Barça have opted to buy big instead of backing a rebuild based on a young squad and a manager steeped in their values and traditions
Barça have opted to buy big instead of backing a young squad and a manager steeped in the club’s values and traditions
But for those who actually prioritise the sport, the message seemed obvious: clubs need to be more like. Clubs need to have a method and a philosophy, taught through their academies and then applied in the first team, easing the step up from the youth ranks. It saves money on transfers. Home-produced talent is likely to be more loyal and fans more forgiving of any mistakes.
If they had won anything it would have seemed a great romantic story. If they had won nothing, well, development takes time. Missing out on the Champions League and the revenue it brings was surely never a realistic concern. Yet instead Barça have opted to buy big,and Robert Lewandowski, mortgaging their future seemingly in the belief that their best course of action is to primp themselves up, ignore the balance sheet and hope a super league arrives sooner rather than later.
DNA is also the excuse used by fans to turn on managers they don’t like, often Sam Allardyce. But Louis van Gaal was accused of not respecting the Manchester United way, Steve Bruce of failing to grasp the soul of Newcastle, Marco Silva of not being right for Everton. For the most part, though, the self-perceived stylistic identities of clubs are indistinguishable: everybody likes to think of themselves as playing attacking football.
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