What FC Barcelona's victory means

Congrats to FC Barcelona!

Now back to work. Three issues to consider. 1) Can FC Barcelona stay on top? 2) What does Barcelona's victory tell us about football management? 3) What changes are need to keep winning?

Let's start with the second issue --  football management. For some, Barcelona's victory is a vindication of the member-owned football club model, which in theory brings with it greater commitment of members (and other fans) and players. It is true that members are unbelievably committed, but this does not necessarily bring better management. Players could care less about ownership structures; tell love fan adulation (member or otherwise), and they generally have their own objectives. Our conclusion: no clear advantage here.

If not, then what do we need to look at? As we have written on earlier occasion, there are four basic ownership structures: 1) member-owned social club (FC Barcelona); 2) rich-owner ego trip (Chelsea); 3) publicly traded company (Juventus); 4) privately-held company (Arsenal). All require the same ingredients: 1) one outstanding top management person; 2) money; 3) an outstanding coach; 4) the right mix of great players.

These four elements are fluid, hard to define and hard to maintain. The one constant is money. On the only recent occasion where a relatively "poor" club won the Champions' League (Oporto, 2004), the club's assets (players and coach Mourinho) were bought by the wealthy.

Thus, the rich to continue to get richer, and the Champions' League will be won each year by one of a small number (10-15) elite clubs. From time to time, someone who is very rich will buy a club and see if he break into the elite. For the most part they will fail, but just one or two successes is enough to change the landscape (Chelsea).

Turning then to what the victory means for FC Barcelona. Normally, two things happen after a huge success: pressure on salaries goes up, resistance to change. On the first, there is little that can be done. Rivals will make offers, not just to get players but also to upset the "delicate balance". This is normal. Tough decisions will have to be made. There is where having outstanding top management and coaching matters. On both, FC Barcelona is on solid.

Which brings us to resistance to change, and the only one of the four management issues that presents immediate difficulties for FC Barcelona: the right mix of players. Will FC Barcelona be willing to recognize that in certain positions they were outplayed by a faster opponent?

With this question, I return to one of my favorite themes in football (and in business) -- velocity. Velocity has become more and more important as athletic conditioning, skill levels and specialization transform strategies and tactics on the field.

The need for speed is changing the way the national sides are being put together for the World Cup. On Monday this week, the countries announced their official 23 players rosters. Much was made of Jürgen Klinsman decision to name relatively unknown David Odonkor to the list. 

Jürgen Klinsmann continued his unorthodox approach in Germany, the host country, when he selected David Odonkor. A 22-year-old midfielder for Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga, Odonkor has been clocked at 10.9 seconds at 100 meters, but he has not played for the senior national team and had never been mentioned in connection with a spot.

"He's a great talent and brings something we urgently need — speed, the unexpected and someone who can sprint to the goal line and give us a cross from deep in the corner," Klinsmann told Reuters.

To call such a move, unorthodox, suggests that there are experts and teams that have not gotten the message. All else being equal, speed is the key differentiator. FC Barcelona may want to think about this as well.  FC Barcelona defenders got left behind by Henry; Arsenal had defenders for Eto'o. In several positions, there was a noticeable velocity gap.

FC Barcelona will need to decide if it should do something about the problem. Measuring the risk of reformulating a winning combination in order to improve it is tough work and hardly the best way to make friends. Accordingly, the decision should be left to the football experts -- Beguiristain and Rijkaard.

In our IE multimedia business case, "Football Club Barcelona: Changing the Rules of the Game" a professional strategy team turns around the Club. Interviewing Laporta, Soriano, Ingla, Beguiristain and the rest of the management team, it was easy to see what great fun they were having. Getting to the top is a joy ride. Staying there is much harder and less fun.

Comments

[Giovanni Carrara]

Hi David,
Just to say that in Italy there are only three listed teams: Juventus (nowadays facing bankruptcy for a huge corruption scandal), Rome and Lazio. Milan Ac is an asset of Berlusconi's family, is not publicly traded and so, in my opinion, its structure is more similar to Chelsea's one.
Last but not least all Italian Football Teams are losing money and listed teams never shared a dividend. I think that if rules will not change asap this system is going to collapse in a few years. Perhaps an NBA-like model with also a salary cap rule could help.

Regards
Giovanni Carrara

[Vicente Castelló Ferrer]

'all require the same ingredients: 1) one outstanding top management person; 2) money; 3) an outstanding coach; 4) the right mix of great players'

And 5) That the ball crosses the line and gets into the net.

If you have the first 4, but you lack the 5th... you are fired.

[Alessandro Zuniga]

Who needs 4 defenders when you have Carles Puyol. I think FC Barcelona with their football strategy and lineup, are in great position to win the Champion's League again. Hopefully the injuries to Messi and Eto'o wont be devastating to their chances.