What makes Barcelona so good?

Matt the Giant

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25 Dec 2009
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6,212
Sounds like a stupid question I know, but hang on for a second.

I watched the game against Arsenal, and like everyone (with exception for the occasional blind Arsenal fan) was blown away by just how good of a football team that is. Their game against Real Madrid was of the same quality.

Arsenal is a very very good team, one of the best in Europe, and they could not keep the ball for more than a few passes.

My question to all of you is: how do they do it?
And I'm not looking for answers such as "becasue they have this and that player", but more of an analytical take on it if you could. If your answer still is "because they have Xavi and Iniesta", well then exactly what is it they do?

If it is possible to narrow it down to a system or pattern, could it not then be successfully used by another team?


I'm not a Barca fan, but they do play the most beautiful game I have ever seen, in almost 40 years of watching European football. Yet the manage to not only play with style, they score a lot of goals and concede very few.

I'm not good at analysing teams like this, but for me the most significant aspect of their play is that they very rarely give the ball away, which makes it very frustrating for opponents, breaking them down mentally. So, what do they do in order to keep the ball?
 
think its the way they have thier set up
Top qaulity youth set up and every team, every single one, plays the same way so when players move up they can easily fit it.
Takes years to do this though and as they have alot of thier own players brought through the ranks, they give 110% for the shirt
 
One thing about their mentality is, when they lose the ball it is almost shameful to them and they work as a complete unit to get it back desperately, pressing and pressing until they win it back. That is amazing, we only do something like that if we play a team like Chelsea it seems.
 
The April 2011 edition of World Soccer (out now) goes some way to providing the key information to what makes the team tick.

As a club, they provide Academy based training skills that are regarded as the best in the world.

As you would expect they have several scouts and talent spotters in South America. Messi, a case in point, when, aged 13, he and his family, moved to Catalonia, enticed by a deal that involved a package involving property, jobs, education and security as the teenager started to adapt to a routine of learning all the football skills necessary. During his time there he would have been working alongside the likes of Iniesta (who was a few years older) and several other players os similar potential calibre.

In 2004, a Barca talent spotter heard about a 12 year old called Erik Lamela. At that time Erik was 12. Eventually Barcelona made the same kind of offer to Mr & Mrs Lamela after they realised he had enough potential to be another Maradona/Messi. The parents however received an offer from River Plate, with whom he was 'signed' up with. They accepted this and Barcelona withdrew from the picture, six years ago.

Now a 19 year old he is scoring goals for River and already getting rave notices.

As a result it has been speculated that Barcelona may be about to make an offer for the young Argentinian. However, seasoned Barca watchers have indicated that at 19 with nearly 7 years of training and coaching skills provided by another club, there is a likelihood that he might have picked up some unfortunate un-Barcelona type habits that would not have taken root had he joined them in 2004.

Elsewhere in the magazine there is a 3,000 word essay that analyses what makes Andres Iniesta the 2nd best player in the world by Sid Lowe. The analysis will help you to understand why, for example, they wouldn't touch Mario Balotelli with a ten foot bargepole.

I'd urge you to get hold of a copy from your nearest newsagent/ WH Smith's.
 
ox-blue said:
Work Rate


bollocks

they have 3 out the 4 world best players.

and ALL their other players anyway are top world players in their roles.
 
MikeF said:
Mancio said:
bollocks

they have 3 out the 4 world best players.

and ALL their other players anyway are top world players in their roles.

work rate coupled with that makes them as good as they are though


i know a lot of team with a better work rate than barca

without class they can put their workrate into their ass
 

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