The “Beckham Law” has given La Liga incredible leverage with which to persuade footballers that their futures lie in Spain; allowing foreign players in the top tax bracket to only pay 23% tax, less than half of what players in England would pay at 50%. Not only did it allow players’ income to be greatly increased, it also meant Spanish clubs did not necessarily have to increase a player’s wages from what he was receiving at his previous foreign club.

But now with the new tax laws coming into effect, it will greatly disrupt clubs on both the financial front and in their ability to retain or entice players to join the Spanish league. But how greatly will we see the effects of this? With a more level playing field in terms of tax compared to England, for example, Spain not longer hold a greater hand, therefore allowing the Premier League another added bonus on top of the other incentives it holds.

There has already been financial trouble in Spain this season: the opening weekend of the league season was postponed for the players’ strike due to unpaid wages totalling 50 million euros for both the first and second divisions. What this means now is that clubs are going to have to re-negotiate player contracts in order to subsidise the tax increase. While not all players in Europe or leagues around the world are of high enough quality to play for Barcelona and Real Madrid—who evidently will also feel the effects of the tax increase despite their significantly greater revenue—teams such as Sevilla or Villarreal are going to find themselves even further away from the top of the league table. Not being able to pay wages as it is—as has been the case for Villarreal in recent months—means eventually there will be a smaller market of talent to attract. The El Madrigal side are already seeking to offload striker Nilmar in order to pay the wages of the other players; something that highlights how clubs in Spain are regressing and unable to compete for long spells at the top of the table. Another example is Mallorca, who have in recent years just missed out on Champions League qualification but who are also in financial dire straits. The club finished last year in 17th place, avoiding relegation; but a huge drop from their fifth placed position a year earlier.

Not only does the increase in tax affect players’ pay packets, but why would footballers want to play in a league where the financial and competitive disparity is so great, and will only continue to grow? Arsene Wenger said a few seasons ago, “I can’t see anyone with a competitive edge wanting to go to Spain. They have two good teams, but the third placed team is 21pts behind. It’s a league that is in complete disarray, and if you are competitive you stay in England.” Of course, Wenger was talking indirectly to Cesc Fabregas, who the club managed to hold onto in the summer of 2010. But why should what he has to say only be limited to Fabregas? However, players may have other reasons for wanting to join La Liga from the Premier League: the physicality is greatly reduced and players such as Cristiano Ronaldo have been kicked off and then back onto the pitch since they arrived in England. That incentive was greatly heightened by the significant drop in taxes the players would pay.

But now what happens to La Liga?

I don’t believe there will be a huge swing in the number of the world’s best players wanting to play in La Liga, or even remaining there in the future. The fact is, Barcelona and Real Madrid are reason enough to want to go to Spain, and almost every top player in the world who has ambitions beyond their current standing will want to pull on either of the famous shirts. But what we are likely to see are the clubs below the top two struggle. It may open up to a much more unpredictable league, whereby clubs spend heavily to hold on to their stars or attract big names through the increase in wages, but end up paying for it a few years later. For a league in so much trouble already, the tax increase appears to do nothing but harm a league desperately trying to find its feet.

Among the inflated transfer fees, the ability among many to quickly become an ‘In the know’ expert on twitter and the calls among almost all supporters for their clubs to spend lavishly on the next big thing, the transfer windows have turned football into somewhat of a joke.

Yes there would be negatives to leaving the market open for the majority of the year; teams who are looking to hold onto their best assets would struggle considerably to keep the wolves at bay for a prolonged period, much less the summer months. Players might be inclined to jump ship as soon as things start to become difficult and, equally, it would give fans an incentive to demand signings after a poor result. But why can the American leagues manage it? The aim, of course, is to cut down on ridiculous fees being spent and panic buys highlighting the shortcomings of the windows and clubs. Would clubs be as inclined to spend well over the odds if they knew they weren’t in a race against time to get deals done? The only obstacle they’d face would be the rival clubs competing for a player’s signature—something which also plays it’s part in inflated fees.

Introducing Financial Fair Play and capping the amount of players that can be registered for a league season won’t do a huge deal in prompting clubs to spend less heavily when the opportunity arises; much of it comes from the fact that there is very little time to do so much—equating in £50 million purchases that backfire. In much the same way that American sports do it, the governing bodies should look to allow clubs the freedom to move and acquire players whenever they please, with a small part of the season of maybe a month or two for clubs to negotiate player contracts behind closed doors.

Much of the excitement of transfer deadline day is the not knowing whether your club’s manager or chairman are about to pull an ace of out their sleeve. It adds to the joy of seeing a new signing, and especially a star signing that may once have been out-of-reach, arrive at the club. But it doesn’t always add up to benefit the game. Almost as if people are working behind the scenes to cash in on the feverish nature of supporters who will do almost anything to pick up on the latest rumour; FIFA and UEFA need to look to ways of eradicating an aspect of the game that does very little for the model they wish to set.

Speculation in Spain has arisen that Pep Guardiola’s men were ready to try and tempt the in-form Netherlands international to the Camp Nou, but this is not the case currently.

“Nothing exists with RVP,” Bartomeu told reporters, as published by Sky Sports.

“It’s rumours that appear in the papers. We’ve not contacted Arsenal, nor his agent.

“Our focus is now on La Liga and Copa del Rey.

“It’s necessary to be focused on the task at hand and not be distracted by the transfer market,” the executive concluded.

Van Persie scored a hat-trick for Arsene Wenger’s men in the commanding 7-1 win over Blackburn at the weekend, and is the Premier League’s top scorer currently with 22 goals.

The crafty attacker’s contract is due to expire in the summer of 2013 however, and with an extension yet to be reached Gunners’ fans are worried that their star player may leave the Emirates Stadium.

By Gareth McKnight

Aguero has long been on the radar of Real Madrid but couldn’t come to terms with the player’s former club Atletico Madrid due to the rivalry between both clubs. (Express)

But Real Madrid president Florentino Perez believes this summer might be his opportunity to land the Argentine striker, who has 14 goals in the league for City this season.

It is thought that Madrid will fund the move for Aguero through the sale of fellow Argentine Ganzalo Higuain. The Madrid striker has long been out-of-favour with the hierarchy at the Bernabeu, despite Jose Mourinho’s wishes to keep the player at the club.

Chelsea, who have led the race for Higuain’s signature in the past, are once again thought to be interested.

But while Perez and Madrid have missed out of Neymar to fierce rivals Barcelona, the Madrid president is determined to add a marquee signing to his squad and would love nothing more than to bring Aguero back to Spain.

It’s unlikely, however, that Manchester City will be interested in parting with the striker, who has adapted well to the Premier League, but Real Madrid are said to be willing to offer any amount it takes.

The stumbling block again is Aguero’s former club Atletico, who have asked City for assurances that the player would not be sold to Madrid within two seasons.

Barcelona. The fluidity of their football and dominance of the football world have left many wondering whether they are first among equals in a hall of fame that consists of Real Madrid’s 1960 team, Holland’s 1974 team, Brazil’s 1970 team, Liverpool’s 1984 team and many others.

As we look at the top teams in the Premier League today we are left wondering what happened to the archetypal British, 4-4-2, long ball, physical football? Steve Barron’s brilliant satire of British football ‘Mike Bassett: England manager’ perfectly summed up everything that was farcical yet familiar about our island’s style of play. But does it ring true any more? Ever more our clubs have shifted away from the two-wingers-two-strikers to a system that allows greater movement between roles for the midfield and striking positions. So effective has Barcelona’s style of play been that it would seem only natural for clubs around the world to try and emulate it. So is this what we’ve been doing too?

The Formation

The 4-3-3 seems to have taken over English football recently. Adopted at times by Arsenal, Chelsea, Man City, Liverpool, Blackpool, Swansea, Aston Villa, QPR and others the formation is fast becoming first choice for many clubs. The advantages as demonstrated by Barcelona not only lie the fluidity of forwards (Messi, Villa and Pedro are constantly switching position) but also in the dominance of three central midfielders over two. If the recent Barcelona vs. Man Utd encounters in the Champions League have taught us anything is that attempting to play two midfielders against Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta is an optimistic approach. Especially if one of those midfielders is Carrick. The fact is that Barcelona has demonstrated that when your players are playing well there is nothing you can do to stop it a midfield trio. Man Utd fans will have recognized Ferguson often playing five in midfield in Europe last season in an attempt to combat just that.

Defence without defenders

Possession football is a luxurious way to defend that only the best teams can afford to do. Barcelona has become so good at it that they are regularly playing their midfielders in defence. Granted it is through necessity and not choice but they are faring pretty well. I’m not saying that similar tactics will be employed here by choice but the option to have ‘ball-playing’ defenders over ‘defensive’ defenders is definitely on the up in our game. Players like Vermaelen, David Luiz, Sebastian Coates and others are the beginning of a new generation of defenders. No more do we have our back lines modeled on burly, brutish men regimentally playing the offside trap as they scythe down players and relentlessly put their head on the line. That player still exists but the advantages of players like Pique and Dani Alves have been more than highlighted by Barcelona. Arguably Dani Alves only plays as a defender against the best teams. The rest of the time he is somewhere next to Messi on the wing. I’m not saying that Barcelona have patented the attacking or ball playing defenders. Just that their use of them has highlighted the importance of the roles of those players. Role that we are seeing more and more of in British football.

Natural progression or Barcelona impersonators?

There are two arguments that could be touted: a) that these and other changes are just the natural progression of football and Barcelona was simply slightly ahead of the curve; b) we have simply seen how good Barcelona are and thought: ‘I want to play like that’. Either way I think it is perfectly plausible to say that Barcelona have inadvertently changed the way we play football in this country. Of course the idea of a 4-3-3 existed before Barcelona as did the Dutch ‘total football’ but Barcelona have now honed it until it seems idiotic to play any other way. After Inter Milan beat Barcelona to reach the Champions League final a few years ago everyone was saying: ‘that’s the way to beat Barcelona’. Now, with Mourinho having failed to really emulate that feat since, people are starting to realize that you need to play in a similar way. Arsenal’s victory at the Emirates last season is testament to the fact that, even with much lesser players, Barcelona can be beaten at their own game. And that their tactics are pretty useful for beating others too. Nobody in our League has come close to perfecting it yet. But they style and formation they play is more likely to start getting taught in our academies. Even the FA Head of Elite Development Gareth Southgate has proposed that we switch the way we train our youth teams to the same style that Barcelona’s La Masia uses. The Cultural Revolution is in full effect.

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La gent blaugrana. Pep Guardiola’s World Champions. From the wondrous Lionel Messi to Sergio Busquets interesting attempt at a Rhythmic Gymnastics floor routine (particular focus on the floor), all shall be covered.

First, as if to create a new angle for your story, you can help yourself by commencing with a sentence such as ‘One thing that hasn’t been said about Barcelona.’ Because surely something hasn’t been covered in hundreds, no, thousands of articles about the world’s best team.

No Barça article (notice the cedilla, pedants) is complete without mentioning the Argentinian wizardry of Lionel Messi. The best player the world has ever seen (or not because some bloke called Pelé said so.) As well as mentioning his twinkle toed footwork, you must also praise him for being so small and being able to play football – a truly incredible feat.

If you’re writing in the English press, you must bemoan how on earth England can’t produce a player of such quality. It is also essential to place an obscene pun containing the word Messi somewhere in your piece. Whether it’s “Things are going to get Messi” or the rather more original “All hail the MESSIah,” people will think much less of you should you fail to adhere.

(If you’re Andy Gray, being the critical Sky Sp…Talksport pundit that you are, you must ask the question as to whether the greatest player in the world could perform on a cold Tuesday night in Stoke before concluding that you must have had delusions of grandeur the night you posed that question. Please proceed to send a letter of apology to Lionel’s family for any trauma you may have caused for doubting the great man)

Should you fail to mention the Barça philosophy and in turn La Masia, your writing is as good as dead. For this is where the football you are watching was conceived. After all, you’ll sound very intelligent if you mention this little known fact in the footballing world as it hasn’t been bandied about at all – far from it. In a further effort to make your article sound credible, try throughout to sprinkle words such as genius and tiki-taka (not that you have any idea what it is but boy doesn’t it sound clever).

Now it comes to what shouldn’t be included in your article. ANYTHING NEGATIVE. How dare you – how dare you even think of producing a balanced argument in a piece about Barcelona! Be as stringent as a Press Officer for the Chinese Government. Don’t even ponder as to including Sergio Busquets’s writhing antics. I mean look at him. You know he might be genuinely inju…no he’s OK (again). He’s never ever writhed about on the floor in order to get a fellow professional sent off…Once…Twice…You’re missing the point! Should you include such miniscule details in your article, people might get the wrong idea i.e that Barcelona aren’t the best thing since sliced bread.

If you follow these relatively simple guidelines, expect worldwide acclaim for your literary skills. Fail to get this acclaim and you obviously didn’t read this article properly. You fool.*

*The author actually fully appreciates the greatness of Barcelona and isn’t a bitter José Mourinho in disguise**.

** Yours, the Special One.

Twitter – @arhindtutt

In just one 80 minute match a constant stream of changes that need making to football will run through your head and it will almost certainly be detrimental to your enjoyment of our national sport once the rose-tinted football glasses are removed to show the games’ ugly head. Even those that don’t appreciate rugby will begin to realise that rather than a brutal, uneducated game there is intelligence, respect and an ability to change within the sport that further highlights the problems we face.

People will say that this argument is completely flawed because the sports are inherently different in every way: the shape of the ball, the amount of players, the scoring, the breaks in play and the basic rules and more. But ignoring this, the conduct of the players, the use of video technology and the quality of officiating is far superior in rugby, and that’s the problem for football that needs to be addressed.

The first thing that needs to be addressed is the conduct of the players that we pay to see represent our clubs. Every week there is a player that attempts to deceive the referee by diving. It is one of the most frustrating facets of the game to see somebody going to ground as if they have been shot when a member of the opposition gets within touching distance. There is no glossing over the fact that this happens and affects most games, whether it earns their team a penalty or gets them out of a difficult situation near their own goal. Players are hardly ever punished and even receiving a yellow card isn’t going to affect them so for the likes of Nani and Sergio Busquets the reward outways the punishment and even if a referee decided to tackle the problem by booking everybody that dived then there would be a record number of cards handed out and they would be chastised by managers, pundits and fans alike.

While in rugby, feigning injuries and diving is extremely rare. It is a brutal, full-blooded game where tough tackles are par for the course but there are strict parameters that are heavily enforced on players that break the rules with high and dangerous tackles. For a player to pretend that they were a victim of a dangerous challenge in order to gain an advantage is unheard of and ridiculous. In 2009, the sport was embroiled in the Bloodgate scandal where a player feigned an injury so his team could make a blood substitution. When the cheating was found out those who created the incident were banned from the game and since then the incident hasn’t been repeated. If footballers decided to obey the rules rather than manipulate them, maybe games would be won by the better side rather than the team that included the good actor.

In football, players treat officials like verbal punch bags, hurling abuse in their direction for daring to give a decision against a multi-million pound star. The sight of players surrounding the referee is all too common (particularly at Old Trafford) and is a slap in the face to the failing Respect campaign set up by the FA. Players swearing, shouting, pushing and harassing referees are disgraceful and the respect that these stars have for the man in charge is minimal if it exists at all. Even though the referee will not change his decision once it’s made it doesn’t stop them venting their anger.

Instead, rugby players learn from an early age to call the referee “Sir” and only speak to him when he addresses you first. It is only the captain that can question a referees’ decision but that is done in a respectful way and there is no chance they would get away with using foul and abusive language towards the official. Having watched football for so many years, to begin watching a different sport and seeing the referee spoken to as if he was the school headmaster was a shock, especially when you see the considerable difference in size between player and ref, so why can’t that same rule be taken into football? Swearing isn’t the problem here, it’s the lack of respect. Players are ruining matches by intimidating officials into giving the decisions there way and if they continue to do their job then teams criticise them after the game. Like diving it is something that we know is a problem but until you watch a game of rugby it is difficult to comprehend just how bad the problem is.

Barcelona 1-5 Real Madrid, January 27th 1963

In the formative years of Spanish football, Real Madrid undoubtedly reigned supreme over their Catalan cousins.

Madrid can boast an 11-1, an 8-2 and a couple of 5-0’s as evidence of their early superiority, but few victories were as satisfying as this humbling in January 1963.

This was the era of the legendary, immortal Los Blanco’s side of five consecutive European Cup’s from 1956-60. The names roll of the tongue; Santamaria, Zarraga, Gento, Kopa and of course Puskas and Di Stefano were all present for another humiliation of Barca.

With Barca well of the pace, Real regally rolled into Catalan territory en route to a fifth consecutive league title and confirmed just who was boss by firmly putting the hosts in their place.  The ‘Galloping Major’ scored three with Di Stefano and Gento getting the others.

The most frightening aspect about this display was that Puskas was 35 and Di Stefano 36 – ancient by the longevity of the times.

Real Madrid 0-5 Barcelona, February 17th 1974

Barcelona’s blue and red have long had an orange tinge to it, first instilled by legendary Dutch gaffer Rinus Michel’s with help from the super slick Johann Cruyff.

Michel’s was the godfather of ‘total football’ and Cruyff was his on-field entity. The pair combined in Catalonia in 1973 and swiftly helped Barcelona to capture their first La Liga title in 14 years at the end of their first season together.

Ironically Cruyff had rejected the advances of Real to sign for Barca – stating he could never play for a club linked to the fascist regime of General Franco. However, it was Cruyff who dictated proceedings in the Spanish capital, leading los Meringues on a merry dance as Barca’s fluid movement left Madrid chasing shadows.

Juan Manuel Asensi scored twice with Juan Carlos, Hugo Sotil and Cruyff adding the others as the free-wheeling football revolutionaries of Barcelona humiliated the regimental machine of Madrid.

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Barcelona 5-0 Real Madrid, January 8th 1994

After he hung up his boots, Cruyff continued the legacy he and Michels had started at the Camp Nou by instilling his footballing virtues on a new generation of Barcelona bred players.

At the start of the 90’s Barca were the equivalent of what they are now – an idyllic testament to the way football should be played. The ball rarely left the dancefloor being moved swiftly and slickly around a brethren of artiste’s.

La Blaugrana were elegantly sweeping towards a fourth La Liga on the spin when hapless Real turned up to try to stop the motion.

Michael Laudrup was the star of the show on this occassion, gliding round like an apparition in his princely manner, providing the tika-taka for Romario to tear strips of a flat-footed los Blanco’s back-line.

The little Brazilian scored three as once again Barca’s beautiful patterns left Madrid in awe.

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Barcelona 0-2 Real Madrid, UEFA Champions League Semi-Final, April 23rd, 2002

Despite over 100 years of domestic encounters, the 2002 UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg took on much more significance as it was the first time the duo had faced each other in the re-jigged version of the European Cup.

Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane’s arrival in Madrid spawned the birth of the galacticos and with a global audience waiting in anticipation, the marketing men had a field day dubbing the clash the ‘match of the century’

The pair had a nightmare year at home with Real finishing third and Barca fourth – so with the title long gone, attention shifted to who could claim the continents main prize.

As per, the whole of Spain came to a standstill with national and political allegiances coming to the fore. “Catalonia is not Spain” read one banner hung from the ramparts of the Camp Nou, whilst the Barcelona newspaper ‘Sport’ led with a front page image of Javier Saviola lancing Fernando Hierro with a spear.

After all the hyperbole, the game largely disappointed with so much at stake. Eventually, Zindine Zidane broke away and astutely lobbed Roberto Bonano to put Real into the lead before the brilliant Frenchmen was trumped by shaggy haired scouser Steve Mcmanaman who emptied the stadium with an audacious dink over the hapless Bonano just before the whistle.

Real squared off the return leg to set up a meeting with Bayer Leverkusen at Hampden Park where that Zidane volley inspired Madrid to a record breaking ninth European Cup.

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Barcelona 3-3 Real Madrid, March 10th, 2007

As William Shakespeare once said…Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them. And then there’s Lionel Messi.

These two were once again at each others throats for the La Liga crown when Real pitched up on Barca turf in March 2007 for a title deciding gunfight.

Madrid set the agenda and three times went ahead, only to be pegged back each time by the mercurial Messi – still a few months short of exiting his teens.

The little Argentinian had already cancelled out a pair of strikes from Ruud van Nistelrooy before Sergio Ramos headed the visitors into a 3-2 lead with minutes left.

But as the game entered injury time, Messi once again rescued his side, picking up the ball on the edge of the box and weaving past a trail of stricken lunges before arrowing a low drive past Iker Casillas.

As the ball nestled in the far corner of the goal, 100,000 Catalans and hundreds of millions of football fans worldwide embraced a new god.

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Supporting football feels like it’s a pastime with many duties associated with it. The duty to cheer loudly, the duty to stick up for your club in arguments, the duty to travel to away games no matter where they are; they might not be considered a conventional duty, they might come naturally to you, they’re also (hopefully) enjoyable. But what about the duties and responsibilities of the football club itself? When you think about the responsibility of a club people talk about ensuring the club’s future, building a team capable of winning trophies and one that plays attractive football; but, in reality, all of those responsibilities are self serving anyway, which makes them less of a responsibility and more of a necessity for survival. So what else is there? What selfless acts should be the norm at football clubs? What I’m talking about is a responsibility to the local community, and recognition of the potential to use the club’s brand for the greater good.

I can’t speak for all clubs because I don’t experience the way they interact with their fans and local community on a regular basis but with Arsenal there are a few things I have noticed. Firstly, I feel as though by supporting Arsenal you automatically sign yourself up for a football experience that comes equipped with its own marketing campaign that constantly tries to get you to spend more money on the club, through conscious or subliminal means.

However I have also noticed that Arsenal do orchestrate a lot of events with local charities. In fact each year they choose a charity to support for an entire year and raise considerable amounts of money for that charity. On top of this there are regular events involving Arsenal players visiting local schools and hospitals. You might look at this and think they are going above and beyond their responsibilities. Whilst that may be true when you compare them to the average football club I don’t think, as a sentiment, it is necessarily true. After all, everything that the club has is from the pocket of its fans. Therefore to give something back to the local community that has given it so much is the least we could expect. So what is the most?

Do our football clubs perhaps have greater moral obligations than they like to admit? People might say that football clubs are just sporting organisations, that they’re just teams, but those people are not fans. For fans the club is a pillar of local communities, it’s entertainment, it’s a haven from reality, it’s a place when you can come together with 60,000 likeminded individuals on a weekly basis and indulge in watching a form of art that can leave you feeling anywhere from ecstatic to enraged, it’s a cultural phenomenon that brings together people of all different backgrounds for a few hours a week; and with that kind of influence and importance to so many people comes an opportunity.

The only thing that seemed to demonstrate class better than Barcelona refusing to have a shirt sponsor was when they allowed Unicef to be their sponsor for free. They made a statement, they used their global brand name to raise awareness for a better cause, they understood the potential that their club had developed and used it for the advantage of others. Even though they then did the opposite straight after, Barcelona raised an issue that is an important one to consider. For all that their local community and local fan base gives them Barcelona understood that their financial and sporting support extended to all corners of the globe and by taking Unicef as the sponsor they demonstrated a level of gratitude and self-awareness that is largely absent from the sport itself.

Clearly not all clubs are in a financial position to do this, some clubs may rely heavily on their sponsorship deals but there are two points to be made here. Firstly clubs are hardly run as though they are the most efficient of businesses. They haemorrhage money from a variety of different areas and with so many clubs seemingly happy to run at a loss then more should consider the possibility of occasionally taking charities on as their sponsor free of charge. The second point is that even if they didn’t want to do it free of charge they could still offer charities considerably discounted opportunities to be sponsors. In doing so they could help set a trend for charitable consciousness, which is currently uncommon in football. Clearly, as I said before, not all are in a position to allow this kind of generosity but when you really consider how much you, as a fan of your club, have given financially over the course of your life it doesn’t seem so unreasonable that these clubs should be looking to offer a little more back to the communities from which they have received so much.

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Pep Guardiola has proved himself to be an exceptional coach. His success in all available competitions has players and managers everywhere apart from Madrid cooing in delight as they watch his ever-evolving team. Whilst initially his success was put down to the outstanding players he has at his disposal after seeing such consistent success in the face of the equally impressive Real Madrid squad it would be bigoted and ignorant to deny that he is indeed an extremely tactically astute manager. With that in mind to what extent will his emphatic opinions and tactics be copied around the world? The most interesting comments that he has declared in recent months are those about the future of football, about teams without strikers, about teams made up almost entirely of midfielders. Guardiola has, since 2008, reshaped the Barcelona team in to one more dominated by midfielders than ever. He told FIFA.com in an interview:

“The midfield is a crucial part of any team. Midfielders are intelligent players who have to think about the team as a whole. They’re selfless players who understand the game better than anyone and the more midfielders you have, the easier it is to slot them into other positions. That’s how they become versatile and helps us to have smaller squads that are still able to offer more options.”

Before Cesc Fabregas moved to Barcelona many wondered how he would even get in to the team yet Guardiola has not only found a place for him alongside Iniesta and Xavi, he has made Fabregas into Barcelona’s second highest goal scorer for the season. The versatility he inspires in his players is nothing new. He began by using Yaya Toure in defence as well as midfield and now he does the same with Javier Mascherano and Sergio Busquets. On top of that David Villa has been converted in to more of a midfielder than a striker and Dani Alves’ role in the team is far more like a winger than any defender in world football. At times this season Barcelona have been playing with two defenders, a goalkeeper and eight midfielders. It works pretty well too.

What he is trying to instigate here in football not only appears to make sense from a footballing point of view, but also a financial one as less players are needed to have a more complete squad. Barcelona’s success over the last few years has been achieved with a very small squad yet the success they have achieved is remarkable considering how many competitions they have been in. It makes a mockery of English teams’ that claim they don’t have the squad size to pursue multiple competitions. Guardiola is talking about squad rotation, but squad rotation in a positional as well as personal sense.

People might say that this is only the future for Barcelona, that only they have the players capable of performing well in positions other than their natural ones, but that isn’t necessarily true. It is always the best teams and managers in football history that inspire tactical evolution. Not all teams will evolve in this way but players could. In fact it is already happening, particularly with defenders. These days it isn’t enough at the top level to simply be an excellent defender, there has to be more to a defender’s game, they have to be technically better. Defenders like Thomas Vermaelen, Thiago Silva, Gerard Pique and others are demonstrations of the value of having a player who is more versatile. Similarly whereas in the past having full backs capable of going forward as well as being able to defend was a luxury, now it is almost a necessity. Strikers too have to have a more accomplished game. The value of a striker that can help out in midfield as well as attack is a priceless option; you only need look at Wayne Rooney for evidence of this.

Perhaps what Guardiola is talking about is less a ‘team of midfielders’ and more a team of players whose roles are interchangeable, with players who are capable of performing multiple positions. As I said before it not only makes sense on the pitch but also off it financially. With that being the case it seems only a matter of time before more managers and more players try to replicate this idea.

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