Joan Laporta has been one of the most successful presidents in the history of Barcelona. His vision created an empire that lasted over 15 years.
The Spanish lawyer and politician tells us that the Catalans, who won all possible titles in 2009 are the best team of all time, and Lionel Messi is the greatest football player the game has ever produced.
In an interview with Sportskeeda, Laporta opens up about the important issues related to Barcelona and criticises the current board of the club.
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Barcelona have built an empire in the last 10 years and it all started with you. Was it in your plans right from the start or did you not expect such success?
The success of our model was expected and desired, but the reality has exceeded all our expectations.
Could you compare Barcelona from your time there (2003-2010), to the Barcelona (2010-2016) after you? What are the similarities and the differences that you find?
From 2003 to 2010 Barcelona had some exceptional players like Ronaldinho, (Samuel) Eto'o, Deco, (Rafael) Marquez, (Carles) Puyol, Xavi, Victor (Valdes), (Andres) Iniesta, (Gerard) Piqué, (Sergio) Busquets and the best player in the world who is Lionel Messi.
All these men are the real craftsmen of the success that Barcelona enjoyed during this period.
We also had two extraordinary coaches in Frank Rijkaard and Pep Guardiola, who along with their assistants did an excellent job and created the best Barça team in the history of the club by implementing a genuine style of playing football that we now recognise the team for having. And with a sports director, Txiki Begiristain, who applied and directed sports policy masterly, we prospered like never before.
The Barça model from 2003 to 2010 was "More than a Club in the World" which was based on the Cruyff (game style), La Masía (majority of home players), Catalunya (Catalan club open to the world), UNICEF (Pioneer in corporate social responsibility of football clubs) and an organization who professionalised in the management of the club.
Barcelona from 2010 to 2016 has so far taken advantage of the sports model and the majority of the inherited players, La Masia has been neglected, UNICEF has been changed for Qatar and because of the bad management, Barcelona has seen its players being convicted of committing tax offences and charged with fraud and corruption.
Barcelona's success is based on a star player. In the past there was Ronaldinho. Messi learned from him and became even more impressive. Is Neymar the one that will follow that tradition? Do you feel that Barcelona should invest in that policy so the team continues to be effective?
Lionel Messi is the best player in the history of football. His charm, his way of enjoying the ball, his humility, his honesty, his winning spirit and the admiration he creates in his teammates makes him the natural leader of the team.
The best Barça side of all times had been built based on a genuine style of playing football that offers an opportunity to play some attacking and spectacular football. It’s a type of football where the ball is moved around with much speed thanks to the great individual talent of the players who take two touches at most, players who have the control of the ball and who exert great pressure to recover it immediately when it is with the opposition.
Another important key to Barcelona’s success has been that the players were great people. Most of them knew each other from the academy and acquired their knowledge of this genuine style of playing football practically from their childhood and adolescence.
I also think it was very important that Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and co. learned to compete from the likes of Ronaldinho, Deco, and Eto'o. It also helped that at a given time the captaincy and leadership of the team were given to the home players.
This facilitated the integration of the club and the team with the style of playing with some great players that did not come through Barcelona's academy. The fact that the Board of Directors clearly defined the club model, based on the "More than a Club in the World", which was a true statement of principles shared and respected by the players, was also one of the keys to success.
The latter meant that players would identify with the values of the club and feel proud of what they represented. The values that the club addressed to the players were that Barça is more than just a club, that we will not win by hook or crook, the end doesn’t justify the means and it is better to be the best than to be the first.
The important thing was not just to win. The most important thing was the way they won, the spectacular game they offered, committed to the honesty and sportsmanship that generated admiration from everyone. The players wanted to get the glory to make history. All this made FC Barcelona a recognised, an admired and a club that was loved by all.
I think that the success of Barça is that all players consider that the most important thing is the team and that the individual talent of players is essential to make the team better. The most talented players stand as natural leaders who know that if the team works and wins, awards and official acknowledgements come along with them. That’s the case for the individual awards as well.
Neymar is an excellent player, a great person, who has the intelligence and generosity to adapt and create an atmosphere of good feeling in a team that has Leo Messi as an undisputed leader.
During your years as Barcelona's president, Lionel Messi progressed and became a star footballer. There is a rivalry with Cristiano Ronaldo, mostly in the press, as to who is the best player. What is your opinion?
Lionel Messi is the best player in the history of football. Cristiano is an excellent player and a great professional who has an extraordinary agent in Jorge Mendes.
Barcelona will always have a rivalry with Real Madrid. It seems that since 2005, Barcelona has managed to get the better of Real Madrid in terms of winning trophies and games. Can Barcelona be considered superior to Real Madrid after what has happened the last 10 years?
Yes, obviously. The Barça of the last 14 years is superior to Real Madrid and not only in trophies and matches won. Barcelona has been and still is far superior to Madrid but this is at stake.
Barcelona since 2004, with its style of play, revolutionised football. The players and coaches of the club have maintained that style until now, obtaining recognition and admiration of the whole world.
What do you think of Barcelona this season? Barcelona have lost some important games. Are Barcelona capable of winning La Liga or Champions League or both?
We will see. We are entering a decisive phase of the season in all competitions.
Which players do you regard as the best in the history of Barcelona and which players from the current squad have the best potential to reach that level?
Because of my age, I could not follow Kubala, the Barcelona idol of my father's generation. However, alongside the great players during Kubala’s time with Barcelona, the best players in the history of Barça, in my opinion, have been, Johan Cruyff and Lionel Messi.
Moreover, the clubs has been lucky enough to be graced by some great names like Maradona, Schuster, Rivaldo, Stoichkov, Romario and Guardiola. And then you have the golden generation of the “Dream Team” when Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Deco, Xavi, Iniesta, Victor Valdes, Piqué, Puyol and Busquets were part of the team.
Altogether since 2003, they have been the architects of the best Barca side in the history of the club. And now we continue to build on that with the likes of Luis Suarez and Neymar today.
How does Barcelona decide which players to buy in the next season?
That is something the Technical Director decides after conferring with the coach. And then it is mulled over by the President and the Board of Directors whether the move it is economically viable.
During your time Barcelona made an unprecedented record of winning all possible trophies in one season. This happened in 2009. Is this sufficient to conclude that the team that year was the best Barcelona of all time?
In my opinion, yes. The 2009 Barcelona team won everything a team can win in one season: League Cup, Champions, Supercup of Spain, Supercup of Europe, and Club World Championship.
They also won 6-2 at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium against Real Madrid. And more important than the titles they won was the way they won them. In 2009, we played the best football of all time. It was a genuine style of playing football, the Barcelona way of football that was created by Johan Cruyff.
What point of their history are Barcelona at right now? Will they be able to maintain their domination in European football or is there a danger of a decline?
There is a risk of decline because the current board has not done well.
It was said that your first preference as the new Barcelona president was David Beckham. However, Beckham never signed and it was said that the alternative was Ronaldinho. Does this mean that if Beckham had accepted Barcelona's proposal, Ronaldinho would have never been a player of Barcelona?
My first choice was always Ronaldinho. The possibility of signing Beckham came later and he was never considered as an alternative to Ronaldinho.
Which big name in the football industry (player or coach) were you close to bringing to Barcelona but failed to? Could you tell us the story?
We invested in the young players of our academy because our sports model was based on our academy. The great names that we wanted to bring in, we eventually signed: Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Deco, Márquez, Thierry Henry, Yayà Touré, Abidal, Edmilson, Giuly, Belletti, Larsson, Gudjohnsen, Alves, Keita, Ibrahimovic.
You were the president that appointed Pep Guardiola as a Barcelona manager. He went on to become one of the best managers in the world. Could he return one day to Barcelona?
It depends on him. He will decide that by himself. Pep is a great coach and an even better person. In my opinion, if he came back to Camp Nou one day, it would be great for the club.
What was the most difficult decision you had to take as Barcelona's president?
To tell Rijkaard, Ronaldinho and then Eto'o that their time at Barça was over. They were the most difficult decisions I have ever made.
Is there anything you regret from your Barcelona presidency? Is there anything that you preferred not to have done? Possibly a mistake?
The first year, following the recommendation from a member of my Board, we separated two players that the coach did not want to train with the group because they did not want to go to play with another club under the same conditions. This is something I would not do again. In general, I learned from the mistakes I made and I think that the balance of the decisions I made was positive.
You were a candidate to become president of Barcelona in 2015, again. Do you want to stand for the next elections? Is it your dream to return as Barcelona president?
We will see. Whether I will put my name in the hat again will depend on when the elections will be held, who is running for the presidency and if I will still be excited about the project.
If you were the president of Barcelona now, what would you do in order to secure the best future for the club?
I would invest in our academy, something which the current Board has dismantled, unfortunately.
From the clubs and players outside Barcelona, which ones have you admired during the course of the history of football? Have you ever admired Real Madrid as a team or (a) Real Madrid player/s?
I love Barça. It is more than a club and it is the club that I have loved since I was a very little kid. We have had great teams throughout our history, like the Barça of Cruyff of 1973-74, the Barça of ’85 with Maradona and Schuster, the Dream Team by Johan Cruyff in the early 90s, with Stoichkov, Romario, Laudrup, Guardiola, Koeman, Txiki, Eusebio, Bakero, Zubi, Sergi, Chapi, Salinas and Goiko.
Barça from 2003 to 2006 of Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Deco and Marquez, with Frank Rijkaard as the coach, the Barça of Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol, Victor Valdés, Piqué, Abidal, Busquets, Pedro, Alves, Yayá, Keita, Henry and Ibra.
In the course of history, there have been great teams that I have admired such as Johan Cruyff's Clockwork Orange, Brazil's 1970 World Cup team with Pele, Argentina's 1986 World Cup team with Maradona, Arigo Sacchi's Milan with Rijkaard, Gullit, Baresi and Van Basten.
What is your philosophy in law and politics?
My philosophy in life is dignity, principles and courage to defend the truth.
