Barcelona has given the world something
special these past 5 years. Aside from
winning 14/19 competitions since 2008, Barcelona has given the world beautiful football
for 90 minutes week after week. This playing
style is truly unique and effective as Pep Guardiola saw only 21 defeats in 247
games with Barcelona.
Truly a feat like this requires players
with a spectacular amount of talent.
Players from all over the world would surely be needed to create this super
team like other dominant squads have done such as “Los Galacticos” of Real Madrid
in the early 2000s. Actually, 17/25 players on Barca’s current squad were
brought up through its own youth academy. La Masia.
La Masia is Barcelona’s youth
academy located near Camp Nou. Over 300
youngsters train at this academy and 60 call it their home. Receiving
a spot at La Masia means free training, education and paid living expenses. Youngsters here are taught the values of effort,
work, and commitment. A selfless, humble
and polite man is the result of this school...
As well as an amazing BARCELONA player.
Efforts at La Masia are to produce
players specifically for the first team.
From the youngest ranks, players are taught to play Total Football as
established by Johan Cryuff in 1979. Watching
the U-15 Barca team is no different from watching the first team. Both teams attack the same, defend the same
and even obtain the same results, which is no surprise. This makes it incredibly easy to assimilate
players into the first team. The result
is a group of players who think the same and have played alongside each other
throughout their lives. When players
sign their professional contract with Barcelona, it is not a job, but an honor
and a life-long dream come true.
Nobody can deny that La Masia is a
world class football school. It would
be easy to say Barcelona rounds up the world’s best young players, throws them
on the pitch and of course results show.
Who can truly point the world’s BEST young players? Messi was rejected by River Plate academy
because of his size. The reality is half the kids at the academy come from the local
province of Catalonia. 7 Catalonians
also make up the first team. The chances
of the best youngsters in the world to be located within a 62 mile radius of the
Camp Nou are highly unlikely (Half of that radius is ocean). Clearly this school does something special to
create top players.
What separates La Masia from other
institutes is a deeper meaning of a home club.
These kids who are brought in don’t dream of becoming a professional but
dream of playing for Barcelona. This
desire is what drives them to give their best and stay disciplined throughout
their development. The majority of the
club personnel come from Catalonia which is fighting for its independence from
Spain. This adds to the love of the
club for the local boys. Secondly,
playing with a unique philosophy of football sets the club apart from other teams.
Yes this Barcelona squad seems to
dominate every opponent week after week; but it will come to an end. To have players as special as Xavi, Iniesta,
Fabregas, Pique and Puyol is something special.
Not to mention Pedro, Busquetes and Valdes which are world class players
and World cup champions. Now have these
players work day in, day out with the already legendary Messi for the past 12
years and you have something that will never be repeated. All these players have come from La
Masia. This Barcelona team will be imitated
because this is the model that La Masia produces, but never repeated.
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