? What are talking about. The only real difference between what they did under Guardiola and Luis Enrique is how quickly they moved the ball to the strikers. There were other differences here and there, but the style and philosophy was very much the same Dutch philosophy of Cruyff
So? Guardiola isn't some guardian of Cruyiffism. Go look at the way Barcelona played under Cruyff and then compare with Guardiola and Luis Enrique. I guarantee Luis Enrique's will look a lot closer to Cruyff than Guardiola.
Guardiola is Guardiola. Literally every single manager they hired after Cruyff, with the exception of Robson, followed the same principles and philosophy as Cruyff. There were changes in execution as everyone had his own spin on those concepts, but it was still very much the type of football. Guardiola is only the "heir" to Cruyff because of his success. He introduced a lot of concepts that Cruyff didn't have, and had different interpretations of others. Luis Enrique is the same, but where Guardiola was an extreme evolution of that playing style built on control, Luis Enrique was less extreme and more orthodox
Yeah I do think the "Cryuff Way" is overstated. They have had incredible players who have been coached well which is the main reason for their domination.
Of course. Different managers have different ideas and tactical wrinkles. It's still the same broad playing style. Either you lump Cruyff, Van Gaal, Rijkaard, Guaediola and Luis Enrique(just to mention the ones that won stuff) together into the same playing style and, or you differentiate and say that everyone was different with a different playing style
The players were different, the philosophy and style of play were largely the same.
Philosophy was the same, both follow the concepts and ideas laid by Michels. They had different practical applications of some of those ideas. Whatever "big" difference there is is merely a difference in how they translated that philosophy to practical use. It's only a big difference whithin the same broad playing style and philosophy. Any article that says different is rubbish
It's not Messi either. Nobody can win by himself in football. Players win games, not managers, not playing styles
Well, i'd say Suarez, Ter Stegen, Own goal, Pique and Umtiti played their part. As did Valverde. Before, he won with Neymar and Suarez and Busquets and Iniesta. Before that, he won with the spine of the NT that dominated football for 4 years...
Without Messi, there is no way Barca wins 7 titles in a decade, regardless of how good this generation has been (and they really aren't that good anymore). They've had great teams before, but never really achieved this kind of sustained dominance, especially having in mind the superstars squads that Madrid have crafted throughout the decade while trying to counter them. In my opinion, there is not a single player in the history of the game other than Messi that would accomplish that.
And conversely Messi doesn't win as much as he did without those teammates
Of course, football is genuinely a team sport, maybe more than any other.
Honestly? Yes and No. I think your team from 2008/09 to 2011/12 would have won a lot even without Messi. Less, obviously but still a lot. Messi also would have won stuff with say real madrid, but again, less than what he won with barcelona. Do agree Messi would have won more playing for real madrid in the last 4 years, but that's because we were mostly better than you anyways. Certainly better than you would have been without Messi at least(with the exception of the Benitez disaster)
Certainly, if you take out Messi, Madrid have recently been a better team overall. More balanced and versatile, with more character and squad depth. To carry this Barcelona to league titles in that situation is a magnificent achievement that no other player could replicate. Cup wins are great, but even mediocre players sometimes carry their teams to glory in knockout competitions. While carrying a team to multiple league titles is without exception a testament to superior quality.
This season and 12/13 are the two seasons where you can say Messi really carried barcelona to the league title. And both were weird seasons were barcelona made history in the league while madrid fell off a cliff and Atletico couldn't really challenge them
delighted, fecking pricks!.Remember people arguing if 100 points was better than an undefeated season and then Barca end up bottling it anyway
Same case with the bottle job at Roma I take it
Just had a look at Barca ages and nearly every single starter is 29 or over. A few exceptions obviously like Umtiti and Dembele, who is as injury prone as Sturridge or Bale.
That's a hell of a rebuild job around Coutinho. Could young Philippe have signed himself to a fate of never playing in a CL final?
