How much to turn us into a Barcelona?

[paul_e]

There is no system in place to level the playing field at all, so essentially you watch your side to finish mid table and never compete for anything unless you support one of 4-5 teams.

Potentially the FFP rules will help in a way as the ultimate punishment is sanctions that prevent you entering European competitions.  Therefore clubs below have the opportunity to overspend to get themselves closer to the top but must have their finances in order once they're pushing for european places.

I'm not sure whether that is how the rules were intended to work but it's a small crumb of comfort for smaller clubs (on the assumption that UEFA actually prevent clubs like City taking part in the Chumps League).

Haven't UEFA already come out with some ruling that essentially allows clubs to spread existing debt over a number of years as a transition period?

Indeed they have, that's why I think we've announced our financial results as we have, make the debt look bigger now so we can show it coming down over the next couple of years ready to go into europe without issues next time we qualify.  If only we stood a chance of qualifying...

[Doorbell]

Indeed they have, that's why I think we've announced our financial results as we have, make the debt look bigger now so we can show it coming down over the next couple of years ready to go into europe without issues next time we qualify.  If only we stood a chance of qualifying...

Makes sense...ha ha yes although I wouldn't worry, AMc is actually ahead of the curve.  Like fashion, football playing style is actually cyclical not evolutionary.  In a couple of years when barcelona's fancy pants passing game is seen as anti-football we'll reign supreme again

[Wilfred the Hairy]

I support Villa and Barça, as I`ve lived here for nearly 30 years.

I went to the Camp Nou on Wednesday and was bored out of my mind.

7-1 - great. What's the point? I wish I'd taken a book. I agree with the other posters who like a bit of competition in a game. Claiming they go to watch Español is a bit much though (!)
 
One point that hasn't been made yet here (I don't think):  Barça go on about their "home grown" players, but bear in mind the amount of scouts they have all over the world: they can afford to bring in, say, a thousand kids for trial, and if they do this often enough, by the law of averages, they'll get a Messi from time to time. Iniesta is from Albacete (he and Messi have lived here for about ten years, but neither of them speak Catalan, ooooh!). Piqué and Fàbregas both left and were then bought back for large amounts of money. It's the scale of the Barça youth set-up that makes the difference. It's everywhere. We'll have an Eskimo kid here soon.

Barça have very skilfully marketed their image since the Cruyff years (Villa fans will remember Barça's reputation in the early 1980s). Before Cruyff, they used to sign everyone under the sun and it was Madrid who developed their own players (Butragueño, Michel, Sanchis, Martin Vázquez, Raúl a bit later). So that's changed. Another change is the worry that Barça players would go off to Madrid (see Schuster, Laudrup, Figo, Ronaldo) - that's hard to imagine now.

But Barça were always a sleeping giant with a huge potential that they were unable to realize for whatever reason (they blamed it on the dictatorship for many years, in spite of the fact that they won four leagues in the 1950s when the regime was at its fiercest, and then won only two leagues between 1960 and 1990). Barça have also historically competed with only one other club, Madrid: to be like them, Villa would have to eliminate Man City, Liverpool, Everton, Arsenal, Spurs, and Chelsea, and then organize a run-off with Man Utd season after season. 

[martin o`who??]

About twice the entire Greek national debt.