Barcelona midfielder becomes the latest to hit out at the board
The growing frustration between the Barcelona players and the board is becoming more evident.
Sergio Busquets played a key role in creating the lone goal in Barcelona’s 1-1 draw against Napoli. However, he was not at all happy following the game and it wasn’t because he picked up a yellow card meaning he won’t be able to play in the return leg.
No, he was unhappy because the team struggled once again on the road and the star midfielder had some choice words for the board.
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According to Sport, Busquets said,
"“[Nelson] Semedo and I were one booking away from a ban so we were always running that risk [of suspension]. We hope Pique’s injury is nothing serious but we will take on the second leg with what we have. We don’t have a deep squad because, unfortunately, that’s how it was planned.”"
Ivan Rakitic added,
"“We have a short squad but those that are in charge knew that. The solution is what it is. Those that are available will have to work really hard because we have an important match in the second leg.”"
Rather directly, both midfielders took shots at the poor squad planning done by Barcelona.
At the start of the season they had an overabundance of depth in several key areas. As the season progressed under Ernesto Valverde, it was clear who was going to play and who was not.
Therefore, the club started to look to sell or loan certain players. But they went too far. Especially in the winter transfer window.
They let go Carles Aleña, Carles Perez, Jean-Clair Todibo and Moussa Wague. While one can argue they did not play much, they played well when given the chance. Now Barcelona find themselves needing to fill out their match day squad with Barça B players.
Some of the departures look even worse given the injuries to Sergi Roberto and Ousmane Dembélé. Barcelona don’t have any other wingers on the team so to essentially kick out Carles Perez and send him to Rome makes little sense.
The players are no longer going to be quiet and take the brunt of the blame when things go bad. For too long the success of the team has hidden the incompetence of a board who has spent nearly half a billion euros on players and yet has to make an emergency signing for a forward because of lack of depth.
President Josep Maria Bartomeu and his board have faced their fair share of criticism and scandals during their tenure. But nothing as significant as this. In addition to what Busquets and Rakitic said, Lionel Messi has had a spat with Eric Abidal as well over comments about who was responsible for the sacking of Valverde.
They are also in the middle of the scandal regarding hiring a company to create social media accounts to attack certain players and figures as well as candidates for the Barcelona presidency.
Everyone can see the deficiencies in the side and the responsibility lays at the suits in charge. They hire and fire the managers, they buy and sell players and it’s been a long time since they’ve done a good job at any of those things.
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Do not be surprised, regardless of results, if more players speak out or if criticism against the board continues.