focusing entirely on the great FC Bar-thaa-lona and its relationship with football development in Australia...

And less about the dreaded hoof and run EPL!

Tell me what have the English ever done in Football??

Why Barcelona is far more than just a club
By Craig Foster | 23 May 2009 | 09:36

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Mes Que Un Club. Catalan to English translation: More Than A Club.

A grand vision statement which encapsulates, in just four words, so much about FC Barcelona which is admirable, whether the historical centrality of the football club to the Catalan identity which suffered so greatly throughout the history of Spain, the importance placed on human values and principles of social support which underpin the work done by the FCB Foundation in Africa, or the adherence to a philosophy of playing stylish, attacking football in the face of a game which increasingly moves in the opposite direction.

Comments (102) | Your thoughts?


Whether it is the club’s insistence on accepting honours with humility, a practice that has been well exercised recently with the Copa Del Rey and the Primera Liga titles locked away, or the notion of being member-owned in an era of oligarchs and listed clubs, FC Barcelona seems something of an anachronism but I have travelled to Catalunya this week principally for one reason, to divine the secrets of one of the world’s most successful academies, responsible for an impressive production line of homegrown players like Iniesta and Xavi, Bojan and Piquet, as well as Messi and Puyol.

Importantly, though, also a system that has produced a homegrown coach, Pep Guardiola, something which has become far rarer in top flight European football even than first team players with an attachment to their own club.

The model of the FC Barcelona player is clear, a versatile operator who can keep the ball in the face of suffocating defense, plays comfortably with both feet, has an outstanding tactical insight and plays always with an attacking mentality. Just, in other words, what we aim to produce in Australia and, one could say, precisely what we currently lack.

My visit coincides with that of a young Australian, Joe Calletti, who has been selected to train with the FCB escola, or football school, for a week and gives an added insight into the integration of one of our own into the FCB system.

After his first session, in which he performed well, when asked his impressions, 10-year-old Joe had this to say, “very hard.. their players were very tough, and play very fast”.

Watching the training of players aged from 7-13 in the first few days and speaking with the FCB coaches, the greatest impression is one of educational structure and integration.

The approach is extremely professional, facilities of course superb , with parents and players adhering to a code of conduct and whilst the sessions are clearly enjoyable and at times fun for the youngsters, they are intense, entirely with the ball, and are highly structured into the annual program with monthly cycles with a common objective both technically and tactically.

The coaches’ role is one of correction and guidance, and this is the missing link in Australian coaching, the ability to read the players and correct the decision making and positional play, most still stuck in the basic techniques, the ‘drill’ mentality.

This is a school of football with every session integrated into the progressive educational curriculum, and this requires an outstanding coach education system which, as proven by Guardiola, clearly exists here at FCB.

Here 8 year olds are learning the principles of positioning and movement off the ball, of playing simply but with maximum effectiveness, a quantum leap from the “Coerver mentality’ which prevails in Oz, the difference between a kindergarten of football, and a university of the game.

The players train with intensity, and in their play can already be seen the core elements of the ‘Barca way’ – fast movement of the ball, passes always through the defence on angles and excellent movement in support of the attack, reason why Joe found the play fast, because young Barca players are focused on their position, Australians on the ball.

This week will open the eyes of a well grounded and talented young Australian, but more so an old former player eager for information on how Australia can one day lead the world, and after just two days in the FCB academy it is already abundantly clear that both Joe and I have come to the right place to learn about what we are missing.

I’ll let you know more of what that is when I return.

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Tell me what have the English ever done in Football??

Whens the last time an England side of any age group did well in a major tournament??

I'm sure everyone will agree that Bar-thaa-lona is the model Australia must follow to develop our top young world clarrsshhh footballers if we want to win the WC in the next few years!

Lucas Neill should stay in the hoof and run EPL??

Lucas should get himself over to Gala where he'll be in a more technical and tactical football environment and not some hoofer and doofer league like Inger-land....

Galatasary are a world cllaarrrssh football club and now they have a technically and tactically world claarrssshhhh coach