Graham Hunter - Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World

About the author

Born in Aberdeen and a lifelong supporter of that club, Graham Hunter made his first pilgrimage to football in Spain for the 1982 World Cup. Barcelona has been his home for the last 10 years.

His career in writing and broadcasting about football began in the late 1980s and progressed through work for the Sunday Times Scotland, Scottish Daily Mail, The Daily Mail , Sky, The Sunday Herald, The Scottish Mail on Sunday , Newstalk 106, BBC Radio 5, Talksport, ESPN US and the Melbourne Age .

Graham is uefa.coms Barcelona correspondent, their Spain correspondent for the last five years and was FIFA TV producer for Spain at World Cup 2010.

BackPage Press Copyright Graham Hunter, 2012

The moral right of the author has been asserted

First published in the United Kingdom in 2012 by BackPage Press.

ISBN 978-0-9564971-8-5

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical or photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the express permission of the publisher.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Design and typeset by BackPage Press

www.backpagepress.co.uk

Ebook production by tenthousand | creative services

www.tenthousand.co.uk

CONTENTS

Introduction

1 The Road to Wembley

David Villa: El Guaje

2 The Making of Messi

Making-of Match: Shakhtar Donetsk 1 Barcelona 2

3 The Exile Returns

Making-of Match: Athletic Bilbao 1 Barcelona 4

4 The Machine

Dani Alves: Style, Inc.

5 The Theory of Evolution

Making-of Match: Real Madrid 2 Barcelona 6

6 The Making of Pep

Sergio Busquets: The Enforcer

7 The Emperors of Barcelona

Making-of Match: Barcelona 2 Real Madrid 0

8 The Odd Couple

Vctor Valds: The Heartbreaker

9 The Breeding Ground

Pedro: The Comeback Kid

10 The Solutions Man

Making-of Match: Chelsea 1 Barcelona 1

11 The Making of the Greatest Rivalry in the World

ric Abidal: The Convert

12 The Greatest

Acknowledgements

Appendix A: Timeline

Appendix B: References

Appendix C: Glossary

Appendix D: Hiring criteria

Appendix E: Bonus content

Photographs

Illustrations

INTRODUCTION

THE FIRST THING TO SAY is that while researching and writing this book has been far harder work than I had ever expected, there are a handful of things which sustained me.

Firstly, I genuinely believe that the current FC Barcelona era, its football and its personalities, has given us something which, if not unique, I dont expect to see rivalled, let alone equalled in my lifetime.

From Ronaldinho and Etoo at their best, through to the magical combinations weaved by Iniesta, Xavi and Messi, I have been privileged to work at football stadia around Europe where Bara have been absolutely jaw-droppingly good.

Perhaps we could have titled this The Greatest Team Ever but what would be the point? Some important football people already believe that. My opinion matters less than theirs, but my job is to chronicle the manner in which this squad, under a brilliant man, Pep Guardiola, proved that they have been the greatest team in the world between 2008 and publication in 2012.

The greatest ever is, almost always, a matter of debate and opinion and entrenched position. I suspect that we are witnessing something close to all-time excellence but its for others, you included, to judge whether the evidence of your eyes and what this book explains convinces you that this team is unique.

What is beyond reasonable argument, even for those teams who have fallen victim to Guardiolas sides, is that Bara regularly produce football which is uplifting to the spirit. That alone has kept me believing that the book has been worth doing.

I hope, and I think I believe, that some of the Spanish football which Sky has been showing for over 15 years will gradually influence how talented young players in the UK and Ireland conceive of their sport while they develop. I want them and their coaches to say, No, Im not following hackneyed ideas about height, power, route one, etc. The first touch, the technique, the obsession with maintaining possession, the flowing passing movements, half-touch football I want all of this to influence young boys and girls who first play and then coach football, so that it becomes the norm for people to want to play like that (notwithstanding our inherent need to compete aggressively) and the dummies and thugs become outcasts.

Secondly, I am constantly thrilled by how passionately people around the world, not just those who were born in Catalonia and are therefore drawn to FC Barcelona, feel about this team, this era.

Football has shown many faces since I started watching it with my Dad at Pittodrie in the late 1960s, but its capacity to inspire and to thrill has rarely, if ever, entranced the entire world like this Bara era has managed.

Graham Hunter, Barcelona. January 2012

1 THE ROAD TO WEMBLEY

Nobodys given us a hiding like that, but

Bara deserve it. In my time as manager, its

the best team we have played

Sir Alex Ferguson

Wembley, London. May 28, 2011

SIR ALEX FERGUSON shakes Pep Guardiola by the hand; his body language speaks of an acceptance that his Manchester United team have just been bettered and of an admiration at a contest won brilliantly by Barcelona.

ric Abidal, having fought back from tumour surgery to play some three months ahead of medical prognosis, is handed the armband by the Barcelona captain, Carles Puyol, and told to collect the cup.

An odd little army of co-conspirators are recruited by Gerard Piqu to cut down the Wembley goal net.

The entire Bara squad and staff hold hands and dance round the centre circle with the Champions League trophy, draped in a Catalan flag, placed squarely on the centre spot like some pagan festival worshipping The Cup with the Big Ears.

Iconic moments to match the goals scored by Pedro, Wayne Rooney, Leo Messi and David Villa.

Then, from some of the greatest names in the sport, a flood of such unrestrained admiration that the response to this masterpiece by Guardiolas incredible Barcelona team begins to compete in terms of impact with those extraordinary images the final produced.

Nobodys given us a hiding like that, but Bara deserve it. In my time as manager, its the best team we have played, said Ferguson, who has won over 40 trophies.

They play the right way and they enjoy their football. They do mesmerise you with their passing and we never really did control Messi. But many people have said that. Terry Venables, who has inspired a performance or two out of his teams at Wembley and who coached Barcelona to a Spanish title plus the final of the European Cup, told me: United got a tanning. They got a lesson it must have been a nightmare for Fergie. He just had to come out and say, They were great, because Bara didnt just beat them, they showed United whats possible. I think everybody should be standing up and applauding.