Barcelona president Joan Laporta took a thinly veiled swipe
at the club's players and outlined his plans for a major overhaul
this summer after they relinquished their Primera Liga title to
Real Madrid. A 5-1 thrashing of Gimnastic Tarragona on the final
day of the season was not enough to overhaul Madrid, whose 3-1
defeat of Real Mallorca at the Bernabeu handed them the trophy on a
better head-to-head record against their Catalan
rivals.
Barca, who have won the last two La Liga crowns, have been off
colour for much of the season and Laporta feels now is the right
time for change. He said: "This has been decided for some time
because we could see it coming, independently of what happened at
the end. "At a given moment we noticed a certain lack of
commitment. Maybe because of a saturation of really good years at
Barca, maybe for human reasons or because of the dynamic we were
in.
"This year we haven't won anything and obviously we have to take
action. "You could see it coming. We played with fire and got
burnt." Injuries to key players Samuel Eto'o and Leo Messi did not
help Barca's cause and although Laporta admitted mistakes had been
made at all levels, he hinted the majority of the blame lay inside
the dressing room.
He added: "We all have a feeling of disappointment. There are
degrees of responsibility here and we all know where the main
responsibility lies. "In a team game you can't accuse individuals.
We've all failed: the directors, the technical staff, coaches and
players. But there are different degrees of responsibility." He is
still optimistic that with the right changes over the summer, Barca
will return to the summit of the Spanish game next season.
"We have to renew the hope, the professionalism and the
commitment," he said. "The reading (of the situation) is done and
so is the analysis. "When I refer to renewing the hope, the
professionalism and the commitment I'm referring to the squad. "The
club can cope with the necessary overhaul and I don't believe that
we can go downhill just because of one result. The club is a
worldwide reference point. "I'm very excited about starting
again."
