BARCA AT A CROSSROADS: WHY VALVERDE MUST GO, HOW BARTOMEU HAS HIJACKED THE CLUB & THE FUTURE MANAGER WHO COULD CHANGE IT ALL

BARCA MIA: 
WHY & HOW LIVERPOOL PULLED BARCELONA'S PANTS DOWN
                It was apparent to me (after only 10 minutes into the 2nd leg) that we would lose on the night, most likely still advancing and not deserving to. 
           When Gini Wijnaldum came from the bench to ram home the 2nd goal of the night, though... I knew it was already over.
           Not because of the aggregate score being 3-2 after Wijnaldum's 1st goal (with a slim Barca lead and an entirely woeful performance at that point from the Blaugrana). It was the looks on the faces of Messi, Pique, Busquets and Alba after these kid school goals: 
             No inquest.
           No fight. 
           No leadership,
           No communication 
           Nothing....
           These legends of the game think it's still 2011 and 2015 and the world turns on their axis. 
            It doesn't. 
            Then you see the face of Valverde, ominous, menacing us all with his presence, zapping the entire area around him of energy, using right backs as super-subs and demanding nothing from anyone, especially himself.
            Not even Frenkie De Jong could paper over these cracks; NO amount of money can run for you out on the pitch. The human beings who possess such talents don't just wink and play a 10/10 performance, or score goals, grab assists and play with the desire and hunger Barca displayed in the 1st leg.
            We can say our players conceded possession to Liverpool (cowardly) in the 1st leg, or had it straight up forced from their feet, but they didn't stop working that entire 90 minutes. 
            And we'd deserved the 3 goals we scored, in fact we deserved more (Dembele missed 2 sitters) yet by the same token, so did Liverpool.
           We may have outclassed Liverpool in the 1st leg, but they definitely outplayed us over 2 legs which is an incredible achievement with that piecemeal attack in the 2nd leg. 
            When you see Barcelona going out to replacement teams like this after weathering the storm of Mane, Firmino and Salah in the 1st leg, you have to look at the past.
       I was heavily worried about Origi's physicality and the dead ball situations from TAA, Shaqiri and the height of VVD, Matip and the dreadlocked Belgian (who once scored at a World Cup as a teenager) because I've seen it since 2013: Barcelona failing against physical forwards from set pieces mightily (Dzeko last year, Mandzukic in 2013 to name a few). 
            Defending set pieces and a 3-0 lead is all about concentration, hard work and professionalism. The first two Barca neglected to provide and the latter they embarrassingly perpetrated a lack of professionalism in front of us all, taking Liverpool lightly (even after Origi, Shaqiri and TAA had nearly saved the league for Klopp's squad against Newcastle only days prior, proving their pedigree).
             It's also about tactics and the totality of two seasons' worth of bad ideas, catastrophic decisions and an indifference with players that all culminates in embarrassing Champions League results.

1. ENTER SANDMAN

            Enter stage right:
            Ernesto Valverde, dictatorial in his methods, while being careless and plagued by ass-kissing and always eager to please the media: A managerial oxymoron that'll never motivate players who've won it all. 
           In fact, it won't motivate anyone. 
           Such was Valverde's emotional abyss, he seemed reluctant to reward the younger La Masia players, or worthy periphery players in the times they should've been recognized too, killing trust at both ends, of all ages, and all talent levels throughout the squad.
 But the heart of the matter is:
 Valverde has abused these Barca veterans like cattle. 
          We thought "ok, we'll survive this season because Messi will just make it happen, as he always seems to, we'll just ride Messi and win it all because...well, we deserve it, right? And then we'll get Frenkie in, De Ligt, Griezmann, who knows who else, we'll buy them all and then we'll be fine, right?"
          Wrong.
          The results in the league and Copa del Rey had us mystified and wondering "how can they keep sweeping teams aside while not even playing well? How long can they get away with this flat refusal to play cohesive football? How long can this manager continue to lead a squad without identity, character or hunger?"
          They always say "teams resemble their managers"...well what does that say about Valverde?
          And what did Valverde have to say for himself and his team in his post match press conference: 
"It is what it is..."
          We sold our soul and values to win titles under the Valverde regime...all in the name of giving Messi the trophies he's deserved in the Champions League, and we could live with it if we made some breathtaking passing moves, outrageous goals and something resembling the Barcelona philosophy on our way to doing that.
          Instead, it became as if Jose Mourinho  (at Real Madrid) mixed with David Moyes at United became our manager: Conservative at every turn, safe at all costs (unless it's about his players' bodies), stubborn in his uncertainty and mired in his naivety, Valverde has perverted the soul of Barcelona for his own personal brand of defensive shit that may "get you through games". 
          We are Barcelona...we don't get through games and survive them, we win them!
          Everyone batted away normalcy at all costs when it's come to Lionel Messi and Barcelona: "he's bigger than the club," I've heard, "they don't even need a manager, they've got Messi scoring goals like these" .... it was ridiculous.
          I heard a lot of these stupid comments, mostly from the English press bowled over in awe after Messi's 1st leg masterclass vs Liverpool. However, I also heard these comments from Barca fans, touting the greatness of a one-man team and showing complete indifference to the team's day to day success or lack thereof, creating a bandwagon atmosphere (even in Catalonia).   
         Surely this is only describing the siege of world-wide bandwagon Barca fans that come out of the woodwork every time they win and hide away like jackals in the night and curse Messi's family when they don't?
         No....
         Many Cules within the city of Barcelona have been lockstep with this sentiment, too, being completely shackled to the idea of Messi having to do everything, almost as if it's a quest to see if he could and a commandment that he should. 
        Not only that, the Socis' could've voted (corrupt and fraudulent) Barca president Bartomeu out in 2017, bringing a bright future and a clean slate.
       For the 2019/2020 campaign, Barca will have such talented young specimens as Frenkie De Jong, Ousmane Dembele, Umtiti and Lenglet, Jean-Claire Todibo, Arthur, Malcolm, Moussa Wague, Riqui Puig, Carles Alena...those are some of the best youth options in the world...and we have them, Valverde never used them, and we cannot ruin any more of their development.
        There needs to be all-out support for Messi, not just a board and a president who use him for financial gain through the absurd amount of commercial marketing their captain does for the club.
          It's as if everyone has become bored of Messi's brilliance, bored of winning, with an apathetic stain sullying the club, his fellow teammates, his clueless & pathetic manager, his brutish, Madrid-obsessed and legally flexible board and club president and (worst of all) us the fans: 
          We created this monster...
          We've become desensitized to Messi's greatness, expecting him to save us when nothing else is happening. Instead of mobilizing, getting together and forging a path as a team, or even just some other players taking responsibility, there's nothing, no reaction, not even a pulse...and us, as fans, are sitting there wondering when Messi can dribble through 6 players (again) and score while being thrown to the floor (yet again).

        And as shockingly horrific as we played, Messi was still so damn good (dribbling through some of the roughest tacklers in football, by himself with zero options).
          He nearly had 3 assists in the first 50 minutes, but instead of giving Messi the full credit his absolutely brilliant hard work and miracle passing deserved, his perfect passes to Alba, Suarez and Coutinho (that left all three players with a 1 on 1) each time received fluffy, half-kissed shots with zero commitment that were sent in for the steely Alisson to easily deflect away from goal, draining Messi's resources at the same time.
          For all the disgusting and disgraceful performances on the pitch (wearing those awful metallic-puke-yellow kits that we never played well in), Lionel Messi's brilliance in the first 60 minutes (while taking on Liverpool's entire XI himself) still could've sent us through after playing like THAT over two legs...
          That says it all right there. 
          If we had seen Barcelona under the guidance of a hot new hand (I have a great name I will unveil that makes absolute sense, trust me on this), we could've seen the greatest of Barcelona teams considering this team won 2 La Liga titles, nearly went undefeated in La Liga last season, embarrassed Real Madrid head to head on every occasion and all while never playing at their optimum, never using the best XI for more than one match, with a mouth-watering squad drenched in absolute class and being hardly ever used or containing injured  / weary players and a manager refusing to play high tempo, high pressure possession football.


2. WHO MUST GO

          But what informs negative circumstances on the pitch is usually the bullshit off of it: an entitled Coutinho palling around with a ridiculous entourage full of Bruno Mars wannabes and Instagram scum, starting every match as if he were the only young talent in our entire squad (wish he had injury issues, not Dembele);  Ivan Rakitic taking our club hostage by inserting a "play every match" clause into his extension before he would sign (with the blessing of Valverde), putting individual stats, Iron-Man posing and his own personal competition with compatriot Luka Modric over our own La Masia products getting critical opportunities to grow as footballers and learn from the best...
          That shows why we should've let Rakitic walk in the summer.
          Also, players like Thomas Vermaelen and Kevin-Prince Boateng have never earned nor deserved a single start in this Barca side since they came in, yet there they are taking up squad space we could use much better (Wague, Puig, Alena etc). 
          And you think those are the only issues, right? 

3. BARTOMEU 

          Instead, there's a rotten core at the center of Barcelona that is rank, spoiling and rotting from the inside and from the top down.
         Club president Josep-Maria Bartomeu (the architect behind the illegal Neymar transfer & the sponsorship deal with the extremist Qatar Foundation) needed to go in 2017, when Augusti Benedito ran against him in a bid to launch a re-election. 
        In fact, he should've never been president in the first place.
        Bartomeu was once a best friend & assistant to imprisoned former Barca president Sandro Rosell, that is until he sold him down the river as the legal scapegoat in the aftermath of the Neymar transfer investigation, which ended up ruining the transfer policy of the club for 3 seasons, including suffering through the year-long transfer ban because of Bartomeu and Rosell's illegal dealings with Neymar's father and a whole host of Brazilian companies.

Messi demands answers 

           There was poison at his roots, yet he stayed on as president and continued to make basket case decisions that failed to solve issues, find solutions, or support Messi on and off the pitch.
            This is a coward who would rather supply the media with a tabloid symphony of false stories about his own players than communicate to them directly.
             This is someone who would rather send Messi to every country in the world to tour the Barca name and tout his greatness in the name of sponsorship dollars than keeping him fresh, fit and without distraction.
             Forget the amount of matches Messi plays, it's also about how many miles he's traveling for these corporate responsibilities.
           We needed the Socis' to care enough about the future of the club to act...to get rid of Bartomeu and his greed-soaked regime before time runs out for Lionel Messi's time at our club.
           Sure, thanks to Eric Abidal becoming our sporting director, the transfer policy has increased in our favor as we've secured Frenkie De Jong, Jean-Claire Todibo, Clement Lenglet for pennies from a La Liga rival, stole Malcolm from Roma and finally brought Arthur to the club (a year too late) and offloaded tons of dead weight on the books and in the squad. 
          But having those players means nothing when your manager is a puppet of the president, playing and starting the "investments" and stars over who really deserves to play. 
          Anyone in their right mind would've started Malcolm in lieu of the injured Ousmane Dembele in the 2nd leg at Anfield, and according to SPORT, Valverde himself was training the players to set up in a 4-3-3 / 4-4-2 hybrid featuring the scarcely used Malcolm at left wing, with Coutinho on the bench.
         The players were stunned, according to SPORT, when Coutinho suddenly started, with Valverde cold and unwilling to elaborate. 
         Surely even Valverde knew a player as low on confidence as Coutinho (a frail player who never rose to the occasion on the road) would whittle and fray in the cauldron of boos at Anfield, not to mention had Malcolm started and gave Messi space to operate, we would be talking about Barca being in the final.
         Why the switch all of a sudden?
         Do you really think Bartomeu (who's made Valverde his completely) would've missed the opportunity to rub it in The Fenway Group's face had Coutinho buried the Messi chance at Anfield? 
         Of course he wouldn't have missed that chance to proudly show the world "look at the player we stole from this club, we didn't waste the money on him!" This was about Bartomeu using Valverde to justify his decisions (in the board room) on the pitch.
        And it cost us a Champions League final...
        Do you really doubt the competitive bullshit of businessmen being able to dictate the club they run, especially with a puppet manager like Valverde? 
          The sad reality is we're stuck with Bartomeu until 2022: the fans could've made a difference in the last two disastrous Champions League seasons by voicing their opinions and ousting the snake at the top  (7 months) before the events in Rome.
          Instead, we're left with a regime that cares more about their bottom line than they do getting us over the line for titles.
          And though we're glued to Bartomeu until 2022, Messi isn't stuck to us. 
          If he left due to the disorganization, corruption and lack of impetus, we would never forget our role in his departure.

4. NO ROTATION, 
BIG PROBLEMS 


          Valverde has been criticized for his lack of rotation, that was until he finally rested the players for a total of 4 matches all season...
         ...suddenly he was perfect, immaculate and everyone from TalkFCB to ESPNFC, Bleacher Report, etc, all were saying how rested they all should be, how smart Valverde has been with his players, etc upon etc of "kissing the beehive" and riding a transparent wave of haze.
            Gerard Pique, Sergi Busquets, Jordi Alba, Ivan Rakitic, Luis Suarez, and Messi (with two different injuries) all played 40+ matches, 10 or so of them being inconsequential. 
          It was a complete ego trip for these players to happily go along with Valverde's obsessions, but it failed to bring the best out of them or the diamonds in the squad rooted to the bench in frustration.
          This means there was never a punishment for playing poorly if you were "one of the top players" in Valverde's eyes, or (in the case of Coutinho) if you were a big investment.
        This always translates to a hampered, buzzkill squad that fails to take their opportunities from the bench,  resigned to the fact it won't make a difference  (Malcolm especially, Semedo, Dembele, Denis Suarez last year). 
          Yet it becomes more damaging when the lack of competition for places allows the veteran core to relax and stay content, while the young talents fail to push and develop.

          When talking about Barcelona's midfield, it's obvious that we're not playing a recognizable pattern of play when Busquets is saddled alongside Rakitic and Vidal, drifting further apart like Keith Richards at a hotel bar.
          It's even worse when a midfield four is used, leaving Busquets isolated and forced to cover more ground (which the extra midfielder is supposed to alleviate). 
            Any professional manager realizes that to get the best out of Busquets, he must have two options in midfield at all times: one to his left and one to his right (tucked in tightly) that are willing to work and do the running (which Rakitic and Vidal can do), but more than that they're supposed to break the lines, pass through the press, maintain the rhythm and of course, feed Messi (which they can't do consistently).
            I'm wondering aloud right now "how would a midfield three of Busquets, Arthur and Alena have performed at Anfield? 
            If Valverde thought Arthur wouldn't be ready for an away match in England in the Champions League, he was obviously asleep during the 1-0 win at United (where Arthur was the star of a snoozer) or the blistering 4-2 mastery vs finalists Tottenham (where our midfield looked back to the 2011 gorgeousness).
          Where was the aggressive, positive management from this Barca manager to throw Alena or Malcolm on to the pitch at halftime?
            This non rotation has worn our core veterans down, something Valverde should've prepared to fight with proper rotation from the start of September...after all, there was a World Cup last summer...
      

5. 
DEMBELE OR COUTINHO?


         However, nothing comes close to spelling out the idiocy of Ernesto Valverde than his handling of the two  expensive young talents: Dembele and Coutinho.
          Not only did he unnecessarily pit one against the other, making it known only one of them would ever be on the pitch at one time (an incredible decision considering Dembele and Coutinho combined for 6 goals in only a handful of appearances together and play completely different roles, aren't the same profile of player, and don't roam in the same positions).
         These choices by Valverde only helped to stunt both players' growth and threw one or the other's status at the club in disarray when the other was performing well, while the media hawked to the drama and Valverde poured the gasoline on it.  
         The truth is Dembele has it much worse.
         Ousmane Dembele is often neglected for matches at a time, usually after winning Barcelona matches, combining with Messi and tactically making Valverde look like Zeus, or he then succumbs to a hamstring injury...injuries that hadn't occurred before his time at the Camp Nou. 
        It never helps when your Barca career is started off by a vicious cycle of nagging muscular injuries and being rushed back too soon by a distrusting manager, all while baseless rumors of immaturity and a lack of work ethic swirl around. 
        But it's worse when your club supplies the media with their ammo.
        It was a cycle that he only just broke free from, until the same injuries happened in 2019, this time after Valverde rushed him back against Lyon (a risk worth taking), then after all of Dembele's intensive rehab work to return, he was hardly played, Valverde opting for the weak, lame and overrated figure of Coutinho, something which not only would've irked the massively critical Dembele (who worked hard and in overtime to rush himself back through intensely painful and arduous recovery training sessions every day), after having buried Lyon for us, and yet he wasn't rewarded by Valverde with anything more than starting against Celta Vigo.
        What is Valverde doing? He's managed to kill the confidence of both superstars, while also putting a nonstop question mark about their club status.             Replacing a bona fide Barca star for someone to start time after time (after time) just to try to be one? 
        And even when Ousmane appeared, it was always accompanied by a large amount of audition and pressure from the manager, with Dembele knowing Coutinho would take his place regardless of how he played. And he answered the call: scoring or assisting off of the bench vs Atletico and Real Madrid, ripping Real to shreds in the Copa Del Rey 2nd leg from the start and playing fantastically in the Champions League, winning the club a large amount of points, only Messi proving more decisive. 
         Compared to the massive playing time Coutinho has received, Dembele has combined with Messi for more goals than Coutinho had overall assists...
         The future of Barcelona rests with one of these players continuing on at the club, and that has to be Dembele. 
          To purchase 300+ million dollars of collected talent and to witness our club strike out on both players would be a catastrophe. Not only would it prove the age old adage that "not everyone can play with Messi" (which is a farce), in addition, we wouldn't possibly be able to command more than 80% of their fees back.
           And if we give up on Dembele (while it appears Coutinho has given up on us), our ability to secure fresh young talent would take a massive hit: what young, developing talent wants to go to a club with excessive baggage, aimless demands, a corrupt president and board, and an aging nucleus exposed to the rigors of playing every match?
           They may look at our situation and think "i don't need to deal with that, if Coutinho couldn't rise up, if Dembele could never be trusted while winning 32 points himself, what chance do I have?"
            And if Valverde remains manager, they would be right to stay away.

5.  FUTURE REFLECTIONS


              On the horizon for the club is the need to replace Pique, Busi, Jordi Alba, Ivan Rakitic, and Luis Suarez.
           This doesn't mean All of those players are finished, they're not dead in the water, yet they have many miles clocked on those legs, especially when you consider Lionel Messi taking Argentina to three straight tournament finals (all three going to extra time) and Busquets, Pique and Alba's exploits with Spain. 

            Luckily, Eric Abidal has moved full steam ahead in this transition philosophy, snagging Frenkie De Jong from Ajax (an energetic, versatile, godly midfielder) who could play alongside Sergi Busquets, learning from him on the fly until replacing him at pivote (aka pivot, anchor or CDM, central defensive mid).
            We've also moved to replace and supplement Gerard Pique by way of Jean-Claire Todibo, a phenom already at 19 and deserving of playing much more this season, and an expected purchase of Matthijs De Ligt, another Ajax superstar who just felt the pain of defeat in the Champions League while showing brutal calculation in his leadership (captain at 19), tenacity (he scored and continued to be a fox in both boxes) and vision from deep.
          De Ligt is almost too good for Barcelona, yet if we could park Pique's ego, the Dutchman would not only grow (in stature and performance) under the La Masia alum and former United man, he'll become so good he would usurp Pique.
        Elsewhere, La Masia midfielders Carles Alena and Riqui Puig are built to last and possess a myriad of qualities that would've put on a far better showing than we saw from the scattered 30+ year old midfield four.
         Alena provides forward runs, predatory finishing and a defiance in possession that gives way to vast amounts of energy when off of the ball.
         Riqui Puig is more measured and physically smaller in stature, yet the little genius already shined brightly for the senior team, lifting a ridiculous assist over outstretched legs in the Copa Del Rey this season. 
         Ridiculously, Puig had only 3 appearances for the senior side, and while Carles Alena has received more, it's been a rarity that he gets a chance.
         Regardless of age, both would be starting in a Klopp managed side. 
         And that's where we've gone wrong: we've let Valverde stunt the growth of players who were cheated out of 10+ appearances this campaign, all in the name of experience. 10 or more doesn't sound like much, for a footballer playing alongside Messi it's an eternity in education.
          We saw how well "pure experience" does vs "world class youth" when playing Liverpool's second string front three in the 2nd leg and it wasn't pretty.
          Long lost are the days where you'd witness an inspired Barca manager (unhappy with the state of play) rush a youngster on to ruffle feathers and flip the script. 
          Who knows, had we seen Valverde ACT maybe we'd be in the final. 
          Who knows...maybe if Valverde had found his balls he could've started Alena and Arthur in the 2nd leg...
         And when it comes to replacing Luis Suarez, the answer is never clear. 
         Luka Jovic? 
         Don't think so.
         Antoine Griezmann?
         He said "no".
         So....we buy Kevin-Prince Boateng.

Selling Coutinho would finance Griezmann's purchase.

         We're going about this all wrong.
         Maybe instead of looking for pure strikers (because that's what Suarez is), we adapt, evolve and remember we have the greatest goalscorer of all time...
         Instead of finding strikers who'll finish off Messi's chances (with our season hinging completely on Messi creating magic every minute while being surrounded by opponents, rather than teammates), perhaps we should go and find attacking talent that will run, create, move and hustle for him to finish.
          Eto'o and David Villa were strikers, yet they were players who moved in and out of random areas, pushing and pulling defenses out of position and scoring as many goals from the wings, as they did poaching Messi's passes in the box.
          All of which made someone as deceptive and as dangerous as Lionel Messi into the greatest player of all time. Because of this interchanging up top, Leo had more space, time and less of a burden to do the heavy lifting, allowing him to do whatever possible to achieve victory, with willing options and steely support winning the second balls behind him.
          Antoine Griezmann is still my main man to take over from Suarez for the next five years. 
          His movement, underrated aerial ability, knack for dropping deep and picking out runners in behind, his pedigree in the biggest moments for country and club, and his obsessive work ethic (doing the dirty work) that generates goals and assists at an incredible level.         
        Griezmann does the things Messi shouldn't do and Messi does the things Griezmann can't.
          If you want a player who won't hide from the spotlight and could feasibly help Messi deliver the Champions League, look no further than Griezmann.
          This doesn't mean we get rid of Suarez, no, Suarez is a club legend and still one of the 25 best players in the world currently. We need all of the options we can get...but it does mean Suarez's time starting for Barcelona in the biggest of matches could and (unless he rests half of next season) should be done.
          Before (or after securing) Griezmann, we offload Coutinho's outrageous wages and bring in an energetic, attacking winger who can create. 

Meet (from left) Lyon's Nabil Fekir and Ajax and Morcco midfielder / winger Hakim Ziyech

          Hakim Ziyech or Nabil Fekir would be perfect...players who score many goals and contribute a litany of goal-scoring opportunities, with Ziyech leading Europe in chances created and uncredited direct goal contributions, while Fekir tore Manchester City to shreds twice in the Champions League, battled hard against Barca for 1 match at Camp Nou (at least harder than Coutinho did, that's for sure) and was a substitute in 6 of 7 matches at the World Cup for France, impressing greatly in such limited playing time. 
          Both of these players don't contain many weaknesses in their profiles, posting high numbers of tackles attempted and completed, fouls given and earned, passes completed, shots on goal, taking players on..... these two players are vastly underrated and have Barca DNA in the way they play, their willingness to fight, and in the ways that they train.
          And both Nabil Fekir and Hakim Ziyech (combined) could be had for the price of Coutinho...
         If Abidal is able to persuade Bartomeu and Pep Segura to get out of his way so he can make the smart, energetic purchases, and if we can install a home-bred manager who will disavow Bartomeu's desires (opting for the success of the players and club) and someone who will nurture and promote the gems out of La Masia, we could see all of this turn into the dream-team we know it always has been...
          ...Valverde and Bartomeu have just been in the way...
        To usher in this new era, there is only one man I think of and trust. 
         This is a crossroads, a true fork in the road for this club and the last thing needed is an outsider.
          This is why Xavi Hernandez needs to be the new manager.
          Lack of experience?
          This guy was coaching on the pitch since 2004.
          Question of respect?
          I promise you he'll be respected 100,000,000,000x more than Valverde, having earned the admiration of the players, something unseen since the days of Tito Villanova.
           Can he motivate?
           The former captain motivated us (part of a two-headed monster with Pep Guardiola) to a pair of the greatest Champions league final performances ever, while navigating Spain to winning three international tournaments in a row, something we'll never see again unless the current French setup can top it.
          Can he spot talent?
          Yes he can, as his impressive analysis of players ranging from Ousmane Dembele to Frenkie De Jong has proven. 
           Can he command and organize a team?
          The guy just developed football in a non-footballing nation (that'll hopefully let him leave...I mean that in all seriousness, Qatar is creepy).
           Xavi has talked about management for a good portion of his career, is currently attaining his coaching certifications and has always been an avid student of the game. 
           His time away from the club would be an additional bonus, since he will be able to identify obvious issues in the board, the dressing room and on the training ground, and as us fans have serially witnessed, Xavi is no stranger to confrontation:
            He's also open to dialogue, an exchange of ideas and the adaptation (or evolution) of the Barca philosophy, something the conservative, stubborn figure of Ernesto Valverde shuts down with fervor and a wave of the hand.

Xavi dresses Neymar down during the treble parade due to his stupid behavior, always putting the club first.

            But the biggest reasons: Messi trusts Xavi completely, he loves and admires his former teammate and captain (the Argentine magician wishing Hernandez well when he recently announced his retirement from playing in the Qatari leagues).
           And the other reason: the former captain understands that Barcelona is "Mes Que Un Club"...he knows all that entails.
            It's not just tactical, it's emotional; it's not only a philosophy, it's an identity.
           And Xavi wouldn't be a puppet (as Valverde is) for Bartomeu: he's not beholden, nor does he care about sponsorships, marketing etc....he is about winning.
           In closing, this is a club at a crossroads, with people in positions of power who don't deserve them, players who think they've earned the right to play like garbage on the grandest stage while wearing our shirt, all because of a manager who wipes their ass and a president hell bent on hiring managers who'll do his bidding.
            Thanks to the out of touch Socis, the future of Barcelona is in Josep-Maria Bartomeu's scandalous hands.
            Where this goes from here nobody knows, but the mere fact I kept thinking I would have to scrap this article due to the impending (still not happening) firing of Valverde, proves they'll choose inaction every time. 
            Valverde can leave, the team could triumph for the next few years, and the fans can celebrate. But in the end, as long as Bartomeu is the president of this club, there is always a chance for catastrophe, there is always moments of uncertainty and doubt that come creeping out of the shadows in the biggest moments.
            We cannot become Arsenal, 
we cannot become Chelsea...
....two clubs where the owner's lower ambitions and growing wallet guides them through every decision, transfer and managerial appointment, utilizing the hiring as a "deal" where the president (Bartomeu) keeps you in your dream job if you meet his lowly objectives, while he keeps rolling in the money. 
     We cannot let this happen where we aim for a contented, lukewarm ineptitude season upon season, going only for the league to satiate the bandwagon fans and the disillusioned locals who are understandably more worried about the nasty economy....
      we cannot abandon our principles and our responsibility for greatness...not while Lionel Messi is still playing, not while this club's crest is still there, not as long as the temple of football Camp Nou stands, we cannot succumb to the lower ebb in the armpit of greed, where our club becomes more of an advertisement than a team trying to win every single title in sight... 
            However, as long as this club possesses (and is possessed by) Lionel Messi, there is always hope.
           But to supply hope, there must always be support.