Upon Pep Guardiola’s appointment as Barcelona manager in 2008, the club embarked on a new challenge, and history was written in the four years that followed. Guardiola became the most decorated manager in the history of his beloved club, obliterating opponents week in week out, breaking records that stood for years, and playing a scintillating style of football that left spectators worldwide in awe.
At the end of the 2012-13 season Guardiola stepped down, and his trustworthy assistant Tito Vilanova was chosen to take charge of his dynasty. Lately, Tito had to unwillingly resign due to a cancer relapse, leaving behind a team made up of some of the most talented players in recent years. Between Guardiola and Tito, Barcelona’s football defined an era. Their style of play was labeled Tiki-Taka by some, and a modern version of “total football” by others. But regardless of the name, no one can argue against the fact that Barcelona managed to capture the hearts of cules all over the world.
In his four seasons in charge, Guardiola implemented a high pressure system that enabled his team to win the ball back in the opposition’s area, thus rendering the rival team’s attacking threat to a minimal level. In addition to that, Pep emphasized on having superior ball possession in order to limit and control the opponents’ influence. By doing so, his team managed to only concede 55, 39, 36, and 48 in the seasons between 2008-09 and 2011-12 respectively.
When Guardiola took his much-debated sabbatical, Rosell’s decision to appoint Vilanova stemmed from the thought of keeping the same philosophy going, and the majestically played football flowing, since Tito was his predecessor’s effective right hand man. It’s only normal to assume that he would have grasped every bit of his methods, but unfortunately, this did not seem to be the case.
Tito’s Barcelona managed to scandalously concede a sum of 66 goals in 60 games. This 1.1 goal/game rate is much larger the 0.88, 0.66, 0.60, and 0.75 rates achieved under Guardiola’s guidance, which simply implies that things have not been running as smoothly as they should be. A thorough analysis of some of Barcelona’s games shows that the previously implemented defensive strategies were completely missing as of late: no intense pressing, no versatility or effective ball possession.
The result was a team susceptible to counter attacks and dead ball situations. Spartak Moscow, Sevilla, Mallorca, Malaga, Real Madrid, Deportivo, and PSG managed to score two or more goals against Barcelona, while Bayern completely demolished them, exposing a defense that has been suffering for too long. As a result, Tito and his sporting director Zubizareta promised club supporters a world-class center back to solve the team’s defensive shortcomings and deputize for the aging Carles Puyol. So what has happened since then?
Upon the conclusion of European competitions, transfer rumors started to surface, and almost every top defender was linked to Barcelona. Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Laurent Koscielny, Thomas Vermaelen, Daniel Agger, Mattheus Doria, Inigo Martinez, Raphael Varane, Eliaquim Mangala, Mats Hummels, Jeremy Mathieu, Branislav Ivanovic, Adil Rami, and recently Santiago Vergini were some of the names associated with plugging the gap at Barcelona’s defense.
Of all the mentioned names, only few were realistic targets; players that have the capability to function in a not-so-easy Barcelona system and that are practically followed by the Catalan club. Thiago Silva was deemed “untransferable,” PSG’s president even went as far as threatening to hijack Lionel Messi if Barcelona continue to pursue his Brazilian defender.
Marquinhos was labeled an “interesting talent” by Zubizareta, but Barcelona was not given a chance to negotiate his transfer as he was snapped up by PSG. David Luiz and Branislav Ivanovic were automatically retained and declared fundamental to team’s plan by Mourinho. Hummels was seen as a similar type of player to Pique. Where does this leave Barcelona in their hunt?
Before delving into names, the manager (now Gerardo Martino) will have to address the functionality of the team in terms of pressing, a more balanced structure, and turning possession into creativity and goals, as was the case under Guardiola’s management. Then the issue of who will be insignificant. Pep’s team managed to dominate several games with a makeshift defense, some of which were finals (Champions League to be particular), simply because the team functioned in a certain way that capitalizes on its qualities while covering up its deficiencies.
Last season in particular, Barcelona were susceptible to defensive exposure because they failed to come up with any new tactics, always playing the same way, and teams can sit down and work out exactly how they can prepare their team to beat them. Jupp Heynckes stated before the semi final game against this team that he knew exactly what each of the Barcelona players would do, and he worked out exactly how to neutralize the threat.
Mourinho also had the luxury of trial and error games to sort out his tactics. In the end, he sacrificed his midfield, crowded his defense, and left a couple of his very fast players upfront to inflict menace on Barcelona’s defense. Whomever the defender, be it Puyol, Pique, Mascherano or any other world class player that will be signed, if the team functionality is not set up in a way to protect the team’s defense, then the Catalan club will suffer like they did last season.
Now Fontas joined Celta Vigo, Abidal and Muniesa were released, and Puyol is not getting any younger, so Barcelona have to sign a player to compete with Mascherano, Pique, and Bartra for a center back position. But what should be noted is that the issue of the name is not as important as the team strategy as a whole.
There is absolutely no need to splash the cash just to cover up administrative and technical blunders. Papers worldwide scramble daily to fill the pages, and while some stories are clearly garbage, others are based on some inside information, so Barcelona should avoid dipping in an inflated market just for the sake of spending. After all, Rosell claims that the sole focus of his board is to reduce the financial dampening that Laporta put his club in.
Written by Hassan Chakroun
Bill Shankly, Liverpool’s legendary manager, half-jokingly once said:
A brief and meaningful message, not only for the media, but to the whole world of football. Respect and solidarity should be shown to a man who is only 44 years of age, but with the burden of fighting a malignant cancer on his shoulders. Messages of support arrived from all over the world. Abidal, Messi, Muniesa, Thiago, Pau Gasol, Llorente, Negredo, Falcao, Mata, Deulofeu, Gary Lineker, Reina, Blatter, Cazorla, and Morata all sent their best wishes for our courageous manager. Even clubs such as Milan, Bilbao, Real Madrid, and Chelsea offered unity with what Tito is about to face.
The term “Galacticos” became widely known in the early 2000s, but the origins of the term date back to the 1950s. Santiago Bernabeu, then president of Real Madrid, started a trend of signing superstars. Di Stefano, Puskas, Kopa, Santamaria, and Gento were signed, and an era of Real Madrid dominance began. Quinta Del Buitre followed in the 1980s, but with a slight difference in that the 5 superstars where all homegrown players.
After bringing Varane last year, then Carvajal, Isco, and Illaramendi this year, add to them Nacho, Jese, Morata, Casemiro and the experienced but still young Ozil and Benzema, subtract Higuain, Di Maria, Kaka, Coentrao, Pepe, and Alonso who are either leaving this year or the next, you will get a success formula, which is that Real Madrid surely have a team for the future.
Whenever I used to hear the name Arsenal Football Club, I used to think titles, trophies, and competitors. But that has all changed. They are without a trophy in the last 8 seasons, and with the players manager Arsene Wenger has had at his disposal, you just wonder, how? It is difficult to give a definitive reason as to why this has happened. The expectation levels at this club are very high, and some fans have, in recent years, grown increasingly frustrated with the lack of silverware at the Emirates.
Picture yourself as an Arsenal fan, knowing that your club hasn’t won a single piece of silverware in the last 8 years, consider Arsene Wenger’s options as well in that time, would you be happy? I certainly wouldn’t be. Arsenal are one of the biggest clubs in Europe, and a club that size should always be competing for the top trophies on offer to them.
Since Qatari Sports Investments bought Paris Saint-Germain in 2011, they have rapidly transformed from perennial under-achievers to the dominant force in French football and real contenders for the Champions League.
Although Zlatan Ibrahimovic led the line in the league with 30 goals, he played a more withdrawn role in Europe, holding the ball up and creating goals with strong center-forward play. He scored three and assisted five in the Champions League, with goals shared round the team; Ezequiel Lavezzi was the top scorer with five in nine European appearances.
Chelsea, Manchester City and Real Madrid were also looking to capture the Uruguayan’s signature, but he was lured away from established superpowers to the relatively small world of French football. Others feel his arrival signals the end of Ibra’s stay in France, with rumors he is unhappy about the appointment of new manager Blanc. Having now played in France, Italy, Spain, Holland, and Sweden, Germany or England seem the most likely destinations for a man who has never spent more than four years at one club. English fans, just imagine: a duo of Ibrahimovic and Mourinho taking the Premier League by storm, mouth-watering stuff.
Liverpool made their biggest signing of the summer this week when Steven Gerrard put pen to paper on a contract extension. Forget about the signings of Aspas, Mignolet, Alberto, and Toure, Gerrard’s signing is the most important one yet.
Eric Abidal recently signed for AS Monaco after months of speculation about his future. The former Barcelona defender wasn’t offered a renewal in the Catalan club, which met strongly split opinions among Barcelona’s fans and left Abidal to search for a new destination. Even now when the dust has settled a bit, Abidal’s situation remains very interesting as he is set for a new season in the club where he once started his career.
AS Monaco was indeed the first club of Abidal’s professional career. Having come a long way since then and played all around Europe, he now gets to symbolically finish the circle of his playing career. In Monaco, Abidal could be mainly used as a center back as he might no longer have the pace required to play on the wing. For a club like Monaco, who are making huge investments and building for the future, a player like Abidal might be incredibly valuable, not only because of his quality as a player.
Despite all of the events occurring in London, Manchester, Madrid and elsewhere, since this transfer season began, the eyes of the footballing world have been firmly fixed on one of the world’s most glamorous locations: Monaco. Based at the Stade Louis II on the iconic Monte Carlo seafront, AS Monaco are one of France’s most successful clubs with numerous domestic successes and Champions League Finals to their name.
It also gives them a better chance of winning silverware; although the Coupe de France is not as loved in France as the FA Cup is in England, nothing brings a team closer together than winning silverware. Again, think how brilliantly Manchester City began the next season after they won the FA Cup in 2011. That said, Monaco did win the cup in 2010, their last season before relegation to the second division.
Moutinho is known as an excellent passer of the ball as well as a tenacious ball-winner, although his scoring rate has fallen since his move to Porto. His relationship with James Rodríguez, who also makes the move from Portugal to France, should help the team to gel more quickly, as they already have a good understanding with each other.
Despite not being especially tall, he is incredibly strong and a superb header of the ball, and is one of very few people to have scored five goals in a La Liga match: against Deportivo earlier this season. With Moutinho supplying him and Rodriguez providing support, he should find scoring goals no problem against weaker French teams, and he should seek to emulate Ibrahimović’s 35-goal season last term. That in itself creates an interesting match-up, not only between the two big spending clubs of French football but also between its two biggest superstar strikers.
