After watching the Champions League match between Bayern Munich and Barcelona it became pretty obvious the Spanish giants are in trouble. When last have we seen a dominant team fall apart and require a total rebuild? Manchester United springs to mind as they are still in the process and have been for the last 10 years.
When we look at the Barcelona team sheet from the other night a worrying stat was that this was the oldest team to play in Champions league history. An average age over 29 years of age per player tells a sorry story for what is on the cards over the next few years.
Luis Suarez (33),Lionel Messi (33),Gerard Pique (33), Arturo Vidal (33), Ivan Rakitic (32), Sergio Busquets (32), Jordi Alba (31),Neto (31). This is a list of the mainstay of the squad over the last decade and all of them are household names. How are they going to replace that with similar quality?
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Eating his words after they were thrashed. Writing has been on the wall for a couple of years as they haven't rotated the squad like they should have getting rid of ageing stars.
Bayern Munich the other night thrashed them 8-2 and in reality it could have been even worse. Bayern held a high line in defence which would have been risky against a more youthful Barcelona in years gone by. The Barcelona team is old and tired lacking pace yet expectations are still high living off yesterdays memories.
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At 33 Messi is still brilliant yet he needs to be replaced at some point.
Another stat that jumped out was the distance covered by each team during the match. Bayern covered 107.55 km against Barcelona's 98.28 km telling us they were run off the park by a quicker more youthful team. Players were seen jogging back in defence when the urgency required them to be sprinting.
I do believe the coach Quique Setien was more of a sacrificial lamb put in place before they could find a more permanent solution. Setien was only appointed mid season in January so it was definitely a stop gap role he fulfilled. They have always gone for a high profile manager as they are a high profile club so we can expect a top signing manager to walk through the doors over the coming weeks.
Barcelona would love to have Pep Guardiola back tomorrow but would Guardiola want to go back knowing his stars that he left behind are now over their prime and need pushing out the door. I believe any manager taking over this team right now will find many difficulties that other clubs rebuilding have experienced. Expectations by the supporters are high and not exactly realistic or sympathetic.
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How many Barcelona supporters would have guessed 8-2?
Look at how many managers have gone through the Manchester United doors over the last few years and many were regarded as decent. Louis Van Gaal and Mourinho are regarded as top managers yet they failed in doing the rebuild. Barcelona is now in that phase and must be a five year project as a minimum to get the team back on track. The players are no longer there and it is like starting over and only one or two managers could possibly succeed. I am talking about succeeding in clearing out the old for the new and remaining competitive not winning titles.
At Barcelona if you don't guarantee silverware you are shown the door and this is why whoever takes over next needs to understand that this is now the toughest job in world football. Whoever takes on the challenge will be aware that this is a poison chalice right now with more chance of failure than succeeding. It could be perfect for Pep as he will need a big cheque book as it is going to take a kings ransom to change this squad with the expectations required.
