The announcements from Barcelona since they failed to find a way past the packed defence of Chelsea have been surprising and yet completely unsurprising at the same time.Even though this season is the first genuine disappointment in the previously near perfect reign of Pep Guardiola, there has always been an air of uncertainty over his time in charge. At times, Pep has seemed unsure of himself especially amidst the constant pressure that is associated with being the nominal leader of the Catalan people. Many thought that Pep would prefer to leave Camp Nou as a winner but his exit as coach is not a great surprise.
It may be that the promotion of current assistant coach Tito Vilanova to Barça boss is the bigger surprise but again, is it really? Names like Wenger, Luis Enrique and Bilbao sensation Marcelo Bielsa have been dropped in blogs, articles, and conversations since the Pep exit rumours broke but you can see the Barça philosophy in this appointment.
On the surface, you can’t imagine there will be too much change in the style and set-up of the team. The overall running of the club still falls under the philosophies and style set up by Johann Cruyff, but each manager has placed their own personality on the first team. Guardiola brought his central midfield viewpoint to the side, at times playing central midfielders at centre-back, bringing a fluid style throughout the team.
To say that a rebuilding job is required at Barcelona would be a massive exaggeration. So many key components of the team are still present and there is a core of youngsters to supplement the top players. However, throughout the campaign, the absence of a fit and reliable centre-half and the lack of a fulcrum in attack since David Villa’s injury has blighted Barça.
If these two elements are attended to, perhaps even by promoting youth sensation Jean Marie Dongou to the central attacking role, there is no reason why Tito Vilanova cannot scale the same heights that Pep managed so effortlessly.
Picture credit: borkur.net
