The Historic sextuple season of Barcelona 2008/09

INTRODUCTION:

It is true that in 2007-08, Rijkaard had one of the most-talented squads in history. And that increasingly in that final season they looked a hopeless bunch of leaderless layabouts. The Catalonians had enough of “CRUYFFISIMO”. Vice-President ROSSELL told that every decision of Barcelona was overlooked by Cruyff in his resignation press conference. Majority of the Catalans lead by the new Vice-President JOSEP MARIA BARTOMEU wanted Cruyff to stay out of Barcelona’s plans and wanted a fresh start with the Talented- JOSE MOURINHO as Barcelona coach. But Laporta announced that he would ONLY TRUST CRUYFF.



THE SELECTION OF THE NEW MANAGER:

For Barcelona, there were 2 candidates for the Manager post. One had won the Champions League with Porto, Made a mockery of the Premier League with Chelsea, Heralded the next best coach in the world and was willing to come back to where he was made Assistant Manager at Barcelona. While the other was an amateur coach who coached the B team.

While Mourinho was the clear favourite and he came up with presentations and explanations on how he would change and manage Barcelona, Cruyff went for the inexperienced PEP GUARDIOLA. This was a HUGE hit to Mourinho’s ego and started the eternal fire between Barcelona-Cruyff-Pep and Mourinho.

THE START OF THE NEW SEASON:

Journalist Guillem Balague recounts a story of Guardiola taking his Barca B team of 2007-08 to play Rijkaard's first team in a training match. 'He [Pep] finally came to the conclusion that Barcelona needed a change [that day],' wrote Balague. 'He discovered Rijkaard smoking a cigarette... Ronaldinho was taken off after 10 minutes, Deco was clearly tired and the reserve boys, still in the third division, were running the first team ragged.'

And so, when Pep became the manager, he made away with the 2 most biggest proven footballers in Barcelona- DECO AND RONALDINHO. While this was something coming for a long time, the Catalans who were already unhappy with Guardiola taking over the Managerial role, warned Pep to show it in the results for the players along with others whom Pep got rid of, were some of the Fan-Favourites.

Barcelona’s season started with a 1-0 loss to Numancia away and a 1-1 draw vs Racing at home. Fans started to call for Pep’s head. JOHANN CRUYFF declared- “BARCA CANNOT PLAY BETTER FOOTBALL”. Everyone thought he had finally lost it. But all it required was a “CLICK”. And once it did, Barcelona were unstoppable.

As Xavi said-

“If you don’t have a demanding boss, your mark will be 5/10 or 6/10. You will just pass. On the contrary, when your boss demands excellence, a mark of 9/10, 9.5/10 or 10/10, you may well reach the 8/10. But this 8/10 is what makes you win titles.”

TACTICAL ANALYSIS:

Pep Guardiola went back to the simple style of football and focused on improving the player’s work rate at the start. He demanded very high pressing at all times. As he always said-“The striker is the first defender”. He used a type of Geggenpressing wherein the players would always position themselves in such a way so that if the ball is lost, multiple players would be able to “POUNCE” upon the ball to regain possession and cut off passing lanes so that the opposition had to pass back or go long.

He also encouraged “One-Touch Quick Passing” or “TIKI-TAKA”. Because if the ball was always in motion, there is no way the opposition would be able to get the ball. Pep always considered the ball a treasure and always made his players make triangles on the pitch for more fluidity and control of the ball.

He followed the basic principles of JDP- Juego De Posicion or Positional Play. He always had control of the central areas of the pitch (ZONE 8 AND 11) by overcrowding it. This was something straight from the CRUYFFIAN principles. Barcelona always held a high line so that they could trap the opposition and regain possession much easily. Every player would always have an option to pass to a teammate due to the strategic positioning of players within the ZONES.

Pep always wanted WIDE WINGERS. His wingers had to always stay close to the touchline. This created huge gaps between the centre-back and the full-back of the opposition defense. These “Half Spaces” were used by the midfielders(Mostly Iniesta) to move into and either score or create. Especially in the Camp Nou which has one of the biggest pitches, Barcelona used this advantage to their maximum.



As Henry said-

“Basically from training to the game, up until the last third, he [PEP] used to call it the “3 P’s”- Play, Possession, Position. And the most important one was Position. You have to stay in your position, trust your teammates and allow the ball to come to you.”

Pep was very strict regarding his positional rules. You cannot drop to the midfield nor can you move across to the other flank. He also was strict that no 2 players should occupy the same parallel horizontal zone at a time. But Pep gave freedom in the Final Third to his players. As Pep said to his players- “My job is to take you up to the last third, your job is to finish it!”

KEY PLAYERS:

1. XAVI HERNANDEZ

Probably the most important and the best player on the team that season, XAVI reached levels midfielders could only dream of. Playing ORCHESTRATOR with Iniesta as an EXECUTOR and Toure/Busquets as CONTROLLERS, he was the HEART OF THE TEAM. His 30 ASSISTS in the season with an impeccable pass completion % showed everything flowed through him.

2. LIONEL MESSI

Pep Guardiola was clear that Messi would be the STAR PLAYER on his team. When he worked for the Newspaper “El Pais” in 2006, he wrote about Messi saying- “He has that special ability all the greats possess”. Messi with his 38 goals and 17 assists proved the key in numerous games. Pep’s success in changing Messi to a “False 9” Late in the season was a decision that would change the way modern football perceived a striker.

3. GERARD PIQUE

Coming back to Barcelona after his stint in MANCHESTER UNITED, Pique quickly became one of the best Centre-Backs in the world. His ball distribution, IQ, ability to handle a high line was UNMATCHED. He also loved to drive forward due to which he got the name- “PiquenBauer”. Since Pep heavily favoured a buildup from the back, Pique was instrumental in beating the press and distributing the ball. His partnership with Puyol built a solid base that was tough to crack.

CONCLUSION:

Pep Guardiola did the unthinkable in his very first season as a professional manager. Winning the sextuple was merely the start of his glorious managerial career. The 2009 team will always be heralded as one of the most talented, amazing, flawless, aesthetic and successful teams of all time.

UNTIL THEN,

Ciao!