The sky is certainly not falling in Catalonia, although you would be forgiven for thinking so.
A Barcelona losing streak, even if it’s just two games, will always raise alarm bells for a club and a fanbase who expect greatness, regardless of the circumstances.
In just under a month, the Barcelona presidency will be decided. Let’s be honest though, Joan Laporta has no real competition.
He inherited a mess from Josep Bartomeu. There was legitimate reason to fear for the future of the club. On the field
at least, under Xavi and Hansi Flick, Laporta’s two chosen managers, Barcelona have won La Liga twice, while Real Madrid won the other two titles during the same time period.
He has also made controversial decisions that you have to admit paid off. The two biggest were letting go of Lionel Messi and Xavi. The way he went about it should have been handled with more respect and dignity for the club legends, but in hindsight it worked out to the benefit of Barcelona.
The current state of Barcelona as a club is about as much as anyone could have hoped for during those dark Covid days of financial and sporting crisis.
Still, something feels off.
How much of the relative success can be attributed to the leadership of the president? How much of it has just been good luck?
In other words, are Barcelona on a sustainable path forward to continue competing for trophies in Spain and Europe on a consistent basis, or are those past problems sitting dormant, and ready to rear their ugly head again at a moment’s notice?
Much credit the past two seasons has to be given to Hansi Flick.
It’s ok to criticize his tactics. They are imperfect, especially given the circumstances he’s operating in.
Realistically, the Barcelona roster he’s been given has no business being a front runner in La Liga and the Champions League.
When you really dig into it, he has been given no real backing from the boardroom. Flick has been a miracle worker who is being asked to take a make-shift team, and turn them into champions. Nothing less will do. Those are simply the expectations of the ambitious global enterprise that is FC Barcelona.
In reality, however, this is what the coach is working with.
The full-back position has been ignored for years. Jules Kounde and Eric García continue to deputize on the right side.
The center-back pairing this season has been a job of crisis management since the shock departure of Iñigo Martínez over the summer.
In the defensive midfield, there was no attempt to answer the question of who would replace Sergio Busquets. It has been left up to Flick’s ingenuity.
Finally, Barca has been playing without a top class striker at the peak of his career. No matter how many goals Ferran Torres and Robert Lewandowski score, they will continue to be the weak links in the attack.
In the spirit of honesty and realistic expectations, we should back Hansi Flick and appreciate him for the results he has produced, and for the way he has led the team with grace and positivity.
No one really knows what’s going on in the board room, and what those balance sheets read. But if you had to guess, reading between the lines, the situation for Barcelona is still not good.
As for the coach and the players, Barca fans should get behind them.
They are flawed, but they are giving us something to cheer for.
They are right where they need to be in La Liga and the Champions League.
They may not be deep, but the gala starting eleven should be fit for the business end of the season.
In the long run, Joan Laporta has some big questions to answer, and he may not be so lucky. For now, we should enjoy the show of football that Flick has brought to Barcelona.
Every story has it’s twists and turns, but what matters is how it ends.
There’s still lots of drama to come. That you can be certain of.
