Graham Hunter, a Barcelona based Scottish journalist who will be familiar to viewers of Sky Sports La Liga coverage, was there throughout, following the Catalans’ story every step of the way. Frankly, there is no greater an expert on Barca’s golden era than Graham Hunter and this book provides a wealth of evidence to support that claim, with the caveat that Hunter is of course a fan of the Catalan giants, and so there are some examples of bias, but that’s a small price to pay for such expert insights in my opinion. It is filled with first hand testimony from players, Presidents, and the chief architect of it all, Guardiola himself.
There are sections looking at each key player, some rather longer and more in depth than others, but all adding to the story and providing revealing portraits be they about what a player brings to the team, or how they became part of Barcelona as youth players. Life in the La Masia academy is a recurring theme, and the club philosophy of promoting through the ranks is repeatedly mentioned.
Gradually, we see the pieces coming together to produce the magical team well all knew, and with the benefit of hindsight you can see the gradual assimilation of the key characters, as Hunter tells each of their stories and weaves them together. It’s like a perfect storm coming together to create the requisite circumstances before being unleashed on the world.
Aside from the vast detail of key events, decisions and philosophies that brought about this particular team it is the more personal elements that elevate this book onto a higher level. Hunter not only knows the club inside out, but he knows many of the players and staff so well that his insights illuminate and personalise his account, allowing the reader to warm to the players and staff on a personal level as well as on a football level. The majority come across as thoughtful, intelligent and interesting people; far removed from the English “dumb footballer” stereotype.
There is the fascinating tale of Lionel Messi’s protracted acquisition, paper napkins and all, and how easily it could have fallen apart. The issue of Messi’s growth hormone treatment is covered, as is the fact that at one point there was a very real chance he could have ended up on loan at Glasgow Rangers of all places.
There is the background to the development of the Catalan starts, Carles Puyol and Xavi Hernandez, and how they made it into and through La Masia and eventually into the first team. Back office politicking is never far away from the central narrative either, as empires came and went before all the pieces of the jigsaw were in place for the team that would enthral the world and take all before them.
The key piece was of course Guardiola, and Hunter paints a detailed view of how all the key elements fell into place to allow the inexperienced Catalan to take the reins of one of the world’s greatest sporting institutions. And this at a time when the team had hit something of a rut and stumbled badly after the 2006 Champions League triumph over Arsenal under Frank Rijkaard.
On that particular subject there is a deep and fascinating insight into the levels with which Jose Mourinho fought to be the man to succeed Rijkaard, and the reasons why the decision went another way. It’s particularly intriguing given Mourinho’s subsequent acrimony towards Barcelona in his Inter Milan and Real Madrid days. Those bridges are well and truly burned now. The rivalry with Real Madrid is looked at briefly, but that is covered in more depth elsewhere and isn’t the prime focus of this book.
Hunter has such a depth of knowledge that his authority on the subject of Barca in astounding and unquestionable, and he tells the story of the making of the greatest team in the world in a hugely compelling way.
- Aidan Williams http://thesportsbookreview.com
Publisher - BackPage Press Limited; 2nd Revised edition
Date of Publication - September 13, 2012