What Barcelona and Chelsea can teach us
Fans following Premiership clubs other than Chelsea are usually quite indignant of any suggestions that Chelsea can teach their team a lesson or two about football.
I’m guessing it’s the same with Barcelona and La Liga fans - I figure I would be pissed too, but let’s not allow personal grudges to hinder our clubs in their quest for greatness, shall we?
Here are a few aspects of football that both Barcelona and Chelsea have excelled in and that other teams could learn from.
Barcelona
Keeping posession and controlling the game
Few other teams can match Barcelona’s ability to play keep-ball and control the pace of the game. Outside the Premiership I’ve seen Milan do it really well, Lyon and Bayern too. The teams that rise to the top (and stay there) are those that can dictate their own terms on the pitch.
Flair AND effectiveness
Sometimes the differences between Chelsea and Arsenal are stereotyped to such an extent that you would think that flair and effectiveness are mutually exclusive. Not so, and Barcelona are living proof of that. Where Arsenal have been reluctant to adapt in order to regain their killer instinct (that Bergkamp, Vieira and Pires gave them), Barcelona have no such worries. The injury to Eto’o and Larsson’s departure has dented their ‘effectiveness’ a bit, but last season this was a side peerless in its ability to combine the two qualities.
Chelsea
Winning above everything else
It’s not that other teams don’t want to win - it’s almost as if Chelsea are hungrier and more determined to win. The fact that the team is talented enough to win anyway is a different matter. Credit to Mourinho (just as credit for Barcelona goes to Rijkaard) for imbuing his players with a never-say-die, winning-above-everything mentality.
One unfortunate side-effect (that I’m expecting people to pick on) is that sometimes some players cheat in order to win. That’s not the sort of thing other teams should learn (not that they need to learn though)…
Team over individuals
Chelsea embody the team ethic perfectly, even with the additions of Ballack and Sheva (who are consumate professionals). The “team over a rag tag of star players” approach has some not-so-obvious benefits, such as improved flexibility and a rotation policy that actually works.
Verdict
Both teams are very similar in certain aspects - the will to win, the desire to dictate play from start to finish, the ability to combine flair with effectiveness, the team ethic (although Barca fail there with the slightly special treatment given to Ronaldinho).
This is, of course, just the beginning. I’d like you to add what you think other clubs can learn from Barcelona and Chelsea.
There’s a lot to learn from other clubs as well - Wenger’s transfer policy, Ferguson’s powers of motivation, Capello’s tactical acumen - and I’d encourage you to add that to the comments as well.
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Discussion - 10 Responses
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How trite. When there are numerous subtle differences, you’ve chosen to focus on obvious and misleading broad-stroke ideas and have ended up saying nothing.
As the merest glance at the Opta stats would have told you, there’s a lot more to controlling the game than “possession”. Barcelona do it through an indulgence of the individual at the occasional expense of team shape. Chelsea do it through working incredibly hard when they don’t have the ball. Perhaps you missed their demonstration of this at Stamford Bridge 13 days ago.
Barcelona’s team ethic does not suffer because of special indulgence shown to Ronaldinho. Barca’s system is designed to push up the wingbacks and provide space for the front 5. Any one of Eto’o (when fit), Ronaldinho, Giuly, Messi and Deco are tasked with finding that space. That’s why they often play with two defensive midfielders - Motta and Iniesta, for example - to allow their forward players complete freedom.
As for the suggestion that Chelsea’s hunger to win makes them cheat… it’s a cretinous remark of the highest order.
You missed a side effect even greater than diving for Chelsea: their football is seriously boring. They have to be the most boring English champions in recent history.
Being a United supporter and top of the premiership i dont think we have anything to learn from Chelsea. But Barca gives a valuable lesson on scouting and transfer policy. They have so many young players like messi and iniesta who come through the ranks and are already superstars. They also buy very very wisely. Thanks to chelsea “moneybags” FC, in the current transfer market with inflated player transfer fees, they have recently managed to buy quality players at little or no prices, Larrson and Van Bommel. So they epitomise a good youth set up and transfer policy.
hahahaha!!!
Ahmed - I applaud you for being a loyal ManU fan but having the decency to admit that Chelsea is solid team with a fantastic future ahead of it. Rather then dwell on “moneybag” arguments which have been done to death and everyone agrees with it - you focus on the postives brought in my Jose.
The other ManUre readers here don’t think there is anything to learn from Chelsea? Are you nuts? We have a an amazing record at home, hardly any goals are scored against us and we have the strongest team spirit in the league. WHATEVER I suppose you’ll all say!! Fine by us when we beat you 3-0 again at the Bridge. Get over your CFC hating crap - it sounds like girsl whining over how thin or sexy Anglina Jolie is - it is nothing but Jealousy.
Anyway - as as CFC fan i totally admit we can learn from Barca as well as Arsenal and ManU. Chelsea football is not as attractive as Arsenal or Barca - ManU aslo play the game with flair.
I hope you all learn a little humility - like Ahmed has. Enjoy the game for what it is - don’t just whine and complain. Take a loot at Neil Warnock - his comments after the CFC game really sum up the right attitude to have in this sport. If you have the drive to be the best - then having others to compete against is only a good thing. You don’t hear lower teams complain about CFC, it is only the big 3 who cry - why - casue they know their time at the tops is over. For the others - they have just changed looking upto ManU and LFC to looking up to CFC.
Bring your whining - just leave the tears at the doors …
RE: A
Dude get over this money bitching man, please!!! Be a true red devil, have the psyche/mentality of a winner and stop whining. ManU is doing so so well this season, so be positive and stop complaining. You think money has gotten Chelsea a better squad than ManU? Hell no. There’s “more” depth for Chelsea, I completely agree but the top 11 for both teams when not injured and in form, man they are VERY COMPARABLE. You know dude, the problem is…. people ONLY look at price tags, “on-paper value” and “brand names” of players. Chelsea has a flock of “first team internationals” who have grown famous and that is what makes them come into limelight otherwise Giggs and Scholes might not be the “brand names” as big as Ballack or Lampard but dude their overall game is VERY comparable in quality and contribution. Come to think of it, yes Chelsea spent biggggg bucks on its two strikers Drogba & Sheva (which together exceeds ALL transfer expenditure Sheff Utd has ever done in the club’s history) but what really happened? Lampard had to score 20 goals last season anyway, Drogba until this season was seen as a liability just the way Sheva is being looked upon these days!! Do you think spending 30 millions on Sheva got Chelsea anything so far but they’re still winning!! That poor russain is so used to having Pirlo behind him sometimes it seems he can’t relate to the game…. the majestic way he used to do in Milan.
So point being, money isn’t getting Chelsea “ALL” the success, but offcourrrrse its “THE” factor, and it IS just a matter of fate, how long are you gonna cry over it? Chelsea didn’t have no history and money, so they were lucky to be bought out. Now once bought out, logically you can’t build a team in a couple of years WITHOUT money. Chelsea spends a lot, true that, but others have done too - namely Real Madrid - and their transactions have been so wild, I hope you remeber….. Figos transfer? Ronaldos transfer? Zidanes transfer? Screw that…. remember Ferdinands price? Rooneys price? Verons price? Even Nistelrooy, Carrick, Saha, Ronaldo…. all of them aren’t really “cheap” transfers having their prices mid range 10-20 millions.
Its the reality mate…. a reality of our capitalist society, money is pretty a rememdy to many things. The “manager effect”, tactics, all-the-flare-talk….. bottom line is money in most market-oriented sports. Be a man, do what you can with what you got, strive, hope…. and stop complaining becuase those with deep pockets will eventually frown and get on with their business while you’ll be losing AND making a fool outta yourselves at the same time.
Talking about cheating… one must check out the bbc website and how Mourinho has been going on about Barfcelona players diving…
Ahem… Sir Jose - You have Dider Drogba and Arjen Robben… they fall faster than a pack of cards in a twister. However, Drogba hasn’t been doing that of late, but has dived enough in the past too tarnish his image for a while. If his current form continues, we might forget the amount he dived.
Coming to Chelsea and the endless money of Abrahmovic (which has become a point of endless debate) - Let’s not forget… Real Madrid is much the same - Gigantic superstars… How many titles have they won in the past 3 years? You may hate Jose (as much as I do) but you have got to give him credit for being able to find a way to play Lampard and Ballack in the same line-up, lose a defender like Gallas and still maintain one of the best defensive lines in the Premiership, lose one of the best keepers in the world and inspire his third choice keeper to keep consecutive clean sheets even against the likes of Barcelona.
However, Chelsea need to add some amount of flair to their performance. Joe Cole, A. Robben and a couple of blinding shots by Drogba apart, the Chelsea team of the 2004/2005 season was far more exciting (remember the goal scored by Robben which had some 5 one-touch passes from Tiago, Lampard, Robben and Gudjohnsen?) than the ensemble this year.
Can’t wait for the whistle to go at the Nou Camp!
I really dislike it when people compare Real Madrid and Chelsea. Other than the fact that they have both spent a lot of money, their transfer policy could hardly have been more different. When he arrived, Mourinho explicitly stated that he wanted to have two very good players for each position. Real’s stance for the last ten years has been to ignore 6-8 positions and to spend voluminous amounts of cash on the front 2-4. Another huge contrast between the two is that whilst Real certainly did go after the ‘big-name’ players (irrespective of the players’ mentality), Mourinho has assembled a squad of hard workers, with Michael Ballack being the only player in the squad whose team mentality could really be called into a question - this if we are being harsh towards his apparent narcissism. In short, fine - Chelsea’s money has helped them towards their success. But the fact is - we never got to see what Mourinho might have done on limited resources. I’d be willing to bet that he could do a very good job anywhere - having him alone is tantamount to having 200 million in the bank.
I think the Imperious performance tonight by Chelsea should serve a reminder to the rest of the footballing world that West London is now the home of the best team in the world.
We should have won that game and to come back twice at the Nou Camp shows a reslaince and class comparable to LFC vs Milan and ManU vs Bayern. I know both of those were finals but it’s those type of games that define a teams character and pedigree.
Can we please have some god damn respect for our performance (both legs) against the European Champions.
Long Live Drogba - you are truly the King of King’s!!
Listen Azar, im not complaining about Chelsea and the money, you make the best of the resources available to you, but my point was that in an inflated transfer market, thanks to chelsea(according to me), Barcelona have always managed to sign quality players like Van Bommel, Larrson and Gudjohnson. And yea chelsea have great team work and im the first to admit that that is something united have lacked in past season. But the way the team played againt Wigan and Benfica showed that the desire and teamwork is back. And by the way, gallas threatining to score own goals and drogba bitching all summer about how he isnt loved isnt teamwork buddy. And true blue anyone who says money isnt the main reason is talking shit. Where were Chelsea before Roman ? A mid-table club. And chelsea play the worst most boring type of football seen for years. Bolton get slack but what about chelsea ? And i have hundreds of chelsea fans but NONE of them were fans before Abromovich. So most chelsea fans are fans of success and not the team. So lets see how many fans remain when the money isnt there ?
True that A - MOST chelsea fans are like that…. but I guess its just like that…. apart from those “few” who live around the club and its location, all others follow the clubs coz of success records, big stars etc….. and while I cant speak for ManU fans “within” the UK but mannnn those ManU fans from USA to Japan are so SO so SO fake :p …. they’re all a product of commercialization of football…. hehe I remember a really funny news piece where a Japanese girl didnt even know what off-sde means but was wearing the holy #7 ManU shirt coz she was head over heels in love with Beckham (I’m sure she didn’t know Cantona and Best also wore that)…. So Chelsea’s garnering fanbase Peter Kenyon’s way….. the only reason I like Chelsea is - and I’m about to utter blasphemy, I’m about to commit a cardinal sin - is this guy, Mourinho! Dont crucify me for that but since I’m not British, I don’t mind his arrogance, I actually love the whole change in status quo that he’s brought about…. apart from that in footballing terms, no one beats Arsenal in class. Quite simply, the most eclectic football.
There’s a completely different pleasure in being a neutral plain simple football fan. You can appreciate so many clubs, so many players…..