Watching FC Barcelona these days certain things seem evident to me.
Firstly, the circumstances surrounding the resignation of club president Sandro Rosell (see earlier blog)have fuelled a sense of political and administrative uncertainty, despite the remaining governing junta trying to carry on as if nothing had really happened.
The fact is that it is unusual for the president of any major corporation or government to resign without giving more of an explanation that one suggesting an unspecified conspiracy against him.
Meanwhile the fiscal and judicial investigation into the Neymar deal continues without anyone really knowing what its outcome will be, and rival camps , including former president Joan Laporta’s , are calling for early elections.
It would be inhuman to believe that the controversy surrounding the higher echelons of FC Barcelona has not left the fans and club members feeling disorientated. Blame the bad mood in the Nou Camp perhaps on the weather-colder and wetter even in the Med this time of year, and Madrid’s continuing refusal to authorise a referendum on Catalan independence-a vote which polls show 80 per cent of Barca members want. But questions are being raised about just how democratic and accountable this club that prides itself as being ‘mes que un club‘ really is.
The sense of ‘instability’ at the top surely has had some psychological impact on the players who seem affected already by another problem which I would call the World Cup syndrome. For we are now at the stage in the season where certain players are thinking about getting to Brazil , fit enough not only to make an impact, but shine.
Messi, who has been suffering from injury problems-again-knows that this World Cup is the one he needs to win with Argentina if he is to conclusively prove that he is a greater star than Maradona. He is evidently below his best form.Meanwhile Neymar, who can’t be relishing the controversy that his transfer deal has generated, knows that his country as host nation expects nothing less than to emerge as world champions. Yesterday he looked uncharacteristically gloomy, watching Barca defeated by Valencia as a spectator.
As for some of the other Barca players- Busquets, Xavi, Pedro, Valdes, Jordi Alba,Pique, Cesc and Iniesta ( I discount Pujol because of his ongoing injury problems) all of them have one eye on defending La Roja’s title as World Champions as a time when manager Vicente Del Bosque is spoilt for choice as to the Spanish talent that is available for selection not just in La Liga but in the Premier League.
In recent games, including last night’s, there were times when Barca players-notably the defenders- seemed to pull back from tackles, as if consciously preserving themselves. At the same time when Messi plays, the team revolves around him. All well and good when he is in top form. But not so good, when he is not.
After the defeat against Valencia, the competing pressures on FC Barcelona’s star players are considerable.
