He's spent his whole career trying to get to Barca. He'll be there for a few years yet 
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Originally posted by fah-q -
Only if Barca want to keep him, and right now he looks like a square peg in a very round hole.Originally posted by meffin View PostHe's spent his whole career trying to get to Barca. He'll be there for a few years yet"Its not about the long ball or the short ball, its about the right ball." Bob PaisleyComment
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No doubts at all that he will be missing us (not you and me literallyOriginally posted by Bender View Post
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"Its not about the long ball or the short ball, its about the right ball." Bob PaisleyComment
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Originally posted by Tee View PostNo doubts at all that he will be missing us (not you and me literally) Badmash
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Puyol also leaving his role (whatever that was)Originally posted by fah-qComment
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Pete Jenson really knows his stuff on Spanish football...
Lionel Messi is unhappy under Luis Enrique and could be sold, Luis Suarez can't score, while there is turmoil behind the scenes... Barcelona are in full-blown meltdown
- Barcelona were beaten 1-0 by David Moyes' Real Sociedad on Sunday night
- Lionel Messi and Neymar, among others, have fallen out with Luis Enrique
- Coach has two games to save his job, against Elche and Atletico Madrid
- Luis Suarez has only has one La Liga goal while Messi is linked to Chelsea
- Barca sack sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta while Carles Puyol leaves
When Real Sociedad scored against Barcelona after just one minute on Sunday night television cameras honed in on the Barcelona bench, where coach Luis Enrique had left almost £200m worth of his squad.
Neymar turned to Lionel Messi and said: 'You had better get warmed-up'.
As a joke from a star player at the expense of his manager it was symptomatic of the chaos that currently reigns at Barcelona.
They began 2015 in turmoil after the Court of Arbitration upheld Fifa's ban on them signing players for the next 12 months, they are now in full-blown meltdown with Messi one of several senior players at loggerheads with Luis Enrique who has been given two games to save his job.
The players' biggest complaint towards the manager, who is yet to name an unchanged team this season, is that they don't know where they stand with him.
Messi, Neymar and Dani Alves were all given two extra days holiday over Christmas only to then be told when they returned that they had not trained enough to play the first game of the year.
Messi's desire to play in every match – something that Pep Guardiola nearly always made sure he did – means he took the decision badly and failed to show for training on Monday complaining of gastroenteritis – sick to the stomach of his manager would be another interpretation; the two men are believed to have argued both in Friday's training session and on Sunday in San Sebastian.
Monday's session was open to the public with school children still on their Christmas holidays allowed to watch their heroes train but Messi was at home following Chelsea on Instagram instead.
He also follows Beyonce and Manchester City so it would be taking it too far to see such a move on social media as a 'come and get me' message but the timing was telling all the same.
Chelsea fans hopeful he could end up at their club – he also followed Cesc Fabregas and Felipe Luis on Instagram – should probably bear in mind that when Messi is unhappy at Barcelona it tends to be the people he is unhappy with that move on.
Luis Enrique should be given this week's cup game with Elche and Sunday's showdown with Fernando Torres' Atletico Madrid to save his job but Messi is by no means alone in being unhappy at the head coach. Gerard Pique, new signing Ivan Rakitic and Neymar are others and far from being personal gripes there are overriding concerns over the way the coach has the team playing.
The manager who took over in the summer has a reputation for falling out with star players – he upset both Francesco Totti and Daniele De Rossi at Roma – and with Sporting Director Andoni Zubizarreta already fired, and his assistant Carles Puyol having quit soon after, the spotlight now falls on him.
President Josep Bartomeu is also under-pressure, not just to change the coach but to call elections. Prospective rival candidate for the presidency Agustí Benedito said last night on Spanish radio: 'It's clear that this board has weighed up the possibility of selling Messi.'
Benedito who received the second most votes in the last election was alluding to the theory that the current regime have deliberately antagonized the star turn in recent seasons knowing how much selling the player would swell the coffers, but also being aware his departure would have to appear to be engineered by him and not them.
Former Barcelona striker Hristo Stoichkov also waded in to criticize those in power at the club. He said: 'Bartomeu understands Basketball but not very much about football. He is not a President, he's an administrator who has landed the job because the person in charge (Sandro Rosell) was a bottler who ran away.'
The outspoken former Barça dream team member also ciriticised the outgoing Zubizarreta saying: 'What signings have been made? Why did they not go for (Toni) Kroos and Isco?'
He also defended Luis Suarez saying: 'It's not Suarez' fault, he is a natural goalscorer and they are killing him.' The big summer signing from Liverpool has suffered in Luis Enrique's ever-changing line-ups and has so far scored only one league goal.
Barcelona president Bartomeu will publicly address supporters' concerns on Wednesday and announce a new Sporting Director with Fiorentina's Eduardo Macia currently the favourite.
The former Liverpool scout who has also worked at Valencia and Olympiacos has been responsible for taking Micah Richards to Italy. For the next 12 months he will have very little to do in view of Barca's transfer ban.
Some of Zubizarreta's harshest critics have already questioned the timing of his dismissal. 'For a club that can't sign players, he is the perfect Sportind Director,' said one recalling the disastrous summer recruitments of Brazilian full-back Douglas and former Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen who have started one league game between them.
Thanks very much for being ‘This Mornings’ Farmer’Comment
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Admittedly know very little on Luis Enrique but from what I've seen from him I'm not impressed, the constant rotation and misuse of players makes Barca look a shadow of what they once were. He played Munir the other night who has one league goal this season, and Sandro didn't get into the squad despite scoring four more goals than Munir with less time on the field
Even though they're one point behind Madrid the common theory is that Madrid are far superior on their day.
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They have made some atrocious transfer decisions in the last four years.
Also their reliance on the Barca DNA means that they have not evolved at all. I was surprised when they got Luis Enrique as manager. He was poor at Roma and did not do anything great in the La liga.Comment
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Yep two **** appointments on the trot. They need to get someone proven, though God knows who.Thanks very much for being ‘This Mornings’ Farmer’Comment
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Originally posted by Shaggy View Post
A winner. Experience with a major club. Can count up to 3 in Spanish. Given time can do the same in Catalan.
Ticks all boxes.Comment
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They should get Klopp in there, give him a squad like that along with money (in 12 months) and they would be a real force.Originally posted by fah-qComment
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Messi's body language lately almost suggests he needs a change of scenery. Wonder if he might put in a transfer request sometime in the near futureComment
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We should be in for himOriginally posted by fah-qComment
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