'Football Chaos' Barcelona

Posted Friday, August 25, 2017 by Marca.com

Barcelona are having their most troublesome summer for many years with problems on and off the pitch and and new developments on almost a daily basis that have left members wondering who is actually at the helm of the club.

It looks very much as though it is the players that have taken control and no one seems prepared to rein them in which means they can to a large extent do what they want.

The latest chapter of the division between the board and the players was when the latter were photographed at a party with Neymar.

Maybe it was just coincidence, and it is true that players do appear to live in a parallel universe, but it did look very much like they were putting up a challenge by hugging the Brazilian two hours after it was announced by the club that he would be sued for not completing his contract.

This is reinforced by the fact that it is not an isolated case and there have been various similar situations that suggests it is not just coincidence.

Last season was a disappointment for the players and they were not happy that the club were not able to retain Neymar.

It sparked resentment and from the side of the board they too feel let down by the players who apparently knew that Neymar had decided to leave at the end of June during Lionel Messi's wedding and yet did not communicate this to the directors.

The friction was also shown when Pep Segura spoke to the press and emphasised the error by Pique in a goal for Real Madrid in the Supercopa de Espana, with the player responding that "the club is not going very well".

President Josep Maria Bartomeu is finding his power reduced continually and it was demonstrated in that he said Messi had signed a renewal to his contract, which was later proved to be false. In fact it is the Argentine that has the power and everyone obeys what he says.

Along with this is the difficulty that Barcelona have in completing signings this summer which has left plenty of question marks over planning in the sports department.

The latest case has been that of Seri who appeared to be on his way to the Camp Nou but now the move has been ruled out.

Vote of no confidence

For the opposition they are now sensing it is the time to strike and they have a realistic chance of forcing a vote of no confidence with a lot of dissatisfaction.

Added to everything else is the fact that the Sandro Rosell, the previous president who worked alongside Bartomeu, is now in jail.

With the club having opened up another judicial case over Neymar, irregularities over their 'asiento libre', free seat service for fans and now the hacking of the club website just appears to be an anecdote.

On top of this fans can also see a Real Madrid side that is going from strength to strength.