FC BARCELONA | COACH TATA ON THE ROPES AS NEW CANDIDATES FLOWER

After winning everything in the past 4 seasons FC Barcelona is not accustomed to losing. The Liga loss to Real Sociedad last weekend pushed Barça down the classification ladder to second place & opened up a 3 point gap with arch rival Real Madrid. This has not been digested too well at Barcelona. Coach Gerardo Martino is being severally criticised by the local influential Sports press & there are comments that some "heavyweights" in the Barça dressing room have lost confidence in their Coach, & perhaps worst, respect. 

The game against Real Sociedad was a turning point because Coach Martino left on the bench players like Xavi, Iniesta, Mascherano & Cesc Fabregas, & put others in positions that they normally don't play, like Busquets. The match beforehand was dangerous as Real Sociedad had "revenge" on their mind after Barça eliminated them a week back from the semis of the Spanish Cup. Said differently it was not a game to make experiments, & this experiment turned out badly. So bad that now Real Madrid, which months back was 9 points away, are now 3 points ahead. 

Coach Martino bravely admitted post-match in the habitual press interview that he made mistakes & calculated badly, but the Barcelona press has let their dogs loose & are having their field day with the Argentine Coach. You get the feeling that Martino has "upset" someone or certain people at Barcelona & now they are taking their moment to "bang" Martino.

Local Spanish Sports daily "Sport.es" does not hide their views or thoughts & have published with their front page that FC Barcelona is studying possible Coaching candidates. On the list are Valverde ( Athletic Club Bilbao), Luis Enrique ( Celta de Vigo ) , Villas-Boas ( ex Tottenham ) Simeone ( At Madrid ) & Klopp ( Borussia Dortmund ). Imagine how current Barcelona Coach Gerardo Martino must feel waking up this morning & seeing this in the front page. 

Martino has lost just two matches this season, he has FC Barcelona in the Spanish Cup Final & comfortable in the Champions League. Any other Coach at any other Club would be OK along with a satisfied fan base. But at FC Barcelona this is not the case. Years of winning, of being hailed the "Best Football Team of All Time", of being Nº1 World Club in FIFA rankings has blurred the past & has only given food to the insatiable need to win. 

I myself believe that Martino has ruffled the feathers of some FC Barcelona players, including Xavi Hernandez, Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas & Lionel Messi, & they maybe using their press contacts to destabilize their current Coach. Having said all this, & dropped my "conspiracy theory",  a victory next week in Liga & in Champions League over Manchester City will dilute all this acid moments. A Liga title or Spanish Cup title would make all this episode & press front pages things of the past & news that was over exaggerated. Football moves to the beat of one single drum, winning.