Johan Cruyff’s key points.
Guardiola
said the Dream Team can never be equalled. It is not about that, for
nothing is comparable. The merit is in keeping to an idea and improving
on it over the years.
Three
consecutive league titles, and nine cups in three seasons, whether they
win or not in Wembley, with two finals plus another Champions League
semi-final in three years, all this only supports the idea of Barca’s
superiority in the League and abroad. It has always been like that, and
not just in these past three years. It is a kind of wonderful tyranny
because it only seeks to give delight and to be appreciated. Everything
starts and finishes with the ball. The goal: how to attack well as a way
to defend better. Always playing with the ball, and if possible, with
as many home-grown players. This is the biggest success story of Barca, its philosophy. It knows what [kind of game] it wants to play, with whom it wants to do it and what it is like.
Wrong
will it not be, because it pleases the entire world, and wrong will it
not be, because this philosophy has translated into successes. The other
day Pep Guardiola said they can never equal the Dream Team however much
they win. We were the pioneers, we broke barriers, he said nothing can
equal that. And now, with only one more league title to win, to equal
the four consecutive that the Dream Team won, comparisons are certain to
be made. It is certain to become an added pressure, when in reality it
is different, and very enlightening. This is not about deciding who is
better than the other, but of feeling proud of a long era of successes
by following the same idea of understanding football.
The beginning of a long cycle
And this long period of success is two decades. Of the 21 league titles that Barca
has, 11 have come in the last 21 years. And that there was a gap, a
hiatus, many steps backwards, for several years – The years between the
last league title of Van Gaal’s to the first of Rijkaard’s. Intermission
aside, there were also three European Cups, perhaps four on May 28.
Back in the day, it was difficult to change the mindset of many people.
But the virtue is in starting one thing that unites all those that came
later. This is what marks a comprehensive cycle, from the beginning of
the ‘90s up to today.
To polish an idea, a particular way of understanding football, which is sometimes unique, like the one that Barca has, can never be credited to the one who started it, but to those who improves on it. And here Rijkaard figures first, and then Guardiola,
and this is fundamental. For me, the era of the Dream Team, and the era
of Rijkaard and Guardiola are in many ways linked together. In all
these years several presidents have gone by, but when they have no need
to be advised [on what line to follow], when they themselves believed,
and willing to put their trust in young coaches, with little experience
on the bench of course, but with a clear concept of how and with what
kind of players they wanted play, the bet was won – An attractive yet
efficient way of playing, continuing with and improving on it. With its
ups and downs? Of course.
In football, two and two are never four,
and not least a three year cycle, the way many are likely to view the
extraordinary successes of Guardiola. But looking at it more
comprehensively, it is a much bigger cycle, a cycle that spans two
decades. There are always going to be wrong decisions [taken along the
way] but it is also always likely to make correct ones after making
adjustments, for the objective is already set [on stone], as evidenced
by the three out of three league titles Guardiola, his players, and the
people around him got. I am of the opinion that no two seasons can ever
be compared. Every campaign came with its own set of difficulties. The
first was Pep’s debut year as a professional coach, and many [opponents]
failed to comprehend him in the beginning!
In the second, Madrid forced Barca
to win the title with more points than ever before, and on the last day
of the campaign. In the third year, the League was won earlier, albeit
by no more than two matchdays.
Obstacle race
However,
the number of obstacles to overcome has never been greater. The list is
long and we all know it by heart. It starts with the World Cup in South
Africa. Fatigue, injuries, a serious and unexpected illness,
insinuations, provocations… and yet, with all these problems, they came
out victorious. Because of that we just have to lift our hats to them.
I
have always maintained that winning the second year [running] is a lot
more difficult than the first. However, winning three in a row is
nothing normal, at least not for this club. Only twice in the history of
Barca has it won three consecutive league titles, which clearly showed the enormous merit of the work done by Guardiola, his players and the people around him. And this third, for me, was the most gruelling of all.
[uredio RodmanST - 17. svibnja 2011. u 11:18]
