With the USA tour over, and the dazzling appearance of the youngsters in all the 3 matches as well as the general positive image of the team, Barça have come to the point of competitive matches. The first up is the Spanish Super Cup against Athletic Bilbao. The Basques who have already played three matches [...]
In the back of my wardrobe is a 10€ scarf bought from outside the Camp Nou, on it is written the message “anti perico” (anti Espanyol). It’s a statement of the intense rivalry felt between FC Barcelona and our local rivals RCD Espanyol and the posturing that we football fans so enjoy when we see [...]
As quickly as Barca stamped their mark on world football with their elegant simplicity, they look to abolish forever the tattered shapes they have left on the field.
At the start of this Summer Transfer Period, even the all-conquering Triplet-winners FC Barcelona had identified weaknesses in their squad, weaknesses which needed addressing if the club was to move forward and avoid the post-success lull that occurred after the Double in 2006.
Principally, a left-back was needed to replace the outgoing Brazilian fullback Sylvinho, a [...]
Rumors of Javier Mascherano’s move to Camp Nou caused me to pause and reflect on the dynamism of FC Barcelona’s midfield: how does it function? how is it influenced by the players on the field? by the defensive shape? how would Mascherano – or any other midfielder – fit in to such a system? The [...]
It is my pleasure to be here offering insight into the tactics of the world’s most sophisticated football team!
Hola from sunny, sticky Alicante in eastern Spain. After months of transfer madness it’s been a huge relief to turn on the television and see some football again, even if it is only of the friendly variety. Matches taking place allow the Spanish media to actually stop talking about Real Madrid’s new generation of galacticos, [...]
Hypocritical Laporta
After Real Madrid paid artificially inflated prices way over the market values for Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo, Laporta mirrored the disapproval of many by claiming that their practices were distorting the market, and that FC Barcelona has a different philosophy. Instead of buying Golden Ball winners, Barça creates them – claimed Laporta – and [...]
The 2008/09 is well over and Barça are still feeling the joy of that season. Winning all the trophies possible (the treble), playing vividly attacking football with a team overwhelmingly composed of players from the academy, scoring 157 goals, and beating Real Madrid 2-6 in Bernabeu has gold written all over it. It was [...]