The following is a translation of Johan Cruyff’s weekly article with El Periodico.  The original can be found here.

The few, the proud, the blaugrana

I don’t know if Barca is planning on signing another player for the attack in the next few hours but it would surprise me if they did.  With the departure of Ibrahimovic and the arrival of Mascherano, the team is made of up 19 players, two of them goalkeepers.  It seems crazy to start a season consisting of three competitions with only 17 players but with a team like Barca anything is possible.  It’s Guardiola’s gamble and it reaffirms the philosophy of the club: we start with nineteen first team players but we have numerous possibilities from the cantera.  These youth players have talent and will fit in due to having been brought up under this same style of play.

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The Ibrahimovic transfer continues to generate heated discussions among FC Barcelona fans. Count on Sid Lowe to put the pros and cons of the deal straight up. In his latest column for Guardian, the writer couldn’t sum up the entire saga better. Lowe suggests that while the club let go of Ibrahimovic, they got a significant signing in the form of David Villa, who was always the first choice of Pep Guardiola. However, as the headline suggests, this transfer came at a heavy cost.

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What we saw on Sunday night is a team that is the result of more than eight years of hard work. It is the continuous blend between experienced players and youth with a clear vision for the future, where every player takes part in the whole team. During the past couple days, culminating on Saturday night, many Barcelona fans have rushed to criticize Guardiola specifically, and the FC Barcelona club generally, for the poor handling of Ibrahimovic’s transfer bid. However, it is worth mentioning, before we proceed with the post-match review of Racing de Santander against Barcelona, a couple of important issues regarding the case.

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Original article @ Bleacher Report

by Adi-Oula Sebastian (edited for totalBarça by OmarX)

AC Milan finally got their man… Adriano Galliani hustled FC Barcelona yet again. This time they managed to con FC Barcelona for their most expensive signing in Zlatan Ibrahimovic for a mere €24.000.000 payable next year.

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Note to all readers: This article is taken from an article originally written in Spanish football magazine DónBalon by Roger Xuriach. It is a translation of the article with my own personal point of view added in additional comments. Enjoy It…

On Monday, David Villa held his first press conference as an FC Barcelona player. Every word, every look, coming from the Asturian makes you feel that he is certainly eager to debut with the Barcelona shirt, a fate that might happen this Saturday in the second leg of the Supercopa de España against advantage holding Sevilla.

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Catalan sports paper Sport reports that FC Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has already chosen the four players he will be promoting to the first team this season. Following the success of Sergio Busquets and Pedro Rodriguez in the first team over the last two seasons, the Santpedor born coach is clear that he prefers players from the clubs renowned ‘La Masia’ over paying millions for transfers that may or may not adapt to the Blaugrana system.

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Catalán sports daily Sport published an article in which they describe ‘Pep’s two plans.’ How close to the truth is the article? One should always reserve some judgement when reading anything that is not a direct quote from a press conference available for all to hear. Keeping that in mind, what follows is a translation of the article. The original can be found here.

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Catalan sports paper Sport reports that after the defeat against Sevilla at the Sanchez Pizjuan, many concerns over the composition of the squad for the next season have been raised by the board upon the technical staff. Is it enough to face the season with just nineteen first team players, two less than last year? Do we have to sign more players? Is it too bold to gamble on the young players? Are they ready to make this leap or do they have to gain more experience in the Second Division? The board have raised questions to the technical staff, but with Pep Guardiola and Andoni Zubizarreta in the lead, they have a definitive solution, a plan for the future and for the present.

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Reflecting upon yesterday’s game, Catalan based newspaper El Mundo Deportivo reported some of the questions and worries that have emerged regarding the current Barcelona team and the form they showed on Saturday night: the circumstances were very hard indeed, but one should neither collapse nor be in a hurry to claim the team’s downfall. Sevilla’s experience, obviously, won over Barcelona along with a superior tone and a better pre-season preparation; the physical fitness of Sevilla’s players also played a positive role as well as the adaptability of the players to the Andalucian hot weather.

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Last year a tragedy struck the footballing world, RCD Espanyol’s captain Daniel Jarque passed away from a heart attack during his team’s preseason games in Italy. Today is the first anniversary of his death and this article is a homage to him and a chance to express our condolences to the player’s family, all the Espanyol team and board, and the fans.

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The Cesc transfer saga ran like the Titanic, a big-budget epic that refused to end. It divided the world, infuriated fans of the two clubs — FC Barcelona and Arsenal — and soured relations between the clubs’ management. Simply put, the world is a less happy place now.

Jaded with the whole story, we wondered how great it’d be if the characters in the Cesc drama were transferred into the vivacious world of musicals. Imagine if the characters sang, maybe did a jig, and told us what they really felt instead of repeating the same old quotes to the press every day….

We present to you Cesc’s Last Stand.

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Real Madrid’s iconic attacker Raúl González Blanco took to the field today in an unfamiliar uniform: he emerged from the tunnel wearing the blue colors of German squad FC Schalke 04 and formally marked the end of an important chapter in Barcelona’s eternal rivalry with Madrid.

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The change of club presidency and the success of the Spanish national team recently in the World Cup 2010 have put FC Barcelona on the front page of newspapers all over the world. Unfortunately, it’s not always good news for FC Barcelona. As one of the biggest teams in the world, it seems that there are always debates and polemics between pundits and fans alike regarding the financial situation of football clubs. With the UEFA Financial Fairplay rule to come into in full effect in 2014-15 season, these issues are becoming more important.

There is a lot of confusion with the fans regarding the latest news from FC Barcelona’s vice-president for economic affairs, Javier Faus, who has exposed FC Barcelona’s huge loss last season. From the team in totalBarca, we have prepared a complete summary that shows why there is a big difference between Laporta’s report and the latest report from Deloitte. Find out more after the jump.

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First of all, I want to make it clear that there will be no politics in this article. The Spanish national team, indeed, has a lot of players with different cultural and ethnic identities, but that is not what this article is about. This article will be based only on tactical analysis.

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Sandro Rosell has a huge mission to fulfill if he wants to overshadow Laporta’s achievements. It’s important to point out first; I am not his most dedicated fan. Yet, I think he may suffer some unfairness while evaluating his presidential period six years from now. Laporta’s era was flooded by titles. You can only hope that Sandro Rosell’s era will break that record, but at the end of the day there are no certainties in football. Sandro Rosell may do better work in the sporting department without earning back enough titles to crown his effort. That’s why, as long as he lives in peace with the coach, leaves the transfers decisions to be discussed between Pep and Zubi, and makes sure to engineer a sufficient transfer budget – he said there will be 50 M every year, which is much more than enough – if he ticks all the mentioned boxes, then there should be no complaints in that matter.

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Johan Cruyff wrote an article for El Periodico which outlined his thoughts on yesterday’s final in South Africa. The original can be found here.

It was a very close game but of a very questionable quality. Holland didn’t want to play, at least not true to their typical style. Spain tried to remain faithful to their style but were lost a good bit of the match. In the end Spain decided to win the game by playing more individually than as a team. And they were able to due to a miracle goal from the player from Fuentealbilla that was raised in La Masia, the youth system of Barca, which is one of the best schools in the world.

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Come the start of next season, it appears Barca will have a brand new forward line, with Leo Messi set to be the only survivor from our current set of strikers to hold onto his starting place. What with the arrival of David Villa and the club’s obvious intent to swap Zlatan Ibrahimovic for Fernando Torres, it seems it will be all change when it comes to our attacking options next term. But do we really need to ship out the Swede in favour of the Spaniard?

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As the World Cup finally begins to gather pace, there are one or two teams who have surprised with their accomplishments, whilst others have once again flattered to deceive. One team who’ve managed to tick both of these boxes is the Netherlands, who as of the writing of this piece, sit atop their group with 2 wins from 2, yet with many pundits shocked by the apparent lack of ‘Dutch style’ on display thus far.

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Last season saw many highpoints for Barca to enjoy, not least of which was winning a 20th league title, beating Madrid home and away in the process. Good times for sure. And it is thanks to some consistently outstanding displays from so many of our players that we can look back on the last campaign so fondly.

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As the league neared its nail-biting finale this past season, it became more apparent than ever how Barca has a huge number of players who are willing to stand up and be counted on when times turn tough. Leading from the front, inspiring the fans whilst also setting an example for their colleagues on the field.

Many players are cut from this noble cloth – Xavi, Puyol, Pique, Messi, Valdes – but considering the seniority and experience of these players, it is perhaps unsurprising how they stepped up to the plate. However  it is not only the most mature and respected members of the squad who found form during some of the most high-tension moments of the season.

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Laporta’s Era is almost gone. Regardless of all the controversy, there is no doubt that the club was subject to a radical transition on all aspects. The team success, added to the revolutionary development of Media coverage, Internet growth, and sport’s marketing progress, introduced Barcelona to a massive number of football fans across the globe. That’s always good news as it creates opportunities. Yet, for a club like Barcelona, it is also a challenge.

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Sometimes a player has the ability to infuriate and excite at the same time, both heightening our enjoyment of the game whilst diminishing it in equal measure. If this tag applies to any of Barca’s current crop, then without doubt it is our diminuitive Brazilian Dani Alves.

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Next season is shaping up to be yet another exciting affair, with Barca likely to face a rejuvenated Real Madrid, who under the expected stewardship of Jose Mourinho will be desperate to wrestle the La Liga crown from our heads. Arguably next season will be the toughest faced yet by Pep and the boys, what with the shake-up caused by the incoming new presidential board, as well as all the world’s gaze being set firmly on the ‘Special one’ and his galacticos. So it seems El Mister will have some tough decisions to make.

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With the Liga title not even a week old, FC Barcelona is already turning its attention to next season. And while it is certainly easy to get swept up with enthusiasm about potential summer signings, there is still plenty to discuss about the campaign that has just drawn to a close. The folks over at Zonal Marking have done just that, comparing Pep Guardiola’s first two years in charge of the team, and coming to a conclusion that might surprise you: this season’s Barcelona team was better than last season’s.

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This year’s success isn’t just measured in trophies. Barça has gotten better since last year and with their attractive style has helped many people enjoy watching the game over the past two years.

This article is a translation of Johan Cruyff’s weekly article in El Periodico. The original can be found here.

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Barça is one step away from winning their second consecutive league title. They only need to beat Valladolid but they shouldn’t count their chickens before they hatch. They need to remain faithful to their style and be slightly more diligent, without straying from their philosophy.

This article is translated from Johan Cruyff’s weekly article in El Periodico. The original can be found here.

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Original article @ guardian.co.uk

Barcelona holds firm to leave Madrid clutching at straws with one game to go

By Sid Lowe

A cold, threatening chill went down their spine just before half past 10 on Saturday night. Suddenly, unexpectedly, fear gripped. Canguelo or cagometro, the heebie-jeebies, the ‘crappingyourselfometer’, the bogeyman … call it what you like, it was back. Captain Paranoia leapt on to their shoulders and, cackling malevolently, whispered into their ears: “you’re going to blow it”. They’d gone from cruising to crisis in a heartbeat – and their hearts were beating harder than ever, smashing through their sternums. In the Sanchez Pizjuan dugout Tito Villanova was gently, contentedly patting Pep Guardiola on the knee: it’s done. Five minutes later, Guardiola was furiously, violently elbowing it into submission. Once, twice, three times. No it’s bloody not.

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This is a translated version of the commentary presented by Miguel Rico in El Mundo Deportivo. The original version can be found here.

Last season, Messi won the ‘Balón de Oro’, the ‘FIFA World Player’ and various other individual prizes that, without any doubt, he deserved and that, in the new season, he is on track to win once again. Leo not only continues being the best of the best, but he is going to complete his collection with the ‘Golden Boot,’ the only grand award that he has lacked.

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If, come the 16th of May, Barca do finish the season as Champions, then it will be the safe hands of El Capitan, Carles Puyol, who will lift the trophy aloft once again at the Camp Nou. He may not be pretty, or glamorous, or even particularly elegant, but he is a born leader, one hell of a centre-back, and over the last two seasons he has shown the kind of form that should see him take his rightful place alongside Paolo Maldini, Laurent Blanc, and Lillian Thuram as one of the greatest defenders in recent history. He is the kind of player the word “legend” was created for.

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Original article can be found @ Guardian.co.uk

‘Valencia’s brilliant bluff pays off as they close in on a winning hand’

By Sid Lowe

Every morning at 8am, four men with toolboxes set off for work, potter about a bit, and toddle off home again. They slope off for coffee at ten, cigarettes at twelve, and a long lunch at two. When they get back to work, there’s just time to have a break for coffee and cigarettes before wrapping up for the day, job done. Mostly, they sit about scratching, reading the paper and playing cards, keeping an ear open in case anyone drops by – when they try to look busy. A bit of sweeping here, some “arranging” there, before returning to what they were doing. Nothing in particular.

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