Barcelona and the “Five Levels of Decline”

In his book, “How the Mighty Fall,” Jim Collins developed the concept that he called “Five Stages of Decline.” It looks at how organizations, no matter how large and controlling, are prone to decline.

Collins recorded five levels:

• Hubris Born of success,
• Pursue more control,
• Denying danger and danger,
• Grasping for Salvation, and
• Capitulation to Instability or Death.

Collins notes that depression can come on quickly and is often characterized as panic. However, he confirms that the decline is coming from the outside. By the time it becomes apparent to everyone that a recession has taken hold, the internal illness has weakened the body. Collins’ concept brilliantly captures the reality of FC Barcelona and the difficulties facing the club.

2020 will go down as the year when the decline and decay of this great club became apparent to even the strongest Barca fans and the pundits with rose-colored glasses.

Even some of the acolytes who were OD’d for two years “going to happen” had to retire Neymar to go against what was obvious to others for so long – Barcelona had no money to make the deal.

Whether it was on the field, the coaches, or in the boardroom it was a year of turmoil, failure, and in some cases coming.

These are some of the worst times for Barcelona in a terrible year.

January 9-13

It started with a fall in the semi-finals of the Supercopa de España, played at King Abdullah Sports Village, Saudi Arabia, on January 9th.

Leading 2-1 against Atletico Madrid, with less than 10 minutes to play, Atleti hit twice to grab a 3-2 win.

Four days later, Coach Ernesto Valverde was fired after 30 months under supervision. During his time there, Valverde helped Barcelona to two La Liga titles, as well as Copa del Rey and Supercopa de España.

His other husband, Quique Setién, signed a contract through to June 30, 2022 but there was nothing on his CV that gave the slightest notice that could last that long. Over two decades and seven coaching positions, Setién had never recorded a winning percentage of over 50% and had not won a cup. The reason for his appointment was a vague rambling message about playing the Barca route.

July 16th

Any hopes of Barcelona taking La Liga to the final grew with a 2-1 loss to midfielder Osasuna while Real Madrid won the 34th.^th La Liga title with a 2-1 win over Villarreal. Barcelona ‘s last hope was to win a domestic cup – the first time since 2008.

August 14-25

August 14 is a day that will haunt Barcelona fans as long as FC Barcelona is there. In the relegation of the Champions League fourth-legged quarter-final, Barcelona were crushed by Bayern Munich who eventually scored at will.

The final score of 8-2 was the first time Barcelona had conceded 8 goals in a game in 74 years and the first time in nearly 70 years that the club lost as a 6-6 margin. visit. It was also the first time Barcelona had conceded more than 5 goals in a Champions League match.

Coach Quique Setién was fired three days later and within another 24 hours, the door was spotted for Football Director Eric Abidal.

On August 19, Ronald Koeman was announced as the new head coach until June 30, 2022. A coach who has been hot and cold all his life, Koeman will have to blow very hot if he is to survive to 2022.

Less than two weeks after Bayern Munich shut down Lionel Messi told the club he wanted to leave. Messi’s case was legally wobbly and he was later dismissed.

However, the seeds of discontent had now flowed and with that he realized that Messi ‘s time in Barcelona may be coming to an end.

October

In a low year, October showed that no matter how bad things are, it can always get worse.

The month began with news that Barcelona had recorded a loss of almost € 100 million for 2019/20 and that this debt had accumulated to almost half a billion Euros. The press release went too far as to explain the impact of COVID-19 and to argue that the club would not have exceeded € 1 billion in revenue for the pandemic. has recorded a profit of € 30 million – very little talk of poor Barcelona. season.

He also did not rely on Barcelona’s policy of paying salaries at an unsustainable rate that left the club in an even bigger position. Barcelona had to go to the players and ask them to accept big pay cuts. It took another two months to get the players to agree to make cuts and delays of around € 170 million, still € 20 million short of the stated target of savings of € 190 million. In addition to cutting salaries, Barcelona had to put players down at bargain-bin prices.

On October 27, President Maria Bartomeu joined the board of directors. Opposing a vote of no confidence from the membership, Bartomeu chose to run. (Looking back this is a turning point rather than another awful time – time will tell.)

Nonetheless, nothing sums up Barcelona’s transition from club to club to something with a forward-looking group of marketing and PR types is one of Bartomeu’s separation statements. – “It is a calm and calm decision, agreed by my co-directors.”

Yes.

Barcelona’s performance on the field in La Liga in October brought no relief – 10 points dropped in 5 games.

In five La Liga games, Barcelona won only one, lost two and drew two. One of the two cases was sent to Real Madrid in the Camp Nou on October 24. A goal by Ansu Fati was not enough as Real Madrid got goals from Federico Valverde, Sergio Ramos, and Luka Modrić.

December 8th

The group stage of the 2020/21 Champions League had been a clear spot for Barcelona until game day 6. Five wins from 5 games, including a 2-0 away win for Juventus, meant that the top of Group G Barcelona had to be completed to avoid beating Juventus by three or more goals.

The final score? 3-0 Juventus and now, instead of a round of 16 games against FC Porto, Barcelona will face Paris Saint-Germain – and possibly Neymar – February 16, and March 10.

2021 Crystal Ball

Barcelona will play Eibar in the final La Liga match of 2020 on Wednesday. Currently, Barcelona is 5^th in the league, 2 points less than Villarreal but with a game in hand. Based on Barcelona’s points-per-game average so far, the team is heading for a 65-point season but even the poor Barcelona side should be able to finish in the top 4. However, a run may be at the league title beyond that Barcelona Reach – 8 points behind Atletico Madrid and another game played.

On January 24, Barcelona will elect a new President and Board of Directors. There are seven names on the presidential ballot with the most obvious being Joan Laporta who held office from 2003 to 2010. Whoever wins Barcelona is bound to face more internal turmoil.

But before a new boss takes over Lionel Messi will be able to negotiate (come January 1) with non-Spanish clubs as his contract with Barcelona is up at the end of June 2021. It was no accident that Messi suddenly recently began an interview that one of his dreams is to play in the United States.

Messi has Barcelona with the hares and the invitations.