The story doesn't really explain what makes Barsa different and so incredibly good. It talks about La Masia of course, but most teams do have their own youth academies, so the Masia can't be the difference. The real distinction is cultural, philosophical and conceptual. The show does talk about the Barcelona's doctrine of possession of the ball, passing and loving it, but it's not enough. Let me offer you an example of why Barsa represents a cultural revolution: The game of soccer has always been viewed as a game of attacking and defending. There are strikers and there are defenders and goalies. Here comes the revolution: Barcelona defends itself by having possession the ball. Aren't you supposed to be attacking when you have the ball? The answer is not necessarily. If this is the first time that you hear or read the term "defend yourself by having the ball", then you will probably don't understand the concept at all. That is precisely why it is a revolution. Ask any Barsa fan out there and he will gladly explain to you what it means.
What sets Barca apart is their INSTITUTIONAL commitment to a philosophy of how the game should be played. For many teams, the playing style changes with each first team manager ("head coach" as referred to in this country)... which in most cases means every two or three years. What sets Barcelona apart is their relentless commitment to the LONG-TERM in an industry that is short-term in the extreme.
yeah, i was disappointed that there was zero mention of the michels model being introduced by rinus himself seeing as though barca would not exist as it does today with michels and cruijff (and, side note, also the importance of rijkard undoing the philosophy of van gaal...something frank de boer and dennis bergkamp are having to do at ajax)...and the fact that cruijff is mentioned only in a list alongside stoichkov and ronaldinho is disappointing...not that the two former weren't excellent footballers, but cruijff's importance to barca is, perhaps, unparalleled. with all of the time, they certainly could have mentioned the dutch influence from managers to technical directors to the vast amount of dutch players throughout the years. also, the introduction is misleading as most major (and even lesser) clubs have youth academies structured the same way. i'm not saying that this piece should have been all about the dutch, but they certainly had time...could have been better.
Crismoron I don't see any soccer people being defensive on here i only see YOU. Why are you even here commenting on a sport you don't like, What are you affraid of?
Crismono. Sorry, but honesty for honesty, I cannot help to say that yours is he most pathetic comments I have ever read about soccer and not only about this particular sport. You have to grow up and not only age wise to understand and appreciate this beautiful sport. As for the pigskin football- it always seemed to me the most moronic sport activity in the world. A bunch of sweaty overweight guys stopping every couple of minutes to take breath to give air space to commercials- what could be more ridiculous?!
I love this peice about FC Barcelona. It is a great short coverage on the club, player and style of playing that is revolutionizing the game of soccer.
Thank you 60 Minutes and CBS for taking the time to make quality work that is on the same standards as FC Barcelona's game. As a fan of soccer, Barcelona and Messi, it feels good when America recognizes quality.
Great work, I did not expect you guys (60 Mins) to make such a great piece on FCB and Messi. You have my respects. You did more and a much better job than those so called sports orgs. like ESPN and FOX, they have not take the time to recognize magic.
That was the lamest piece of football journalism. I live in Oklahoma City and here in the middle of " throwball " country, football is the most participated in youth sport in the state for kids under 16. They did not go into the nuts and bolts of barca. the concept that the team is the difference, not the messi. oddly, he would be the very first to acknowledge this fact.I simply do not believe that a world traveling journalist has no interest in anything as remotely " foreign " as football.this piece did not speak to the origins of the club academy system being Dutch. And the fact that without the scholastic approach in football theory these kids would not be half the players they are. It is difficult to be under achieving when 1000's of students want to be in your side, i.e. the Ajax academy of the 90's founded by the same Dutch group that installed the Dutch methodology at La Masia. This would not be the first time Bob Simon bull ******* his way through a story. Pure and simple, football is massive in the United States, and it is getting bigger and better all the time. and, no one outside the USA gives a toss about the native sports. this stupid pretense of football naivete really makes me laugh. IMG the international marketing group just released a report stating that football, or as Bob calls it, "soccer " is the second most watched sports programming in the USA behind NFL and collegiate gridiron. stickball and hand soccer are miles behind in viewership.I cannot stand it when the football ignorant start yapping on about a subject with such pretensive ignorance. the best work that should have been shown was the the overtime piece. For the record, "soccer" is an English term.
yeah, i was disappointed that there was zero mention of the michels model being introduced by rinus himself seeing as though barca would not exist as it does today with michels and cruijff (and, side note, also the importance of rijkard undoing the philosophy of van gaal...something frank de boer and dennis bergkamp are having to do at ajax)...and the fact that cruijff is mentioned only in a list alongside stoichkov and ronaldinho is disappointing...not that the two former weren't excellent footballers, but cruijff's importance to barca is, perhaps, unparalleled. with all of the time, they certainly could have mentioned the dutch influence from managers to technical directors to the vast amount of dutch players throughout the years. also, the introduction is misleading as most major (and even lesser) clubs have youth academies structured the same way. i'm not saying that this piece should have been all about the dutch, but they certainly had time...could have been better.
Well I agree that this report was not so complete and it had it's flaws. At the same time I do not completely dismiss it. A lot of people in the US do not follow football. I haven't yet had a meaningful conversation with a mainstream american about soccer. It is all either american football, baseball or NBA. I think a lot of people do not even know who Messi is, the same is not true even for a country like India which seems to play only cricket and little else. Such exposure to Barca and Messi from CBS will surely increase interest in the sport.
Barcelona president says his team is identified with Catalonia, they should do like Bilbao, use only players born in Catalonia. Then they can talk about independence
From the intro: "And that's what the sport is called in every country but the United States, football, not soccer."
That may come as a surprise to people from certain parts of the British Isles, South Africa, Australia, Canada.... how about doing a bit of research next time, 60 Minutes?
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Let me offer you an example of why Barsa represents a cultural revolution:
The game of soccer has always been viewed as a game of attacking and defending. There are strikers and there are defenders and goalies. Here comes the revolution: Barcelona defends itself by having possession the ball. Aren't you supposed to be attacking when you have the ball? The answer is not necessarily.
If this is the first time that you hear or read the term "defend yourself by having the ball", then you will probably don't understand the concept at all. That is precisely why it is a revolution. Ask any Barsa fan out there and he will gladly explain to you what it means.
Thank you 60 Minutes and CBS for taking the time to make quality work that is on the same standards as FC Barcelona's game. As a fan of soccer, Barcelona and Messi, it feels good when America recognizes quality.
Great work, I did not expect you guys (60 Mins) to make such a great piece on FCB and Messi. You have my respects. You did more and a much better job than those so called sports orgs. like ESPN and FOX, they have not take the time to recognize magic.
Thanx,
MESSImessiMESSI
That may come as a surprise to people from certain parts of the British Isles, South Africa, Australia, Canada.... how about doing a bit of research next time, 60 Minutes?
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/722940-fc-barcelona-sign-10-year-old-american-to-development-academy
Wow, how did you guys miss that?