
Barca: The Making Of The Greatest Team In The World – Graham Hunter
Graham Hunter’s Barca: The Making Of The Greatest Team In The World is about how this world-beater team evolved and became so successful. In the process, we also get insights into Barcelona’s history, about former presidents and vice-presidents and what led to the birth of the idea the current Barca philosophy is based around. The focus is on the members of the current team, Pep Guardiola (a fascinating chapter on his Barca journey as a player and then a coach) and of course Johan Cruyff, without whom none of this would have been possible.
“This current Barca team also carries the Cruyff DNA in their genes. The way they practice and train, the way they play…the way they feel that creative football and entertaining the crowd is as important as winning …Without Cruyff, no dream team. No dream team, no total football. No tiki-taka, no Rijkaard, Laporta and without Cruyff and Rexach, Guardiola wouldn’t have made it into the first team.”
Hunter is a sports writer who moved to Barcelona in 2001, and has the distinction of being the only English speaking journalist to have ever interviewed Pep Guardiola during his time as Barcelona coach. He is also, more importantly, a true cule, a passionate fan of the club, and this combined with his footballing acumen make for a very interesting and mostly enjoyable read. It isn’t without flaws but the positives easily overweigh them and I’ll get there later.