One hundred and twenty five years is a long time. It’s almost as long as the last five minutes of a match when Barça is clinging to a one-goal lead. Galapagos tortoises and sea urchins are like, “Pffft … call me when you’re really old,” but 125 years for a football club is quite an ..read more

There is nothing like a well-timed loss. Right before the international break, FC Barcelona went to visit Real Sociedad, all pomped up after tonkings of Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, knocking four goals past each of them, an orgiastic exorcism that could only be more complete with dead demons and exultant clergy. La Real wasn’t ..read more

None of this is normal. To repeat: None of this is normal. In the wake of Barça having a wild week in which they exorcised European demons by putting four goals past Bayern, then four past Real Madrid, as we celebrate the feats of this team it is worth, again, saying, that none of this ..read more

Beauty isn’t supposed to make sense. It is just supposed to exist so that we can marvel at it. In thinking of Andres Iniesta, who today announced that he is retiring from the game, the only thing that comes to mind is that something beautiful and extraordinary is departing the game, in a diminutive colossus ..read more

Optimism is weird. Optimism is infectious. If you’re a properly indoctrinated culer, optimism is not to be trusted. Put another way, four people are at an ice cream parlor in the middle of an ice arena. The four wait staff skate over with perfectly made sundaes, the cascade of ice flecks as they skid to ..read more

In the quarter century that FC Barcelona has held my heart, it is difficult to think of a more grossly mishandled, heartless, incomprehensibly unprofessional situation than the dismissal of Xavi as manager of the men’s first team. It sits at the pinnacle of a mountain of unpreparedness, ego, stupidity and naked ambition, amid a world in which nobody was or is prepared for the role they inhabit or used to inhabit. And at every last available opportunity on and off the pitch, both main protagonists have displayed that amateurishness. Joan Laporta isn’t a fool. But he is a proud man guided by hub ..read more

I let you down again / What’s another harmless lie between friends / Now you can’t be disappointed / I thought I gave you just exactly what you wanted These song lyrics, from “Exactly What You Wanted” by Helmet, are so apt in thinking about the suddenly ongoing tenure of Xavi as FC Barcelona manager. When he said he was leaving, said it was all too much and that he was making this move for the love of the club, talked about expectations and entornos, about impossible situations, one thing stands out as being absent in all of that alleged self-reflection: self reflection. For a player so cerebr ..read more

Football is old, sometimes seeming timeless. Then as now, pam-pam-pam-pam, ball to boot. The leather boots of the past have been replaced by space-age microfiber things, but football is the same. Another timeless aspect of the game is hope. Supporters, even as they know their team is set for another season of … not success, gird themselves with anticipation, get ready for match after match, ignore the inevitable until it is absolutely unavoidable. When you read the reports of Xavi, the behind-the-scenes turmoil and his ultimate decision to step down, even foregoing any monies owed him after th ..read more

Being a returning hero is hard. It isn’t just the burden of expectations. That in and of itself is hard enough. When a hero returns to an institution that he essentially helped raise to glory, the burden can be Sisyphean. For what seemed like eons, for club and country, Xavi was the best midfielder anyone had ever seen, exerting a control over everything, from play to pitch quality. Decision after decision was correct, a flawlessness that was inexorable. The nickname “The Inevitable Xavi” was correct. You half expected to see him out there with gardening shears and a ruler, ensuring his killin ..read more

There is a match this weekend, against Villarreal, but it hardly seems important in the face of a lot more vital things going on in Spanish football. Yes, it is a test for the men’s team against an opponent that will (theoretically) come out to play instead of sit back and kick the crap out of attackers. That is fascinating, but it is not, in the greater scheme of things, particularly important. FC Barcelona statement https://t.co/VKxFP7GI5v pic.twitter.com/o0QWTDnBDO — FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 25, 2023 Here’s the thing: This statement is a tepid bowl of water, thrown heartily in ..read more