Don't get caught up in Barcelona hyperbole

Brasil 82...now that was an exciting team. I think true beauty in life/sport/love requires risk taking....and tika taka is primarily about eliminating risk and denying the opponent opportunities. I admire the technical brilliance of what they do and how they do it.....but as a philosophy its heart and soul is about not losing as a first priority. Ive been following Barca since Cruyff moved there in the 70s ....I just prefer my sport with a little more bravery.

Good question you are asking [if I understand it correctly]; that is how do you compare teams and judge relative merits, and do statistics help? As has been pointed out above there are statistics available which point out things like numbers of passes, successful completion of passes, shots on target, shots off target, tackles and intercepts won, distance run etc. etc.. They do give some concrete assistance to back up an impression of the course of a game. However I think judgments of how good a team is comes down to style as well as success. I have been watching football since the 1960s. I think there are other teams I have seen that might have given Barcelona tough competition, but I would expect Barcelona to win. I have never seen another team with their combination of intensity of effort in defense and sustained and varied pressure in attack. They have an extraordinary quality of player with Messi as good as anyone I've ever seen, but all working with an amazing collective intelligence. In my opinion [and it is an aesthetic statement] I have never seen a better team, or a team better to watch. And just as importantly in judging how good they are, I've never seen a team more likely to win. No statistics needed for that judgment.

I'm sorry that I have been working and unable to read comments until a day late..... but...... DULL!?!? If they're dull, who do you think is exciting?

Thats the beauty of the whole old vs new really. We can all imagine what we want & debate forever on the subject. Like comparing the Romans against modern troops & their technology assisted combat. Now when Messi is a dinosaur compared with future players with computerised boots it may become even more interesting to compare

I do think that's a better way to compare era. If the players were born in this era and had available modern tactics etc rather then transplanting them to this era with no preparation in the changes in the game However even then that is a bit troublesome. The thing that contributes to why Messi is a great player is that he works just as hard in defence as he does in attack and he plays an important part of pressing the opposition. In a sense he's got the ballskill of a maradona and the workethics and pressing ability of a Brett Holman. Not all great players of the modern era has that atribute. Great players like Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo etc don't work as hard in defence (although Ronaldo does a bit more under Mourinho) So would those same great players be able to adjust to that type of expectation in the modern game. Or would they be one of those luxury flair players that come off the bench like Kaka is for Real Madrid. I have no doubt that some players would be able to adjust especially the likes of cruijff but not all will. In any case, a bit of lack of imagination there for low scoring draw. You would think that a match up between two of the most attacking teams in history of Football would produce a high scoring thriller. Even Real MAdrid concede a few goals at the final and Barcalona concede a goal against Manchester as well. I would think that in a fantasy match up between two great sides, people would at least imagine it would be a high scoring thriller.

Ben, methinks thou protest too much. Watch if you must but spare us your ignorant appraisals.

If Foz kept it simple, between the drooling over Barca, more fans would understand the truism, the difference from the past in what dasilva says,usage of space,lack of space(due to modern tactics) is the difference between Pele & Messi's day. Therefore understand what Barca are doing & why they are so highly regarded,but not necessarily better than say Real Madrid that won so many European cups around the sixties. As already mentioned by Cattery above this team works hard, presses restricts space, It also attacks equally well,creating,running into space a,a formidable combination.. You can do neither against teams like ManU without World class technical skills throughout the team & supreme fitness. Add A player in his own parallel technical universe like Messi & you have an extra X factor. So disagree with the basic headline of this article Barcelona deserve the hyperebole thrown their way ,but if you had a different headline "Who deserves the most hyperbole, Real Madrid Circa 1960's hyperbole or Barca 2011 " well watch the Real Madrid vs Eintracht Frankfurt 1960 final again:- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H_89ue5s20&feature=related Now imagine Di Stefano,Puskas etc using modern training drills using restricted space,modern fitness training,diet,modern tactics & so on. IMO a hyperbole low scoring draw.

Craig Foster on the World Game Over the last 30 years, in the 70's there were marvelous team such as Ajax but there are a lot of space. Now there is no space. At the time where space is at the least in the history of football, they (Barcalona) are the team that maximises the usage of space.

go to zonalmarking.net or look up prozone, it's a football stats system that most epl clubs use and i think it's been adapted to AFL too. The stats are there if you want them, and from a tactical perspective they will always show this Barcelona team as the strongest in almost all departments (save perhaps defense where they probably 'just' rate around around the rest. As someone said though, this is just the raw way of looking at the "best" title, the style of play is difficult to master and the skills required to execute make it all the more special. However, simply bringing a smile to the face of a sports fan is still the most important factor imo.

PP my point was that In my opinion Barca are effective but dull...no need for the insults buddy.

Respect your comments there preciouspress. I'd like to throw one thing into the mix, if I may, that is somewhat at odds with the whole "pure artistry" line, and that is the fact that Barca press better than any other team, they constrict the space better than any othere team, they work harder than any other team at sucking the life out of their opposition, ensuring that no air pockets remain for survivors. That's a very well drilled team there. Not only are they well drilled in a certain game plan that pretty much no other team has worked out (yet), but they have the capability to stick it out for the full 90 to 120 minutes. To me at least, that's a sure sign that we've move well beyond "pure artistry", and are fair square in the elite sporting realm.

Another mindless comparison. Barcelona are a team of 11 very good with some great players who combine to become much more than the sum of their parts. Geoff Boycott was a dedicated, skilful artisan, Richards a wonderfully aggressive batsman, Neither were great team players and as such, even if they could cross the sport species would not have made a Barcelona, or indeed a United team.

A man who can't be bothered to get up early enough to see the match, quibbles about the judgements of others who watch and understand. Let him challenge my considered opinion based upon watching football for over 60 years. I have followed Manchester United and gloried in the talents of Edwards, Colman, Charlton, Best, Cantona and Scholes. I well remember the night Di Stefan shone for Real to blitz Eintracht Frankfurt. Then there was the Puskas/Hideguti Hungary and the Pele/Garrincha Brazil. None of the above come near to the current Barcelona team, who's individual skills, team harmony and commitment is beyond compare. They made a very good United team seem unfit for our A league. Mr Carter don't bother watching a game you clearly don't get.

the cricket analogy is an interesting one..and for me personally I think, for all their success, Barca are more Geoff Boycott than Viv Richards.

just take out mascherano!

Well anyone who has followed the game will know that due to the advent of capitalism today's top teams are superiour to those of by-gone eras. If were talking about Real, Ajax, Liverpool or even AC Milan, these were teams "man for man" limited by quotas on foreigners. In the 1950s-1990s many players in the world's top 200 played for lowly clubs. The Le Tissier's & Pele's no longer hang around thier upbringings. Berbatov, Affelay & Kaka all sit on the bench because thats where the $$$ are. So Fozzie is absolutely right, by conquoring the modern era Barcelona are the best ever. The only cmoparision if at all would be made against the Brazil 1970 WC winning team. So with that appreciation, Barca simply are the best ever full stop. I BTW was going for Man U & Real Madrid in the SF but it does not mean we can be blind to the domination we continuosly see