WHEN the referee blew the final whistle at this year’s Champions League final; one additional ritual seemed highly recommended. It would have been nice, if he could have arranged for the Manchester United players, to be reintroduced to the ball. They had seen so little of it.
Barcelona was simply magnificent!
In a colossal performance, already being hailed as one of the greatest ever by a team in a final, they majestically crafted their way to their fourth European Cup. But even as the sublimely iconoclastic, silkily smooth style of the Catalans is worthy of unfettered adulation; what is even more fascinating, is that the rise of Barcelona to footballing greatness, is a relatively recent phenomenon.
Whilst the other super clubs had long pocketed European Cup’s, in the sixties and seventies, it was only in 1991 that Barcelona first assumed ascendancy of the continent. So what has fuelled the meteoric rise of the ‘Barcelona culture’ of playing football? And are there insights relevant to the white collar world, which can be passed on, by a team so utterly obsessed with the passing game?
A willingness to incorporate newer influences
As Barcelona sets sail for an unchartered new course, this modern day Spanish armada owes a great debt of gratitude to the legendary ‘Flying Dutchman’ – the peerless Johann Cryuff.
For long Barcelona lurked in the shadow of its illustrious and fierce rival Real Madrid, who was bringing home European trophies like they were available at a discount sale. But all that changed with the advent of Cryuff at the club; initially as an inspirationally brilliant player, and then as a master coach and sculptor.
Perhaps the arrival of Cryuff opened the doors, for some other exceptional overseas players making the move to Barcelona; Maradonna, Koeman, Laudrup, Stoichkov, Hagi, Figo and the like. And then there was the ‘R brigade’ from Brazil – Romario, Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho. Scores of Dutch players have also turned out in the distinctive claret and blue stripe of the club.
What is interesting is that Barcelona has been open enough to be moved by all these great players passing through, and has assimilated their influence by celebrating a playing style that is quite its own. Probably a fusion of Latin flair with Dutch patience and technique (typified by Cryuff’s Ajax teams), is what Barcelona’s footballing culture can best be described as. And this happy amalgamation of diverse inputs; is what has driven the club to its dominant perch.
Organizations and even nations are much the richer, for being able to incorporate varied influences in their culture. The history of Indian culture reveals that it has always been flexible enough to integrate foreign inputs and transmogrify them into something uniquely Indian. Where else in the world would a McDonalds offer an ‘aloo-tikki’ burger, or have a purely vegetarian restaurant?
Nurturing a base of homegrown talent
If ever a case needs to be made for creating a talent pool from within the organization, look no further than Barcelona FC. In sharp contrast to other super clubs who extravagantly splurge money on readymade stars, Barcelona largely invests time and effort in nursing its own homegrown.
La Masia – the football academy of the club – is perhaps without parallel in the world, in terms of turning out high quality footballing talent, Lionel Messi being the prime exhibit at this moment. Seven players in Barcelona’s starting lineup were from the academy. They had played together since a very long time. Their perspective on the game was similar. And many times this is exactly the ingredient needed for creating great cohesive teams. At times in the final one felt that Xavi, Iniesta and Messi could have found each other on the pitch blindfolded.
