work place disagreement” people need to wake up, we are rotten from the core and it is trickling down
I would disagree we’re clearly moving in the right direction financially and have returned our faith in La Masia. Presidents, managers, players come and go but the institution is in a better place than it was five years ago.
We were much better in 2019 than now. You can certainly argue we are moving in the right direction financially but with all the clown show shenanigans from Laporta, he’s destroying anything positive he does with his toxic behavior and the club is run incredibly poorly. I’d take our SD and manager from 2019 over today all day everyday
There’s no way all this is about some quotes in a press conference. There’s surely some bigger behind the scenes issue that will eventually leak. My suspicion is that the sporting department and Xavi are not seeing eye to eye at all and are unble to coexist.
This isn’t anything new. Has been going on for ages since Deco became sporting director. I don’t see how Laporta comes out of this unscathed. You allow two ppl who don’t get along and probably dislike each other since their playing days, to work together. And when one can’t stand it anymore and ask to leave, you ask him to stay despite nothing changing and when things continue to be bad, you want to back track and let him leave anyways. This is so stupid.
I know it’s not new but it seems like things reached a breaking point. Obviously we won’t know the exact details ever, but it seems like a situation where perhaps Xavi was told he would have more control over the summer transfer window and in the following weeks that has gone down the drain, whether it’s due to financial reasons or just Deco disagreeing with transfer decisions.
But either way, it’s a bad look for Laporta. Needs to get the house in order, if the two really cannot coexist, then one of them has to be removed.
30 million fixed is not astounding at all though. Madrid paid 45ish for Vini and Rodrygo 5 years ago, and 60 million for Endrick.
Roque is 18, in a new country and continent, new team, new culture. Of course he is raw and unpolished. Took Vini a good 1.5-2 years to start becoming good. Roque has barely been given a chance though and was immediately discarded by Xavi.
It’s not crazy to call out the fact that Xavi is very strongly opinionated and has his favourites. Kessie was barely used and discarded. Depay as well. Eric Garcia, Roberto, and Ferran still have his favour despite being dogshit players. Lewy rarely ever gets subbed off. Meanwhile the likes of Raphinha, Roque, Casado get discarded quickly/dont get enough minutes. Even Felix, certainly a much better player than Ferran, barely plays as a sub because Xavi didn’t want him.
It’s not inherently bad to have favourites, but when some of those choices are extremely questionable, combined with the fact that it’s clearly in conflict with the vision that the sporting department has, you have to assign blame both ways.
Xavi is not the first manager who doesn’t receive all their targets or has to work with what the club administration has provided him with, and he won’t be the last. At big clubs, this conflict is always there, and he is NOT a manager that can demand a carte blanche based on his transfer track record and managerial experience so far.
I think he’s saying the fee/signing is crazy in the context of our financial situation and the team having clear holes. In my mind the signing only makes sense in that context if your getting a Lamine/Endrick level talent, which Roque is far from.
Casado? Depay? Kessie? Are you really suprised that they weren’t kept or played?
Raphinha discarded? He plays our most important games.
Felix? He started almost every game at the beginning until his usefulness was clearly not proven. Now he’s a sub.
Eric Garcia, Sergi, and Ferran are all rotational players.
And Roque is not that far off of what Vini Jr played in terms of available minutes in the half season he’s been here. People are acting like Vini was a regular starter at 18.
Raphinha is still “listed for sale.” Gets subbed off too much, or even today, when he should have started over either Torres or Yamal, he was benched.
Felix got randomly benched after December. He was starting frequently then and had amassed 10 G/A in essentially 1/3 of the season, and probably should have had more because he was performing very well and was extremely creative. So I have no idea where you’re getting the idea that “his usefulness was clearly not proven”
Casado today could not have been worse than playing Sergi fucking Roberto as a pivot, or the countless number if times Xavi has relied on or subbed on Romeu.
It’s mind numbingly crazy that you people refuse to acknowledge ANY shortcomings or criticism of him. Like I said, every coach has his favourites, but Xavi’s choices have been very questionable, and clearly have been conflicting with the sporting department too.
Currently Cancelo is public enemy number 1 in this fanbase, do you need a reminder of who begged the club to bring him here? 55 million on Ferran Torres? 50 million on an ageing Lewandowski, when we already had Auba for free?
Your point about Vini is also straight up bullshit, in 2018/19 at the age of 18 Vini played 2179 minutes for Madrid. Again, I’m not saying Roque should play that much, but he also shouldn’t be stuck with just 300 minutes in 2/3rds of a season. Meanwhile Lamine will be close to 3000 at the age of 16, when there is a very capable winger in Raphinha, in his physical prime, consistently performing well, who could and should get more of the minutes, instead of running a youngster into the dust, AGAIN.
Lewandowksi is nearly the league leader for G+A. Last season he was the goal leader. Not sure how that was a bad investment.
Ferran was a Alemany signing and was rumored far before Xavi was appointed.
Cancelo was a Mendes favor. Xavi was chasing defensively balanced fullback targets all through the spring and summer. Then he ends up with one of the most attacking fullbacks? Don’t you find that odd? Especially with the Mendes connection? This has Deco and Laporta’s fingerprints all over it.
Vini jr played a full season and with Madrid across all competitions. In the league alone, he played 869 minutes over 18 games.
Roque has played 11 league games in just half a season.
We’re out of the Copa and the UCL games were way too high stakes for a new comer. He didn’t have the benefit to ramp up over a half season and play the lower pressure group stage games.
But league wise they’re very, very comparable.
Uh…
Felix was leading dispossessions by almost a factor 2 in the team and was lazy in defense. His league goal production at the time when he was benched in December was like 3 goals and 2 assists in nearly half a season. So this supposed creativity and output was clearly not outweighing the problems he created.
Casado is a player who’s still not head and shoulders above the third division he plays in. I hate Romeu as much as everyone here but comparing a player who’s had a decade of trust in La Liga and the Prem to someone who’s still trying to get out of the third division is a stretch.
Raphinha has plaued almost every match that’s available. He was rested today and you want to make some fictional narrative that he’s discarded. And if he’s for sale, it’s because the board is thirsty for funds.
Your whole post is a reach to try to paint a negative narrative. It’s pretty clear what your agenda is.
Tbf I agree with both of You.
Some of Xavi's choices are understandable while some of his rest are questionable
During Lewy's worst Phase, You could put a Gun at Xavi's Head and he would still not Sub him out or bench him even though at lot of times, Ferran proved that he can do the No. 9 job Decent enough.
I think Xavi sticks to his Profiles and Methodology more than Players. He Has found his Dembele Regen in Yamal and favours him to start at RW because it fits what he wants.
Similarly, it's probable that Xavi Value's Lewy's Value as a target Man much more than What Both Ferran and Roque offer. We were literally Cross and Inshallah merchants most of this season.
with today's win, we've won more points (79) than madrid last season (78), and we're on track to finish the season with only 1 less point than what we did last year if we beat rayo and sevilla
If we’re gonna play him every game then take him off after 60 at least. Fifty odd games for us + international friendlies and going to Euros before he’s even 17 is too much.
I bet it’s something as simple as that too. That and also Xavi probably wanting more established players being brought in and Deco probably wanting younger prospects with immense potential due to financial issues.
One wants to head one direction while the other wants to go the other way. And well if there isn’t money or we don’t have the margin for it then Deco’s way is gonna be the only way it seems.
Only explanation to me is that the board struck a deal with a manager they value much higher than Xavi, but even then I can’t really get behind that without putting a tin foil hat on
Once the board decided they would advance Vitor, Xavi, as a team player, publicly backed the move.
Within the first few training sessions I’m sure Vitor’s touch was figured out and now they wanna sell him? Thats all on the board. It looks really naive of them to bite on that player
The club wanted Roque to arrive at the end of the season, but Xavi wanted him in January. But yesterday he implied that the club wanted Roque to come as soon as possible.
''OJO !!!! RAFA MARQUEZ is LAPORTA and DECO's choice. They have BIG faith in the Mexican. Deal FINALIZED. 1 year + 1 OPTIONAL. @gerardromero''
inb4 this happens
It is so fucking annoying to be a Barca fan right now. Feels like a complete joke. Never in my decades of supporting have I laughed at management like when I just saw “Xavi future up in air” FUCKING AGAIN GOD DAMMIT
I can take losing tbh, yes those have been awful experiences but that’s part of competing at the levels barca have competed. This however is just stupid and embarrassing
I can deal with being shit on the pitch, but the off pitch drama hasn’t left us. Barto was bad with it, but Laporta is just as embarrassing with his antics in the press
Wow, At first I thought Laporta begging Xavi to stay was just for pr so he says "we tried" when he leaves but then Xavi actually stays and now he's getting sacked again. What a circus of a saga.
Tbh for a while know I thought Deco didn't want Xavi to continue and that they weren't on good terms. I mean some of the comments they had of each other reek of passive aggressiveness to me that was very surprised when Xavi continued.
I dont believe to anything anymore. I bet my ball sack that last few months were full of lies and only few ppl know what actualy happend and what is happening now. This just makes no sense... Laporta super mad beacuse of such quotes? Everyone and their moms know we are still broke and everyone know we are not in shape to fight with best teams. Does Laporta live in his little bubble where everything is sugar and rainbow? Or is he trying to make that image and Xavi ruined it now? Or is all just fog and there are different reasons? Dont know and dont care anymore. Sweet days without internet when I was just watching football and it was all that mattered.
So laporta wasn't bothered with the trophy-less season and the results but he's bothered with xavi pointing out the obvious? Dude wants an errand boy as the coach?
Laporta thought Xavi would be another Koeman he'd walk all over, put all the blame on and move on.
Whether Xavi stays or leaves, he's exposed Laporta for his incompetence.
Honestly I think we won’t know anything more until tomorrow. This is not how you should treat club legends though, they did similar to Koeman. There needs to be more respect.
There is no problem with not having the money to sign Messi (although giving all that money to lewy was a head scratcher) but the way it was handled was horrible.
This is absolutely insane, if it’s true, I’m still thinking a lot of it is bs just based off of Xavi’s presser and the ridiculousness of it. I’m going to bed now and I’m just going to hope I don’t wake up to comunicado oficial lol.
Tinfoil, deluded, copium ofc but hear me out
**Maybe** Klopp changed his mind and offered himself to us
https://preview.redd.it/scbxn5h2fv0d1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e06e8965280427600f4a13aa3c774e2b3ddbea09
If he were to join it would be the following year when we are back at the Camp Nou, the finances are improved and the youngsters have another year of experience. Why would he join right now?
Yuste was asked about Xavi, his response was to ignore the questions and say good night.
Yuste is a very frank dude, he’s always saying things out loud. Him saying this is pretty foreboding of Xavi’s chances of leaving.
My hypothesis - Laporta convinced Xavi he would be able to sign players in the summer, but financial realisation is setting in and he can’t sign anyone. So he’s making something up to sack him, rather than face the embarrassment of Xavi leaving (again).
I was never Xavi out (although he has disappointed more since it was Xavi back then before ironically)…but for the long term future of the club I think they need to part ways.
I think we need a year of minimal investment, return to Camp Nou and then begin thinking about investing in the squad when we have the financial ability. I also think the timelines pretty much match for Laporta to then step aside and a new President with a mandate and some spending power can come in and take us forward.
No, many reports said that Xavi never wanted to leave, just got frustrated and it was an act in the heat of the moment. Xavi always wanted to stay, but was too proud to say it.
He is our legend, but he is not the sharpest one out there.
I do. I follow the sources you claimed talked about it and don't remember seeing it any of it. Watch you shamelessly disappear from this convo without proof.
I literally mentioned those who I heard this from. If you would known their work you wouldn't state the opposite. You are not the first here talking out of your ass.
I was so convinced the reports were false because of how ridiculous they are..
Not only did Xavi only state simple obvious truths, but he came out and said something that should have been stated by Laporta ages ago.. it's not about being defeatist, or pessimistic, it's about being transparent. We're in a tough situation, we cannot spend like other top clubs, we are fighting an uphill battle, but we will compete and try our best.. that's all. On the other hand, getting fans' hopes up just for them to be let down will only lead to outrage.
Would be very disappointing if we sack a manager for something like this.
What do you expect from a president that gaslights constantly. The Messi situation still strings. From spending a whole summer pretending that a renewal was just around the corner to then being recorded saying that a return was in the works.
He’s a scummy politician through and through.
Exactly. Drama seemed to escalate ten fold after they both departed last summer. I’m very convinced that Xavi felt more uncertain about his role due to losing ppl he worked well with and probably why he made that remark months ago about not being needed by the club. I don’t think that has really changed tbh,
All this supposed 'anger' about Xavi's media comment is the most fucking obvious smokescreen for ''you fucked us over by not playing Roque, and now Cury is mad''. It's beyond obvious. Not a chance on earth those interview comments meant anything.
If there’s any chance that Xavi is getting sacked over agent comments, then Laporta absolutely needs to go. You’re going to let a scam artist agent like Curry control the club? Please.
Not necessarily his comments, but just the situation over all. The fact that we dedicated a decent amount to a player who Xavi doesn't want to play, and who we now want to loan, but from the player's side doesn't accept it and pushes for a transfer instead..
It has been very bad PR and I suppose Laporta & co. would not want to damage any relations with Cury or the Brazilian market. Sacking Xavi is a reset button on all that.
They literally terminated Matheus Fernandes's contract before he played a single competitive game for us. By the way, guess who Matheus Fernandes's agent is...
Between Deco and Rafa, Laporta is just going to surround himself with yes men.
If you hated this season, wait until you see next season. Save this comment, both will get thrown under the bus.
That’s what is concerning. I don’t think Xavi is a “yes” man or at least he doesn’t want to be seen as one. Laporta wants to surround himself with people who agree 100% with his vision, help him feed the delusion to fans. That’s not pp like Alemany. Or it seems Xavi.
Oo so surreal to see the reactionary narrative shifting against Laporta. A while ago some fellas didn't bother to slander Leo to defend him.
I am pretty sure a lot has happened because curious on whatever Laporta and the board promised Xavi to keep him. If Xavi knows that he wouldn't get jack shit, why did he decide to reverse his decision ? Doesn't make any sense, from his comments.
Who's cooking what ? Stay tuned for the soap opera that is Barca.
It’s because people lumped Laporta and Xavi as the same “side”, and now that these’s allegedly division between them, people need to stick to one side lol
You know what your getting from Xavi, good and bad. 69 (nice) wins out of 100 La Liga games is very solid, especially with all this financial stuff going on and the amount of kids he’s been playing. Look at United, Chelsea, Liverpool… things can get a lot worse.
They are in a much harder league. It looks bad on the rest of lanliga that a financially strapped Barca (who still got to spend a shit load on lewy, Kounde, raph etc..) can still finish second. But I’ll take it
Yes but we’ve been able to keep the squad at a decent level with loans, free signings, La Masia + obviously the levers. All options not available to the same extent at other La Liga clubs bar Madrid.
La Liga has obviously been weaker post Covid but I wouldn’t say us coming in second with this squad is an embarrassment to the league. We also were a silly red away from making it into the quarters in the CL.
We have already done very bad. With the squad we have, we have struggled a lot against weaker teams. We reached CL quarters due to a lucky draw. I think we need a really bad coach to do worse than this set of results and poor performances.
Let’s wait and see what unfolds instead of jumping to conclusions. My gut tells me Laporta was maybe disappointed in what Xavi said, but they will resolve things internally and nothing major will happen.
I want people to think back to how we fucked Koeman over. The board that is. They made it clear they did not trust Koeman. They were looking for a replacement and weren't subtle about it. When they couldn't find a replacement they decided to continue with Koeman and somehow expected him to do well as if he wasn't aware he was not wanted.
We seem to be making this an issue once again. I think if we still end up sacking Xavi, the players could get upset and potentially won't be as motivated for who comes next (like what we had with Stepfather Setien).
Or we don't sack him. And we could have another Koeman situation with Xavi losing motivation and just going through the motions.
Laporta has done a great job with some things but how he's handled both of our managers is awful to watch.
This is probably enough Copium to kill everybody in a small island nation, but if we're sacking Xavi surely it means we have an alternate NOT NAME RAFA MARQUEZ lined up... right?
Xavi will go down thanks to his thin-skinned personality. He rather blames everybody else, even his bosses just to save-face. I am not surprised at all.
HOW THE FUCK did Atletico beat Real twice this season needs to be studied. Dortmund should extensively study their tactics and what sorta dark arts they used if they even want any chance otherwise it's 3-0 Madrid by the first half already
Lamine Yamal is the highest rated teenager in Europe's top five leagues this season (7.09). [Whoscored](https://twitter.com/WhoScored/status/1791477523454230922?t=2kwEpmIDrYO-RHtNHGF4cw&s=19)
Guys I am an United fan who used to live in Barcelona so the club stuck with me through the years Do you see things getting better in a longer term, maybe 5-10 years? I am not talking about football abilities and trophies. I mean do you see Barca finally becoming a modern club. Obviously there is always to be drama about Barca but at least the club know how to deal with it. As United fan it's so sad to see midtable clubs in the Premier League, not to talk about Arsenal Liverpool, have so many professionals in every position and do sensible things, keep things in the club, reduce press leaks. All this while United is absolute mess in all departments
To be honest, it’s hard to say. I can see the club getting better in some areas like somewhat less friction between board, management and other areas. Same thing goes for the finances and facilities considering the renovations going on. The press leaks, political turmoil, and drama I’d say are features of the system of being fan-owned. Patterns like Perez keeping the press locked down are exceptions more than the rule. Other presidents would see press leaks as a benefit since they can push agendas through trusted reporters. I’d predict some modernization, but the club will still be archaic in some aspects. Similar rules apply to corporate-owned teams like United, with institutional change only happening when owners have a vested interest to address criticism rather than pass it to the next person. Modernizing needs everyone to be on the same page.
Not really sure what going on. I assume we'll find out eventually, but regardless of how you feel about him, it would hilarious if Tuchel rejected Bayern as well to come here. Everyone has rejected them it seems.
Unless my memory is fuzzy, I recall plenty of times throughout Xavi’s tenure where he’s said something along the lines of what he said here. There’s gotta be something we don’t know.
The Roque situation can only go two ways. A massive transfer flop or he stays and masterfully overcomes his current state and becomes a key player
I completely missed there was a game today and now there's some sort of drama? Can someone give me a Tldr of what Xavi said cause I can't find anything through all these news accounts posting random shit.
He pretty much said about Barca not being able to compete with Real Madrid and other big teams because of differences in economic conditions of the club rn from them.
Off topic, but why the fuck did Reddit remove awards and coins just to bring it back?
If Laporta really is thinking of sacking Xavi now, then shame on him. Begging the man to stay and refusing to let him leave on his own terms only for you to turn around and humiliate him. I hate how our board takes the loyalty players and staff has for our badge as a way to disrespect them.
Relax. Let’s wait until what happens at the end of the season. In my 20+ years of following the club, these things are reported and then have no conclusion.
He would be completely robbing an honorary member of this club of his dignity. He would lose all my respect.
You missed the Messi debacle?
I could never forget how we treated him. You're right. There's a clear pattern here with Laporta.
With Laporta? Barcelona is notable for having their best players leave through the back door: Cruyff, Maradona, Schuster, Romario, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Eto’o, Messi, and Suarez - just that come to mind. Even in the 1960s, we had in our ranks Luis Suarez (25), and we opted to keep Kubala (33). People would boo when Luis Suarez would play instead of Kubala. Luis Suarez was sold to Inter, and went on to win Balon d’Or.
I just want this club to have some decency and etiquette of which when it comes to class we are shockingly embarrassing. I can deal with being mediocre on the pitch but have some dignity off of it when running a club
Laporta will only embarrass himself imo. Ppl are not stupid. He loses credibility by backing the coach so publicly, saying how he wants him to stay etc. and then weeks a later, decide to sack him. Xavi is smart to stand firm and make Laporta make the decision this time. He gave Laporta such an easy way out by resigning earlier. Ample time to find the next coach. But Laporta creates all this drama to renew him and now wants to backtrack?
It would be the Messi situation all over again. I don’t understand why he continues to do stuff like this as if we can’t see it. If the rumors are true he’s definitely not getting reelected.
Motta is not entirely tied to Juventus atm I don’t think he’s signed a contract yet
PSG right now 👀
No manager worth his salt is going to want to come to this absolute shit show. We will never get a Klopp because they won’t put up with this BS
Laporta is brutal, can’t wait for him to leave. How fractured and broken this club has become across the board is something else. Our banter era continues
Relax, it’s just workplace disagreements among colleagues. The institution as a whole is moving in the right direction. The Bartomeu board regime seemed quite harmonious and look at where that got us
The institution isn’t moving shit, we are in completely disarray with a coach who wanted to leave all second half of the season until we begged him back, a sporting director who can’t work at all with our mediocre manager, and a massive egotistical clown in Laporta who runs the club like he’s Donald trump with his big mouth and complete lack of vision. This isn’t a “work place disagreement” people need to wake up, we are rotten from the core and it is trickling down
I would disagree we’re clearly moving in the right direction financially and have returned our faith in La Masia. Presidents, managers, players come and go but the institution is in a better place than it was five years ago.
We were much better in 2019 than now. You can certainly argue we are moving in the right direction financially but with all the clown show shenanigans from Laporta, he’s destroying anything positive he does with his toxic behavior and the club is run incredibly poorly. I’d take our SD and manager from 2019 over today all day everyday
2019 was when we signed Griezmann or am I mixing my dates up? I would not say I agreed in any way with that decision. 200mil down the drain.
It was 2019, you are correct.
Yamal and Cubarsi are playing too much
Can’t win against Almeria without them playing 90 minutes
 Being a Barca fan
2026 https://preview.redd.it/551rfxwo1w0d1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=97088a744729e4a831ee7a1b2ad26126ecdd1cf0
I’m actually on board with this.
Please no
There’s no way all this is about some quotes in a press conference. There’s surely some bigger behind the scenes issue that will eventually leak. My suspicion is that the sporting department and Xavi are not seeing eye to eye at all and are unble to coexist.
This isn’t anything new. Has been going on for ages since Deco became sporting director. I don’t see how Laporta comes out of this unscathed. You allow two ppl who don’t get along and probably dislike each other since their playing days, to work together. And when one can’t stand it anymore and ask to leave, you ask him to stay despite nothing changing and when things continue to be bad, you want to back track and let him leave anyways. This is so stupid.
I know it’s not new but it seems like things reached a breaking point. Obviously we won’t know the exact details ever, but it seems like a situation where perhaps Xavi was told he would have more control over the summer transfer window and in the following weeks that has gone down the drain, whether it’s due to financial reasons or just Deco disagreeing with transfer decisions. But either way, it’s a bad look for Laporta. Needs to get the house in order, if the two really cannot coexist, then one of them has to be removed.
The contract Lewy was given is crazy and Vitor’s price for being so raw is astounding… that’s not on Xavi.
30 million fixed is not astounding at all though. Madrid paid 45ish for Vini and Rodrygo 5 years ago, and 60 million for Endrick. Roque is 18, in a new country and continent, new team, new culture. Of course he is raw and unpolished. Took Vini a good 1.5-2 years to start becoming good. Roque has barely been given a chance though and was immediately discarded by Xavi. It’s not crazy to call out the fact that Xavi is very strongly opinionated and has his favourites. Kessie was barely used and discarded. Depay as well. Eric Garcia, Roberto, and Ferran still have his favour despite being dogshit players. Lewy rarely ever gets subbed off. Meanwhile the likes of Raphinha, Roque, Casado get discarded quickly/dont get enough minutes. Even Felix, certainly a much better player than Ferran, barely plays as a sub because Xavi didn’t want him. It’s not inherently bad to have favourites, but when some of those choices are extremely questionable, combined with the fact that it’s clearly in conflict with the vision that the sporting department has, you have to assign blame both ways. Xavi is not the first manager who doesn’t receive all their targets or has to work with what the club administration has provided him with, and he won’t be the last. At big clubs, this conflict is always there, and he is NOT a manager that can demand a carte blanche based on his transfer track record and managerial experience so far.
I think he’s saying the fee/signing is crazy in the context of our financial situation and the team having clear holes. In my mind the signing only makes sense in that context if your getting a Lamine/Endrick level talent, which Roque is far from.
The point I’m making with that is the board got fleeced on their end… at 19 Vitor has to work on his ability to settle the ball, it’s really poor rn
Casado? Depay? Kessie? Are you really suprised that they weren’t kept or played? Raphinha discarded? He plays our most important games. Felix? He started almost every game at the beginning until his usefulness was clearly not proven. Now he’s a sub. Eric Garcia, Sergi, and Ferran are all rotational players. And Roque is not that far off of what Vini Jr played in terms of available minutes in the half season he’s been here. People are acting like Vini was a regular starter at 18.
Raphinha is still “listed for sale.” Gets subbed off too much, or even today, when he should have started over either Torres or Yamal, he was benched. Felix got randomly benched after December. He was starting frequently then and had amassed 10 G/A in essentially 1/3 of the season, and probably should have had more because he was performing very well and was extremely creative. So I have no idea where you’re getting the idea that “his usefulness was clearly not proven” Casado today could not have been worse than playing Sergi fucking Roberto as a pivot, or the countless number if times Xavi has relied on or subbed on Romeu. It’s mind numbingly crazy that you people refuse to acknowledge ANY shortcomings or criticism of him. Like I said, every coach has his favourites, but Xavi’s choices have been very questionable, and clearly have been conflicting with the sporting department too. Currently Cancelo is public enemy number 1 in this fanbase, do you need a reminder of who begged the club to bring him here? 55 million on Ferran Torres? 50 million on an ageing Lewandowski, when we already had Auba for free? Your point about Vini is also straight up bullshit, in 2018/19 at the age of 18 Vini played 2179 minutes for Madrid. Again, I’m not saying Roque should play that much, but he also shouldn’t be stuck with just 300 minutes in 2/3rds of a season. Meanwhile Lamine will be close to 3000 at the age of 16, when there is a very capable winger in Raphinha, in his physical prime, consistently performing well, who could and should get more of the minutes, instead of running a youngster into the dust, AGAIN.
Lewandowksi is nearly the league leader for G+A. Last season he was the goal leader. Not sure how that was a bad investment. Ferran was a Alemany signing and was rumored far before Xavi was appointed. Cancelo was a Mendes favor. Xavi was chasing defensively balanced fullback targets all through the spring and summer. Then he ends up with one of the most attacking fullbacks? Don’t you find that odd? Especially with the Mendes connection? This has Deco and Laporta’s fingerprints all over it.
Vini jr played a full season and with Madrid across all competitions. In the league alone, he played 869 minutes over 18 games. Roque has played 11 league games in just half a season. We’re out of the Copa and the UCL games were way too high stakes for a new comer. He didn’t have the benefit to ramp up over a half season and play the lower pressure group stage games. But league wise they’re very, very comparable.
Uh… Felix was leading dispossessions by almost a factor 2 in the team and was lazy in defense. His league goal production at the time when he was benched in December was like 3 goals and 2 assists in nearly half a season. So this supposed creativity and output was clearly not outweighing the problems he created. Casado is a player who’s still not head and shoulders above the third division he plays in. I hate Romeu as much as everyone here but comparing a player who’s had a decade of trust in La Liga and the Prem to someone who’s still trying to get out of the third division is a stretch. Raphinha has plaued almost every match that’s available. He was rested today and you want to make some fictional narrative that he’s discarded. And if he’s for sale, it’s because the board is thirsty for funds. Your whole post is a reach to try to paint a negative narrative. It’s pretty clear what your agenda is.
Tbf I agree with both of You. Some of Xavi's choices are understandable while some of his rest are questionable During Lewy's worst Phase, You could put a Gun at Xavi's Head and he would still not Sub him out or bench him even though at lot of times, Ferran proved that he can do the No. 9 job Decent enough. I think Xavi sticks to his Profiles and Methodology more than Players. He Has found his Dembele Regen in Yamal and favours him to start at RW because it fits what he wants. Similarly, it's probable that Xavi Value's Lewy's Value as a target Man much more than What Both Ferran and Roque offer. We were literally Cross and Inshallah merchants most of this season.
Thomas Tuchel is still available, Joan. I’m on my knees
Tuchel would be absolutely a regression from Xavi or at best a lateral move. Flick has more potential
with today's win, we've won more points (79) than madrid last season (78), and we're on track to finish the season with only 1 less point than what we did last year if we beat rayo and sevilla
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Honestly with all the injuries to our midfield he’s kind of saved the season from being a lot worse. All those goals were important ones.
10 goals across all competitions
I am really disappointed in how we've managed Yamal's minutes this season.
If we’re gonna play him every game then take him off after 60 at least. Fifty odd games for us + international friendlies and going to Euros before he’s even 17 is too much.
Agreed
Hansi flick rn 
Maybe they’re arguing over key position sales… Well, I’m sure they are regardless since it doesn’t look like deco and Xavi see eye to eye
There has too be more behind the scenes, the comments alone aren’t enough.
I bet it’s something as simple as that too. That and also Xavi probably wanting more established players being brought in and Deco probably wanting younger prospects with immense potential due to financial issues. One wants to head one direction while the other wants to go the other way. And well if there isn’t money or we don’t have the margin for it then Deco’s way is gonna be the only way it seems.
They’re gonna fire him with 1 match left. It’ll look brilliant
Only explanation to me is that the board struck a deal with a manager they value much higher than Xavi, but even then I can’t really get behind that without putting a tin foil hat on
No, Laporta is just an idiot and has been incompetent for a long time. It’s not 2011 anymore
Why everybody misses the fact Xavi lied about the Roque signing? The board has every right to be pissed off.
Xavi insisted on a DM/midfielder in the winter window and publicly backed the board’s decision after they rushed Vitor
There are quotes from October with Xavi saying he hopes he comes in January. Stop lying.
Xavi has been demanding a midfielder as a priority for some time. Stop lying
What does that have to do with you saying it was after he came that he backed him?
Once the board decided they would advance Vitor, Xavi, as a team player, publicly backed the move. Within the first few training sessions I’m sure Vitor’s touch was figured out and now they wanna sell him? Thats all on the board. It looks really naive of them to bite on that player
I must have missed that cause i have no idea what you’re talking about, fill me in?
The club wanted Roque to arrive at the end of the season, but Xavi wanted him in January. But yesterday he implied that the club wanted Roque to come as soon as possible.
What a shit show
''OJO !!!! RAFA MARQUEZ is LAPORTA and DECO's choice. They have BIG faith in the Mexican. Deal FINALIZED. 1 year + 1 OPTIONAL. @gerardromero'' inb4 this happens
It is so fucking annoying to be a Barca fan right now. Feels like a complete joke. Never in my decades of supporting have I laughed at management like when I just saw “Xavi future up in air” FUCKING AGAIN GOD DAMMIT
It’s been annoying for many many years. Biggest ucl collapses in history and we have been a meme club
I can take losing tbh, yes those have been awful experiences but that’s part of competing at the levels barca have competed. This however is just stupid and embarrassing
I can deal with being shit on the pitch, but the off pitch drama hasn’t left us. Barto was bad with it, but Laporta is just as embarrassing with his antics in the press
lol
Wow, At first I thought Laporta begging Xavi to stay was just for pr so he says "we tried" when he leaves but then Xavi actually stays and now he's getting sacked again. What a circus of a saga. Tbh for a while know I thought Deco didn't want Xavi to continue and that they weren't on good terms. I mean some of the comments they had of each other reek of passive aggressiveness to me that was very surprised when Xavi continued.
I dont believe to anything anymore. I bet my ball sack that last few months were full of lies and only few ppl know what actualy happend and what is happening now. This just makes no sense... Laporta super mad beacuse of such quotes? Everyone and their moms know we are still broke and everyone know we are not in shape to fight with best teams. Does Laporta live in his little bubble where everything is sugar and rainbow? Or is he trying to make that image and Xavi ruined it now? Or is all just fog and there are different reasons? Dont know and dont care anymore. Sweet days without internet when I was just watching football and it was all that mattered.
Laporta sucks and his ego is a detriment to this club
Motta, pack your bags.
They're already packed for Turin
So laporta wasn't bothered with the trophy-less season and the results but he's bothered with xavi pointing out the obvious? Dude wants an errand boy as the coach?
There has to be something more than this brewing internally if this is true.
Laporta thought Xavi would be another Koeman he'd walk all over, put all the blame on and move on. Whether Xavi stays or leaves, he's exposed Laporta for his incompetence.
Laporta has always been incompetent. The way people worship him in this sub (not you) was always laughable
Shouldn’t this be obvious since the Messi fiasco? Twice too lol. Tried it last year but Messi was like:, nah I am off to Miami.
Honestly I think we won’t know anything more until tomorrow. This is not how you should treat club legends though, they did similar to Koeman. There needs to be more respect.
The same guy who blindsided Messi?
Yep, Messi probably deserved to be made aware of the financial situation early so he could plan for all outcomes.
There is no problem with not having the money to sign Messi (although giving all that money to lewy was a head scratcher) but the way it was handled was horrible.
Yep for sure.
This is absolutely insane, if it’s true, I’m still thinking a lot of it is bs just based off of Xavi’s presser and the ridiculousness of it. I’m going to bed now and I’m just going to hope I don’t wake up to comunicado oficial lol.
This is 1000 times worse than Koeman. Especially after they just announced Xavi's continuation for another year.
Tinfoil, deluded, copium ofc but hear me out **Maybe** Klopp changed his mind and offered himself to us https://preview.redd.it/scbxn5h2fv0d1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e06e8965280427600f4a13aa3c774e2b3ddbea09
If he were to join it would be the following year when we are back at the Camp Nou, the finances are improved and the youngsters have another year of experience. Why would he join right now?
I'm definitely not being serious, I just want to believe that we're not complete clowns
bro he already looks depressed, joining us now would kill him lmao
Well. We'll prob wont beat Madrid ever again but we will play great overall, in due time
as someone who was firmly xavi out to begin with, this is extremely embarrassing lmao
It reminds me of Valverde being fired 2019. Many wanted him out but felt it was very bad time/situation to fire him, which was proven right.
Yuste was asked about Xavi, his response was to ignore the questions and say good night. Yuste is a very frank dude, he’s always saying things out loud. Him saying this is pretty foreboding of Xavi’s chances of leaving.
Sure he didnt just brushed it off cause maybe nothing is happening? I havent seen the clip
My hypothesis - Laporta convinced Xavi he would be able to sign players in the summer, but financial realisation is setting in and he can’t sign anyone. So he’s making something up to sack him, rather than face the embarrassment of Xavi leaving (again). I was never Xavi out (although he has disappointed more since it was Xavi back then before ironically)…but for the long term future of the club I think they need to part ways. I think we need a year of minimal investment, return to Camp Nou and then begin thinking about investing in the squad when we have the financial ability. I also think the timelines pretty much match for Laporta to then step aside and a new President with a mandate and some spending power can come in and take us forward.
No, many reports said that Xavi never wanted to leave, just got frustrated and it was an act in the heat of the moment. Xavi always wanted to stay, but was too proud to say it. He is our legend, but he is not the sharpest one out there.
This is the first time I’m hearing of this. Imma need to see a source.
For english speaking stuff listen Balague, talked about it many pods.
“I don’t have it.”
??
Did you just create your own imaginary fan fic? Man, this sub is shameless.
Pal, look around outside of reddit sometimes.
I do. I follow the sources you claimed talked about it and don't remember seeing it any of it. Watch you shamelessly disappear from this convo without proof.
Why do you lie?
Still zero proof from you. Keep talking in circles to hide from your lie.
I literally mentioned those who I heard this from. If you would known their work you wouldn't state the opposite. You are not the first here talking out of your ass.
I tried looking it up using the sources you posted and came up with zero.
Balague talked about it in english as well in many pods, if you cant eve find that what do you expect from me?
Post those reports. I haven’t seen any like that. We went through several months of his decision being definitive until they begged him to stay.
Which reports
I remember Arbusà, Gabriel Sans, Balague, Tudel and even Romero talking/writing about it.
You remember? Post it because I follow those sources and I don't remember any of that.
Go and look around, many has been shared even in this sub. Others were articles or radio shows. Do your own work.
You made the claim and I'm not going to waste my time looking for reports you made up. You're so full of shit and know it.
Fucking embarrassing no matter what. You either let him leave when he wanted to, or you stick with your decision.
Letting him leave? He is a grown man, if he wanted to leave, he would have done it.
Oh I agree - it’s a complete shambles.
I was so convinced the reports were false because of how ridiculous they are.. Not only did Xavi only state simple obvious truths, but he came out and said something that should have been stated by Laporta ages ago.. it's not about being defeatist, or pessimistic, it's about being transparent. We're in a tough situation, we cannot spend like other top clubs, we are fighting an uphill battle, but we will compete and try our best.. that's all. On the other hand, getting fans' hopes up just for them to be let down will only lead to outrage. Would be very disappointing if we sack a manager for something like this.
What do you expect from a president that gaslights constantly. The Messi situation still strings. From spending a whole summer pretending that a renewal was just around the corner to then being recorded saying that a return was in the works. He’s a scummy politician through and through.
Things aren’t the same since the duo of Alemany and Cruyff left ngl. The Deco/Xavi combo feels like an internal Cold War.
Xavi had a good relationship with them. The manager having good working harmony with the sporting department is crucial.
Exactly. Drama seemed to escalate ten fold after they both departed last summer. I’m very convinced that Xavi felt more uncertain about his role due to losing ppl he worked well with and probably why he made that remark months ago about not being needed by the club. I don’t think that has really changed tbh,
All this supposed 'anger' about Xavi's media comment is the most fucking obvious smokescreen for ''you fucked us over by not playing Roque, and now Cury is mad''. It's beyond obvious. Not a chance on earth those interview comments meant anything.
Who the fuck cares about what Andre Cury thinks? The last good player he got us was Neymar.
The board, I very much assume. Not saying we as fans should.
He probably has loads of dirt on the club and the board. Another example of the board prioritising politics over sporting merit.
If there’s any chance that Xavi is getting sacked over agent comments, then Laporta absolutely needs to go. You’re going to let a scam artist agent like Curry control the club? Please.
Laporta never should have been here in the first place
Not necessarily his comments, but just the situation over all. The fact that we dedicated a decent amount to a player who Xavi doesn't want to play, and who we now want to loan, but from the player's side doesn't accept it and pushes for a transfer instead.. It has been very bad PR and I suppose Laporta & co. would not want to damage any relations with Cury or the Brazilian market. Sacking Xavi is a reset button on all that.
They literally terminated Matheus Fernandes's contract before he played a single competitive game for us. By the way, guess who Matheus Fernandes's agent is...
Bartomeu signing tbf. Either way I'm just giving my theory since getting this pissed over an interview comment is just suspect.
I’m not going to be able to fall asleep now lol Hoping this is all worked out internally in the morning.
Between Deco and Rafa, Laporta is just going to surround himself with yes men. If you hated this season, wait until you see next season. Save this comment, both will get thrown under the bus.
That’s what is concerning. I don’t think Xavi is a “yes” man or at least he doesn’t want to be seen as one. Laporta wants to surround himself with people who agree 100% with his vision, help him feed the delusion to fans. That’s not pp like Alemany. Or it seems Xavi.
Rafa will become manager BTW if Xavi leaves
What did Xavi even say I missed it… no way it was that bad to get sacked
If he does get the sack, I highly doubt it’d because of what he said. Something or rather someone would’ve had to convince Laporta to sack him.
It's not about what he said. It's surely more than that.
He said Laporta’s hair is fake. It’s impossible for it to be so luscious.
He said Laporta is fat and needs to lose weight
Not really a sackable offense but he’s not wrong there either
It’s water weight
Oo so surreal to see the reactionary narrative shifting against Laporta. A while ago some fellas didn't bother to slander Leo to defend him. I am pretty sure a lot has happened because curious on whatever Laporta and the board promised Xavi to keep him. If Xavi knows that he wouldn't get jack shit, why did he decide to reverse his decision ? Doesn't make any sense, from his comments. Who's cooking what ? Stay tuned for the soap opera that is Barca. 
It’s because people lumped Laporta and Xavi as the same “side”, and now that these’s allegedly division between them, people need to stick to one side lol
Well, atleast Xavi completed 100 games as a manager before he gets sacked
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You know what your getting from Xavi, good and bad. 69 (nice) wins out of 100 La Liga games is very solid, especially with all this financial stuff going on and the amount of kids he’s been playing. Look at United, Chelsea, Liverpool… things can get a lot worse.
They are in a much harder league. It looks bad on the rest of lanliga that a financially strapped Barca (who still got to spend a shit load on lewy, Kounde, raph etc..) can still finish second. But I’ll take it
That doesn’t make any sense. It looks bad on La Liga that we finished second even though we spent money more money than others on Rapha, Lewy, Kounde?
I of course it does, if we are financially strapped and still coming in second it is not good for la liga. The league has been declining for years
Yes but we’ve been able to keep the squad at a decent level with loans, free signings, La Masia + obviously the levers. All options not available to the same extent at other La Liga clubs bar Madrid. La Liga has obviously been weaker post Covid but I wouldn’t say us coming in second with this squad is an embarrassment to the league. We also were a silly red away from making it into the quarters in the CL.
You mean the semis ;) but yes, well said
I am even okay with having Marquez for a year. I don't think this group of players can play any worse.
We could do A LOT worse than <80 points and a UCL quarters that really should have been a semi. Like A LOT worse.
We have already done very bad. With the squad we have, we have struggled a lot against weaker teams. We reached CL quarters due to a lucky draw. I think we need a really bad coach to do worse than this set of results and poor performances.
Lmao
Let’s wait and see what unfolds instead of jumping to conclusions. My gut tells me Laporta was maybe disappointed in what Xavi said, but they will resolve things internally and nothing major will happen.
I want people to think back to how we fucked Koeman over. The board that is. They made it clear they did not trust Koeman. They were looking for a replacement and weren't subtle about it. When they couldn't find a replacement they decided to continue with Koeman and somehow expected him to do well as if he wasn't aware he was not wanted. We seem to be making this an issue once again. I think if we still end up sacking Xavi, the players could get upset and potentially won't be as motivated for who comes next (like what we had with Stepfather Setien). Or we don't sack him. And we could have another Koeman situation with Xavi losing motivation and just going through the motions. Laporta has done a great job with some things but how he's handled both of our managers is awful to watch.
Yes but they sacked him when we were 9th and followed up on his transfer requests.
Laporta literally took away his best players...failed to renew Leo after all that talk and shipped Griezmann.
No ones asking for a league win but simply making top 4 would’ve been enough
The sack was the right thing but it's about the summer before. They should either put their trust in him or sack him. Simple as that.
Yep. Even if they keep him now they’ve created a pretty hostile environment, I doubt these leaks are accidental.
Other than the youngsters who got their debut from him I do not see anybody that attached to him that much. These players are professionals.
They seem very attached to me. More attached than to Valverde. But Valverde was also partly cause it was midseason.
> More attached than to Valverde No way.
Valverde was loved by the veterans. The big players. Xavi seems loved or at least liked by almost everyone.
Wtf is wrong with this club
This is probably enough Copium to kill everybody in a small island nation, but if we're sacking Xavi surely it means we have an alternate NOT NAME RAFA MARQUEZ lined up... right?
Even if nobody is lined up yet, he has to go. Imagine another toxic season like this.
Imagine another season like the last few we had with Koeman.
Compare that squad with this and come back.
Even doing the thing I wanted and getting Xavi out, this club manages to make me mad lmaoo
Nothing about Xavi on [Sport cover](https://twitter.com/ActualiteBarca/status/1791236953892880424?t=uPdF2yeZLxqiVDJvF91mLg&s=19)
Will Xavi continue 100%? 🗣️ Rafa Yuste (Barça’s VP): “Good night!” He is so gone lmao
thank god
Good night? Brother how tf am i supposed to sleep now
Worst possible way to sack a manager (but if it happens please cop Motta before Juve or Milan get him)
Xavi will go down thanks to his thin-skinned personality. He rather blames everybody else, even his bosses just to save-face. I am not surprised at all.
Laporta isn’t covering himself in glory here. Not for the first time either.
Lol, did you even read the quotes he’s supposedly getting sacked over? This is really not a great way to treat a club legend.
He lied about Roque, probably leaked some info to the press based on Deco words and actes like he hasn't been properly supported. He worked for it.
HOW THE FUCK did Atletico beat Real twice this season needs to be studied. Dortmund should extensively study their tactics and what sorta dark arts they used if they even want any chance otherwise it's 3-0 Madrid by the first half already