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As victors of the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup, Barcelona earned the title ‘Club World Champions’. But, did we really need to wait till the 18th of December, 2011, after they taught a dismal Santos side a footballing lesson, to conclude that they are the best in club football? There isn’t a soul who will testify to the fact that there is a better footballing side than Barcelona at the moment. Manchester City, Real Madrid and other such sides continue to emerge, but none seem a match for the Catalonians, and it will take time for them to approach this level of unity and confidence in a brand of football.
Certain sections of the footballing society hoped for a massive upset, just so that they could revel in Barca’s misery. But, under Pep Guardiola, Barca have won 13 out of a possible 16 trophies. Two out of the three that they haven’t managed to put in their cabinet are the Copa del Rey‘s of 2009-10 and 2010-11. The third is probably the only one that is of actual significance – the 2009-10 UEFA Champions League trophy, in which they were bundled out in the semi-final by the Internazionale team headed by current Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho.
Barcelona have played their style of possession football since Dutch legend Johan Cruyff brought the concept of Total Football to the club, as head coach in the late 1980s. Since 1992, no Barcelona team has dismantled teams at will the way this team have been doing. No discredit to Frank Rijkaard and his 2006 Champions League winning team, but the team that spawned two years later, after Guardiola’s arrival, plays a different level of football altogether. The first thing he did as manager was to remove two of the club’s star players – Ronaldinho, and Deco. He believed they were ‘disruptive elements’, and their eviction was a necessity to propel the club to the heights he envisioned for it. Others like Gianluca Zambrotta, Edmilson and prodigy Giovani dos Santos were shown the door, as they did not fit into Guardiola’s plan for world domination. His policy of promoting youth team players into the senior squad and seamlessly integrating them into the playing eleven is what immediately caught the eye. It was not only a cost effective option, but the La Masia academy has always had a penchant of producing the best youth talent, and instead of loaning out youngsters to gain experience, Guardiola put his faith in them, and a winning formula was found with Sergio Busquets and Pedro immediately finding their way into first-team action.
La Masia – Barcelona's youth academy continues to produce brilliant talent
But, no coach is capable of driving on a bunch of mediocre players, and it is Pep’s fortune that allows him to coach a side with the best players in the world (something he admitted to in a recent interview). In fact, if a ‘World XI’ side was to be compiled right now, at least 6 of the players in it would be from the side current Barcelona side. Valdes, Puyol, Pique, Abidal, Alves, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Pedro, and more recently David Villa and Javier Mascherano have proven to be the bullets in the Barcelona machine gun. Their tiki-taka football dumbfounds opponents and leaves them chasing shadows for 90 minutes, and no side has found a way to counter it and quash it’s effectiveness. It is easy to single out players like Xavi, Iniesta and (obviously) Lionel Messi, and the truth is, that the peerless talents of the three, and their exploits, tend to overshadow contributions from players no less important. In fact, reserve players like Pinto, Maxwell, Keita, Adriano, and former players Gabi Milito, Thierry Henry, and Rafa Marquez have considerably aided the Barcelona effort. That some left to explore newer avenues was not an effect of the frustration at the lack of a regular starting spot, but an acceptance that they can offer no more to this team, and as a result, moved on in their careers. It is every players privilege to be part of this team, and few would want to let go of it.
Yes, Guardiola is a brilliant coach, one of the best in the world, but so is Jose Mourinho. Yes, Barcelona have a great squad of players, one of the best in the world, but so do the likes of Manchester City, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich. But none have been able to elevate themselves to such a pedestal, with such frightening ease and consistency. THIS, is what makes FC Barcelona the best team in world football. They have a great coach, and a great side. But the two have worked in tandem to produce the best football, and make others look substandard in comparison. True, they have their shortcomings. Guardiola isn’t the most prudent of dealers in the transfer market (Ibrahimovic, Chygrynsky, Caceres, Henrique, Keirrison have all flopped, despite being big signings), and the squad is aging (Xavi, Puyol, Villa, Abidal, Maxwell and Pinto are all on the wrong side of 30). But, as long as Guardiola continues to source from the club’s youth academy, and train them to perfection, his transfer dealings barely matter, and he has made quite a few good buys like Fabregas, Sanchez, Adriano, Afellay, Keita, to cancel out his flop deals. And as they say, age is just a number, and a good three-four years can be expected of all the older players, except Puyol perhaps, who’s ability remains undiminished but his body no longer seems to be able to cope with the rigors of forty games a season. This side looks set to continue its monopoly in world football, for a few years at least, which can only be good news for us football aficionados.
