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Gerard Piqué and Josep Maria Bartomeu have never met face to face. Since the latter’s appointment as Barcelona president in 2015, there have been a number of issues that have divided the club’s boardroom and dressing room.
Since Piqué is one of the most experienced and vocal members of the first team, he is often the one who speaks out against anything he feels is not right. The defender’s latest revelations about Lionel Messi’s management of the club are the latest in a long line of internal disputes.
Management since 2015
Bartomeu assumed the presidency of Barcelona shortly after Luis Enrique led the team to a triplet in LaLiga, Copa del Rey and Champions League in 2015. Since then, the luck of the Catalans has worsened on the field.
“We touched the sky with the 2015 treble,” said Piqué after the Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich last season. “Since then, the club has been falling instead of growing and that trend is indisputable. We hit bottom with 8-2.”
The dismissal of Valverde
Barcelona have always denied that the players were consulted before Ernesto Valverde was fired as coach in January 2020. Piqué has a different view of events.
“They called us to a meeting and gave us the message that made us feel like we had to approve [the sacking] or they disapprove of it, “Piqué said later.
The actual decision to fire Valverde in the middle of last season did not sit well with the central defender either.
“After winning two league titles and still being top [of the league]firing the coach in the middle of the season does not seem very coherent as a project, “said Piqué.
Player power
The top brass of Barcelona’s first team have seen their influence grow in decision-making processes within the club in recent years.
“Everything is healthier for everyone when hierarchies are well defined,” said Piqué. “The president has to be the main [person responsible] and then the coach has to direct the players.
“When that hierarchy is broken, things do not work. If the players have had power it is because other people have not wanted to exercise theirs.”
Barcagate
Bartomeu faces a vote of no confidence in Barcelona for various reasons, but the Barcagate scandal is high on many people’s agenda. The club is accused of hiring a company to disfigure opposing figures on social media.
“The club has wasted money, money that they are now asking us, to criticize not only external people with a historical relationship with the club, but active players and that is a shame,” Piqué said after being asked to the First staff accept more pay cuts.
Relationship with Messi
The internal dispute between the Barcelona board and Lionel Messi during the summer generated much criticism from Bartomeu, including Piqué.
“As for Messi, if I were president, I would have done things differently,” Piqué told La Vanguardia. “I would have asked Lionel to hang on. I didn’t have many dealings with him during that time because I thought it was a very personal decision.
“I wonder: how can the best player in history, with whom we have been lucky enough to play, wake up one day and send a burofax because he feels that the board does not listen to him?
“It’s very shocking, but all I know is that Leo deserves it all. The new stadium should be named after him. We must preserve our past and present legends and not discredit them. It makes me nervous.”
Pay cuts
Due to Barcelona’s financial problems, the first team has been asked to reduce their salary for the second time this year.
“I totally disagree,” Piqué said about it, making his position clear.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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