FREE BARCA: THE MAKING OF THE GREATEST TEAM IN THE WORLD PDF

Graham Hunter | 450 pages | 13 Feb 2012 | BackPage Press Limited | 9780956497123 | English | Glasgow, United Kingdom Review: ": The Making of the Greatest Team in the World", by Graham Hunter -

We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World come from. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. A couple of months ago, there was a faint yet definite air of mortality hanging around Barcelona. While at times they've been just as reliably ridiculous as ever, at one point they were ten points behind Real in the league, and while that was in part down to the nonsensical near-perfection of Jose Mourinho's side -- who, until the end of February, had dropped just 7 points -- the Catalonian side were also in relatively poor domestic form, particularly away from home. Watching football is, in some ways, a pessimistic business, and as anybody who's seen 24 Hour Party People will tell you, the best of times, like the worst, are always passing away. Was leaving? Were the muscles of Hernandez and -- conductor and first bassoon respectively -- tightening beyond use? Was Mourinho doing what Mourinho does? Guardiola may be staying on. But still, impermanence is football's very essence, and it seems likely that we are nearer the end of Guardiola's Barcelona than we are the beginning. What better time to consider how Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World got there in the first place? Barcelona fans labour under the touchingly innocent belief that everyone else in the world, apart from Real Madrid and Espanyol fans, is happy to accept that their club is the biggest on earth and quite simply the bees' knees of the whole football cosmos. It's a quote worth bearing in mind when approaching Graham Hunter's new book, an attempt to provide a comprehensive overview of where this Barcelona team has come from. On the one hand, this is an impressive feat of journalistic and investigative writing, impeccably sourced, skilfully written, and never less than interesting. On the other hand, it contains lines like "I genuinely believe that the current FC Barcelona team, its football and its personalities, has given us something which, if not unique, I don't expect to see rivalled, let alone equalled in my lifetime. As with so much that surrounds Barcelona, how the reader responds to this will depends on how the reader responds to the team in general; should you find this Barcelona team grating -- and there plenty of reasons to, some valid, some not -- then you could, if you wanted to, dismiss the book with that most injurious of charges: hagiography. It would be easy to conclude that Hunter is problematically enthralled by his subject, and so has abrogated critical responsibility in favour of obeisance to the mighty and all-conquering Catalans; if you're so minded, reading about "this glorious team" that plays "football which is uplifting to the spirit" will do little to shake this. Yet this would, for the most part, be unfair. Even the most meringue-crazed Madridista would have to admit that by the standards against which football teams are judged, Guardiola's Barcelona score pretty highly: three league titles, a Copa del Rey, three Spanish Super Cups, two European Super Cups, two Champions Leagues, two World Club Cups. Or, if you want the other standards by which football teams are judged, whacking great wads of cashmoney from Nike and Qatar, and a gargantuan presence in emerging markets. They are objectively amazing, and so any book that didn't mirror this amazingness couldn't be a fair book. Besides, 'hagiography' wasn't always a brickbat thrown at inadequate biographers. It used to refer to the telling of the story of a saint, back when such things were written, and saints stand, by their fundamentally divine natures, above and beyond the normal constraints of critical writing. It's hard to escape from the fact that at the centre of this story are a group of people -- Guardiola, Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol, and particularly "the greatest player of modern, perhaps any times" Messi -- who are so extraordinary in what they do that, while 'football as religion' is a thin and tired trope, they stand in similar relation to we mere mortals as saints did to their wide-eyed congregants. Naturally, some of Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World rougher edges are sanded down. In particular, you will struggle to find a less-critical portrait of without asking the 's mother. Those notorious hand-over-mouth mutterings to Marcelo are neatly elided in one line of the introductory chapter -- "UEFA cleared Sergio Busquets to play, pushing aside Real Madrid's accusations" -- while Busquets' profile doesn't contain the word "dive", nor any of its euphemistic Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World. But then we never get told about St. George's cruelty to geese, either. Certainly, it would be churlish in the extreme to deprive anybody the right to get a little bit misty-eyed about Messi and his war on superlatives. Even if they annoy you, they're really good. So if a certain air of worshipfulness is sometimes evident, then on the whole it's worth it. Some of the anecdotes will be familiar -- Leo Messi signing his first contract on a napkin; Gerard Pique nearly braining himself as a small child -- while others are genuinely surprising, including the wonderful revelation that Pep Guardiola nearly signed for Paul Jewell's Wigan. It's an odd thought. Hunter sketches each personality skilfully, and his access to the club ensures that his own strokes are given shade by the opinions of others: Xavi on Messi, Messi on Iniesta, Iniesta on Xavi, all passing praise from one to the other, a tiki-taka carousel of mutual esteem. The resulting portraits are affectionate, evocative, and resonant. Perhaps even more interesting, if less overtly glamorous, are the chapters devoted to the form and function of the club. Two chapters in particular stand out: one on the functions and structures of the canterathe other on the political machinations that led to the presidency. A similar balance is struck in the chapter on , a figure so individually fascinating, and so crucial to Barcelona in so many ways, that one chapter barely seems adequate. Recognising this, Hunter focuses on where Cruyff plugs into Barcelona as they are now: his influence on Guardiola, his revolution of the training methods, and his at times benevolent, other times obstreperous presence in the political machinery. Again, it's a chapter that could drown in detail, and doesn't. The one striking absence from the book, however, is a failure to place Barcelona's pre-eminence in the wider context of Spanish football. The rivalry with Real Madrid has its own chapter,which focuses in particular on Mourinho's attempts first to land himself the job that eventually went to Guardiola, and then once he ended up on the other side to provoke, chide, irritate, annoy, and generally get right up the nose of his rivals. It is fascinating, particularly the account of Mourinho forcing himself onto the post-Rijkaard shortlist -- Jorge Mendes' brass neck plus speed dial, if you ever fancy trying it yourself -- and then delivering a presentation simultaneously impressive and repellent. As Sid Lowe has noted, the distribution of television money in allows Barcelona and Real Madrid to operate on budgets at least four times larger than any of their Spanish counterparts. And that doesn't include Champions League money, which is, thanks to their dominance, more or less guaranteed. You could argue, perhaps, that because the book is explicitly about Barcelona, that this stuff isn't relevant to the story of how they became themselves. But the competitive and financial disparity is so stark and so fundamental to the shape of Spanish football that the absence of any detailed discussion is both disappointing and, in a book so keen Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World rightly promote the magnificence of the system, jarring. It seems impossible that enjoying a financial advantage over the rest of the country bar one could not have affected the rise of this team in one way or another -- their ability to fully professionalise the coaching staff? Ultimately, if you were looking for a basis Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World dismiss the book as failing to live up to its own subtitle, then this could give you cause. But that would be a shame. For everything that is in there, Hunter manages to walk that difficult, Brian Cox-esque line between wanting to tell you how something works, and wanting to tell you just how brilliant it is. As a journey through the lives of a unique clutch of outstanding footballers and their manager, and perhaps the greatest period in the history of one of the world's pre-eminent clubs, it is never less than entertaining and often brilliant. It's just perhaps just a touch too willing to capture its subject from only its best side. Yuo can buy the book from Amazon. Cookie banner We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World choosing I Acceptyou consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. New York Liberty Washington Mystics. Spanish View team list. Filed under: Soccer Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World La Liga. Reddit Pocket Flipboard Email. In his history of Spanish football, MorboPhil Ball writes: Barcelona fans labour under the touchingly innocent belief Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World everyone else in the world, apart from Real Madrid and Espanyol fans, is happy to accept that their club is the biggest on earth and quite simply the bees' knees of the whole football cosmos. Horizontal - Colbalt Share this story Twitter Facebook. Take the Ball Pass the Ball: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World () - IMDb

This is the untold inside story of how the best and most loved football team in the world came to redefine how the game is played. We start with the Champions League final at Wembley, the game that ended Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World debate about whether Barcelona were the greatest team in the world and began a new one: are they the best ever? We are inside the winning dressing room and inside the mind of the team's , Pep Guardiola. From there, the focus is on each of the iconic personalities of this team, telling its story through them, from their genesis in the late s to their coronation in : Guardiola; his mentor, Johan Cruyff; Xavi; Andres Iniesta and , perhaps the greatest footballer of all time. This enhanced edition contains 17 videos, hosted by the book's author Graham Hunter. A very great book! It brought the characters of the Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World era to live. If you are a barca fan you must buy this book, if you are a football lover, you should read this book as a matter of fact everyone should read this book, even if you are a Madridista you would learn from this book. I can't open it. Don't know why!!!!! And there are no e-mail to send and let someone know. Publisher Description. Customer Reviews See All. Barca Verdens bedste fodboldhold. Editions of Barça: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World by Graham Hunter

Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World. FC Barcelona are the greatest football team in the world, the greatest for a generation and possibly the greatest of all time. This is the inside story of how the team came to redefine how the game is played, told by the journalist closer to it than any other. This edition contains a new epilogue reflecting on the departure of Pep Guardiola and Spain s victory at Euro FC Barcelona are the greatest football team in the world, the greatest for a generation and possibly the greatest of all time. This edition contains a new epilogue reflecting on the departure of Pep Guardiola and Spain s victory at Euro It is of huge interest to anyone who loves the way this team plays football which is anyone who loves the game. Get A Copy. Paperbackpages. More Details Original Title. Other Editions Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 4. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Apr 25, Adam rated it liked it Shelves: presentsportsnon-fiction. Good book featuring much knowledgeable analysis. Barcelona has invested everything in one style of play, requiring certain players capable of filling those roles. The aesthetic result is normally astonishingly beautiful and elegant in a way few things are in sports. But when other teams catch up and figure out how to play against you, you must then rely on the players being so damn good that tactical adjustment Good book featuring much knowledgeable analysis. But when other teams catch up and figure out how to play against you, you must then rely on the players being so damn good that tactical adjustment is not sufficient to avoid defeat. This has been especially apparent this season, Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World Europe Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World in certain domestic matches. That Messi has had such a great season is reflective not only of his talent but also of how Barcelona have been forced to play recently. If you don't let them play their way, they can't play, at least not like The Greatest Team in the World. Guardiola's philosophy and Barcelona's philosophy has so overwhelmed the team's malleability that to beat them, you just need to be good enough to stop them from playing a flowing attacking game up front. Chelsea is an inferior team aesthetically, in terms of talent, etc. But the Greatest Team in the World ought to be good enough to work around that. At some point, playing short passes around and in the penalty area goes from looking dazzling to looking foolish. Real Madrid under Mourinho is a better club than Barcelona is right now, and that's just one example, because they are more malleable. Footballing cultures and philosophies are great, but it often becomes extraordinarily hard to be the best when you get figured out and you can't then rely on individual talent to make sure you still win. Messi isn't always going to skip away from the defender that one crucial time and make that perfect last pass for the sure goal. Barcelona is clearly, right now, Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World of the greatest football teams the world has ever seen, but its brand of tiki-taka may not have the necessary grit to justify claims to ultimate greatness, or indeed to get the results that matter the most on a consistent basis. This brand of tiki-taka, indeed, may be going the way of Dutch , which saw its ultimate fruit in the WC final. Cruyff's goal is one of the best ever, but the Germans did not luck into a win. Barcelona did not luck out of crucial results this season, either. The greatest team of all time, or in the world, ought to be extremely pragmatic, no? View all 3 comments. Jan 24, Indiabookstore rated it liked it. The first announcement of this book was greeted with much excitement and anticipation by many football fans, irrespective of their football affiliations. The first English language book on the enigmatic squad that gave us breathtaking football, yet not Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World was known of it away from the glare of the floodlights. The book had the makings of a great work of sports writing, coming from a man who has The first announcement of this book was greeted with much excitement and anticipation by many football fans, irrespective of their football affiliations. The book had the makings of a great work of sports writing, coming from a man who has covered the team for various publications since before Guardiola took over as manager. His ultimate challenge was to keep the reader interested because there is no mystery, no grand revelation waiting at the end. Everyone knows how the story unfolded. Hunter works through the analysis of various events Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World have contributed to the different aspects of this team- club history, politics, the famed cantera, the technical staff, and most importantly, the evolution of Pep Guardiola and his key players. And that is what the disappointment stems from. Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World are chapters that are illuminating, especially the political aspect to which fans of the club may not be privy in the detail that Hunter, the journalist, was; the rivalry between the former and the current presidents and Sandro Rosell. Hunter also dwells in detail upon the role of club legend Johan Cruyff in the evolution of the teams at the club. After all Guardiola made the world sit up and take notice with his unique take on every aspect of the game. The rest of the book is more an exercise in evoking nostalgia, a giddy revisiting of the incredible highs of the last four years. It is still extremely fun just because it allows one to do that. For the full review, visit IndiaBookStore. There are few books about football which are both interesting and objective. This is not one of them. It took me forever to get through the pages and there were times it felt like and endless read, especially at moments I would find annoying. Which was happening most of the time. It was annoying to the point I felt like tearing it apart. From the very first page we get to see FC Barcelona through the fan's point of view. Which is okay if you are one of cules. Which is not oka There are few books about football which are both interesting and objective. Which is not okay if you write the book as a journalist who shall stay objective. This way we get to read about players who didn't appear from the mommas wombs, you might assume they were sent from heaven. They are god particles with bright future and you might easily forget they are also human beings. Wow, we actually get to live their lives AND know their thoughts on matters from the past ie. The paeans to the players and the infinite invectives towards Mourinho might actually be laughable, unfortunately they sound pathetic instead. If I got a penny every single time I read about CL finals vs. I would have a hella lot of pennies. Of course there is a bitter part in me cringing every time the United matches are mentioned, but I am able to notice a good football being played when I watch one. Reading about it over and over again makes me yawn. Makes it look like Mr Graham doesn't have much to write about so he chose to write about same things over again until the conctracted word count is on black and white. It makes the book boring. Well, that's it. I tried to keep this without a rant but seriously, it's a good read only if you follow Barca, otherwise the book will make you either pissed off or frustrated. View 1 comment. Sep 21, Bhuwan Ghimire rated it did not like it. This book is written by a pro barcelona fan- almost a slave in sense. I have followed alomost every single of his espn articles and tweets. This book does not contain any single thing about football other than Graham''s usual boast of barcelona like he always does. Nothing new in this booktotal waste of money. This book only contains the usual view of a barcelona fan not really anything ab This book is written by a pro barcelona fan- almost a slave in sense. This book only contains the usual view of a barcelona fan not really anything about football. If you follow grahams tweets and articles, you can clearly see this fool's class as a journalist- total disgrace. View 2 comments. Apr 12, Sean rated it really liked it.