Is Nou Camp history repeating itself?
In 2000, Real Madrid signed Luis
Figo from Barcelona. It was a transfer
that had profound consequences.
Madrid didn’t just take one of Barca’s
best players; they also sent them
into a panic. Humiliated, Barca felt
an urge to assert themselves by
spending, precipitating a financial
meltdown.Joan Laporta was elected
president, and sought toreturnthe
club to its tactical roots, appointing
Frank Rijkaard as coach. Three years
later, Barca won the Champions
League.
In 2017, Paris Saint-Germain
signed Neymar from Barcelona.
It was a transfer that had profound
consequences. PSG didn’t just take
one of Barca’s best players; they
also sent them into a panic.
Humiliated, Barca felt an urge to
assert themselves by spending,
precipitating a financial meltdown.
Joan Laporta was elected president,
and sought to return the club to its
tactical roots, appointing Xavi as
coach. In the present circumstances,
winning the Champions League in
three years seems a long way off,
but after the 4-0 victory away to
Real Madrid in March, a brighter
future at least seems possible.Xavi acknowledged that the win
was reminiscent of Barcelona’s 2-
win at the Bernabeu in April 2004,
a game in which he scored a late
winner. But there are reminders here
of Barcelona after Pep Guardiola had
replaced Rijkaard. A lax culture had
developed, which Guardiola tackled
by offloading Ronaldinho and Deco.
Barcelona’s habitual Champions
League collapses had suggested
that fitness had become a problem,
and Xavi has tackled it with specific
programmes devised by his
conditioning coach Ivan Torres.
In that regard it may help thatLionel Messi, who is widely believed
to have set the tempo in training, has
left the club. Sergio Busquets and
Gerard Pique, notably, have seemed
rejuvenated. As when Guardiola took
over, there is a highly-gifted younger
generation just beginning to emerge,
who seem not only to relish thechallenge but who are ideally
equipped for the intensity Xavi
demands. Gavi came off the bench
with19 minutes to go in theClasico
and won five duels – more than
anybody on the Madrid side
during the entire game.
The easy explanation is that Xavi
has re-imposed the classic Barcelona
philosophy – but it’s slightly more
complicated than that. One of the
greatest tricks Guardiola pulled was
to make clubs think that they have
a DNA. But the truth is, most don’t.
There were lots of fine words when
Manchester United appointed OleTHEWORLD THIS MONTH
Gunnar Solskjaer and Chelsea
Frank Lampard, as though they
were installing some kind of shaman
who could tap into the club’s deepest
nature. But most of the greatest
managers in the history of the game- Herbert Chapman, Vittorio Pozzo,
Marton Bukovi, Bill Shankly, Viktor
Maslov, Helenio Herrera, Don Revie,
Valeriy Lobanovskyi, Arrigo Sacchi,
Arsene Wenger – transformed the
culture of their clubs. For most teams,
appointing former stars does nothing
more than buying time: supporters
will be more patient with a manager
they have loved as a player.
El Clasico...Barca’s
players celebrate
their 4-0 thrashing
of Real MadridAs when Guardiola took over, there is a highly-gifted
younger generation just beginning to emerge, who
seem ideally equipped for the intensity Xavi demands
Coaching...Xavi
instructs his players
at the BernabeuTECHNICALLY SPEAKING
Jonathan
WILSON