The old adage of a cigar sometimes being a cigar applies to this year’s World Performance of the Year. We tried to think outside the box during the debate – I advocated for Mario Balotelli at one point (and I still think he wouldn’t be a terrible pick – although more so if the award was world Character of the Year).
However, in the end, it’s hard to get past the brilliance of one performance.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
The 2011 World Performance of the Year is, collectively, FC Barcelona.
We’re all privileged to be football fans now, able to watch this team at the peak of its powers. It’s a club that has to be on the short list of best ever.
Real Madrid of ’56 to ‘60 with modern tactics, ’71 to ’73 Ajax with more discipline, AC Milan in ’94 if they could have sustained itself – same with ’99 United.
But, I’ll take Barca now over all the above and any other you could name. They have perfected the modern game in a way that has rendered them almost dull. Hell, the current African player of the year, Yaya Toure, left the club because he didn’t feel challenged enough as part of it.
There are people that hate Barca for that – they say they are boring, their fans narcissistic. You can understand that point of view. However, you must also understand the precision that they play with. Even if you hate them, you must appreciate just how skilled they are.
Barca is a project perfected. And with a youth academy that is grinding out Messi 2.0s and 3.0s as you read this, the project is far from over. The Catalans are likely just getting started. Watching Barca make Manchester United look like Wigan on a bad day in last year’s Champions League final should have been a sobering vision for all who wish to defeat them.
Can Barca be stopped? Sure, Inter did. However, that was a blip of negativity that took advantage of a freak environmental disaster to temporarily slow the machine down. Really stopping them though? That’s going to take time and a visionary that re-thinks how to play the game at a basic level because Barca has perfected the way we play it today.
The great thing about football is that someone will figure it out. Until then we can only sit back and watch with wonder as Barca spins its (occasionally dull but always skilled) form of magic.