Where We Come From
The last four years were synonymous to unprecedented levels of success. The Pep Guardiola-run Barcelona has been, time and again, called one of the best teams in football history and has been compared with Pele's Brazil and Sacchi's Milan. Whether it was the best ever is a hard topic to debate on but it truly was magical! Was?
Yes. Last season was a different era. The new season is the beginning of a new era. The Vilanova era as different from the Guardiola era. We start from zero. We start hungry for new success.
Read more after the jump!
The transition
Pep's are huge shoes to fill. All you Barca fans know by heart the trophies that he lined up for all of us. He didn't just win. He won with grace. With a era-defining tiki-taka based football that undoubtedly was crucial to the Spanish national team's very own era of unprecedented success. But then, Tito Vilanova isn't new. He isn't new to the club and players and he isn't new to us. He was part of the Pep-team, the Assistant Manager, and the highest paid in the world in the position. So the success of the last few years comes down partly to him as well. Since the players know him, there isn't much "transition". Of course he has his own skills and persona. He definitely is different. How different and How successful? We'll all have to wait and see!
Additions to the club
Jordi Alba (from Valencia) and Alex Song (from Arsenal) are the two heavyweight additions to FC Barcelona. We paid 14 million euros and 19 million euros respectively for the two players. Both players have been signed for five years. We'll have a look at them in a different article.
We said goodbye to… Apart from the man-Pep, Seydou Keita, Keirrison and Henrique left the club. While the latter two might not be very popular, Keita was frankly one of Pep’s favourite players in terms of games he got to play. Of course the story wasn’t the same in the last season as Keita started in less than fifty percent of the games and hence, as per the stipulation in his contract, he was allowed to leave the club. The other two players also left the club on mutual consent for free. So, there was no income from selling. And that isn’t bad news. In fact it is very good news to be able to retain your players.
Real Madrid
When we talk of Barcelona, we talk of Real Madrid. When we talk of Real Madrid, we talk of Barcelona. That's the way it has been. That's the way it remains. Such is the nature of their rivalry, the biggest in world football. Real Madrid had a successful season. For three years we hadn't let them anywhere near the La Liga trophy but last year, the Mourinho-led Madrid easily outran us in the league, defeating us finally in the process. Not much has changed about Madrid. They are the same strong club led by the same ambitious manager and that boasts the world's most expensive squad (and bench) ever assembled. Overtaking Madrid is a tough task in itself. They haven't been very active in the transfer season and they needn't. Their squad is one of the best squads in the world. But then, so is ours. If anyone can challenge Madrid, it's us. More on Madrid in a different article.
The last four years were synonymous to unprecedented levels of success. The Pep Guardiola-run Barcelona has been, time and again, called one of the best teams in football history and has been compared with Pele's Brazil and Sacchi's Milan. Whether it was the best ever is a hard topic to debate on but it truly was magical! Was?
Yes. Last season was a different era. The new season is the beginning of a new era. The Vilanova era as different from the Guardiola era. We start from zero. We start hungry for new success.
Read more after the jump!
The transition
Pep's are huge shoes to fill. All you Barca fans know by heart the trophies that he lined up for all of us. He didn't just win. He won with grace. With a era-defining tiki-taka based football that undoubtedly was crucial to the Spanish national team's very own era of unprecedented success. But then, Tito Vilanova isn't new. He isn't new to the club and players and he isn't new to us. He was part of the Pep-team, the Assistant Manager, and the highest paid in the world in the position. So the success of the last few years comes down partly to him as well. Since the players know him, there isn't much "transition". Of course he has his own skills and persona. He definitely is different. How different and How successful? We'll all have to wait and see!
Additions to the club
Jordi Alba (from Valencia) and Alex Song (from Arsenal) are the two heavyweight additions to FC Barcelona. We paid 14 million euros and 19 million euros respectively for the two players. Both players have been signed for five years. We'll have a look at them in a different article.
We said goodbye to… Apart from the man-Pep, Seydou Keita, Keirrison and Henrique left the club. While the latter two might not be very popular, Keita was frankly one of Pep’s favourite players in terms of games he got to play. Of course the story wasn’t the same in the last season as Keita started in less than fifty percent of the games and hence, as per the stipulation in his contract, he was allowed to leave the club. The other two players also left the club on mutual consent for free. So, there was no income from selling. And that isn’t bad news. In fact it is very good news to be able to retain your players.
Real Madrid
When we talk of Barcelona, we talk of Real Madrid. When we talk of Real Madrid, we talk of Barcelona. That's the way it has been. That's the way it remains. Such is the nature of their rivalry, the biggest in world football. Real Madrid had a successful season. For three years we hadn't let them anywhere near the La Liga trophy but last year, the Mourinho-led Madrid easily outran us in the league, defeating us finally in the process. Not much has changed about Madrid. They are the same strong club led by the same ambitious manager and that boasts the world's most expensive squad (and bench) ever assembled. Overtaking Madrid is a tough task in itself. They haven't been very active in the transfer season and they needn't. Their squad is one of the best squads in the world. But then, so is ours. If anyone can challenge Madrid, it's us. More on Madrid in a different article.
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