I left a blank in the headline because Manchester did not turn up for the final of the Champions league, so Barca just passed it among themselves until the cows came home and collected their trophy. The wizardry of Messi, directness of Eto’o, the majesty of Iniesta were all powered by the motor of Xavi Hernandez and clicked perfectly into place and simply stunned Man U into submission. It was billed as the battle between Messi and Ronaldo, Guardiola and Ferguson, Spain and England, but it turned out to be a master-class in modern football. To contrast England and Spain is to compare the two main schools of thought in football; the Latin school and the Anglo-Saxon school. One is mostly based on passing and skill (Latin) and the other hard work, pace, and direct play. The Premiership is globally dominant but the best of the Premiership was unable to cope with the Latin school of thought. When I watch La Liga in Spain, I am shocked that Real Madrid and Barcelona have two of the most shambolic defences in football and yet dominate their league; it all doesn’t matter because they maintain possession for 70% of the time and tire the opposition out. The Anglo-Saxon model is the reason England will not win the world cup anytime soon; it is not in their nature to pass the ball for more than a minute without making an attempt on goal. If an English club was ever to hold the ball for 20 minutes then the fans would walk out; hence Man U were hoping to play Chelsea in the final and they most likely would have won but Barca played their own game. You have to give credit to Barca as they were patient against Chelsea even when the game plan wasn’t going right. With Spain winning Euro 08 with that Brazilian style of flair play, it shows a shifting of the axis in football using intricate passing and triangular play to outwit the opposing team. This style is suited to Rwanda and Africa in particular because of the hot weather we cannot run for 90 minutes like the English game but instead have the ball do all the hard work. What the pictures didn’t tell you is how hard the Barcelona team work hard, for all his skill, Iniesta runs 9 KM, as does Xavi. This style of play requires tactical genius in midfield allied to hard work and patience from the fans. Jose Mourinho calls himself the “Special one” but we have found someone who will take his title. Pep Guardiola makes me feel anything is possible with his win and his life is one I wish for; he played and captained Barca for nearly 10 years and left at 31, then he drifted from Italy to the Gulf to Mexico. It must have been out of obligation that he got the Barcelona team B job but he excelled at it. As Frank Rijkard left last summer, he was in hospital after the birth of his third child when he was informed of his good fortune. He cleaned up the squad and even sold the party animal that is Ronaldinho but kept the wayward Eto’o and the results have spoken for themselves. One criticism I had of him was he relied too much on Messi- his game-plan was “pass the ball to Messi” and there was no plan B. On Wednesday, he didn’t need a plan B as his master-plan worked perfectly; to outfox the old fox that is Alex Ferguson is no mean feat. The basic premise of his style is to dictate the style of play, to impose your game upon your opponent; this works in any sport and in any life situation. Setting the pace and the terms of your encounters gives you the leading edge in life and success surely follows. ramaisibo@hotmail.com
