Are we better off six years later? European integration and the case of FC Barcelona

Abstract

[From the introduction]. The paper, as the previous ones, is drafted in a rather essayistic format and laced with a heavy dose of opinion. In spite of the recent sporting and financial successes, it still reflects on the impact of the Bosman case and its consequences on the evolution of football in Spain in general and in particular on the sports performance of F.C. Barcelona in the second part of the 90s, followed by the trend in the first years of the new century. The main initial thesis of the three transfigurations of the text consists of a critical view of how the roster was radically transformed from a “dream-team” mixture of some of the best players in Catalonia and Spain, with some world star figures inserted, as it was the custom for decades when the number of foreign players was limited. The result of the Bosman decision was a denaturalized conglomerate around an axis composed of no less than eight Dutch players imported by coach Louis Van Gaal. The club leadership placed its bets on this transformation as a guarantee of success for surpassing the golden era led by coach Johan Cruiff