The undeserved revisionism of Barcelona FC

It's popular assumed knowledge that this current incarnation of Barcelona are one of best teams in football history. In this case, popular assumed knowledge is correct: Barcelona are one of the all-time greats.

What they aren't though, is deserving of the revisionism that circulates in some - minority and usually Real-supporting - areas which suggests they are unworthy of such a place in the pantheon because they occasionally play up contact. Apparently, the greatness of their football is somehow lessened by acts of dubious exaggeration exacted by players such as Sergio Busquets and Pedro. While it's true that some facets of the Barca playing group are prone to simulation, the occasional cynical challenge and even the odd "holier-than-thou" attitude, this shouldn't overshadow the beauty of their passing game.

Let's not forget about it, either. Busquets, Dani Alves and Pedro all earned such reputations after their Oscar-winning performances against arch-enemies Los Merengues. Plus, we're not talking the Bad Boys either (this shows off too much of their basketball for my liking, but it was the best example I could find of their numerous tactical cheap shots) where they actually tried to physically intimidate their opposition. What Barcelona do, they do well - pass the ball and then move. When they don't have the ball, they harry their opponents until it's turned over. It's a high-energy style which produces fouls. They is, like Popeye, what they is.

From a personal standpoint, revisionism has taken on a whole new life over the last fifteen years. With the rapid inflation in visibility that the internet and digital media has provided, we have easy access to more accumulated (human, of course) knowledge than the Matrix and as such, we second guess ourselves - and popular opinion. Some cases involve two-dimensional objects/characters receiving a gratuitous third dimension. The worst cases of this occur when pop-culture villains are given a back-story - Exhibit A: The Star Wars Prequels and Exhibit B: the entire premise of the musical/book "Wicked". The prosecution rests.

Once and for all: I don't care where Darth Vader came from. Or the bloody Wicked Witch of the West. Making established villains into heroes just doesn't fly - they're better left two-dimensional.

By living in an age where we have so much information and ways to express it, we often look for subtext where there is none. Some characters are better left in two dimensions, because in three dimensions they just look silly. The reverse it true with the current irritating tendency to draw Barcelona FC two-dimensionally.

Apparently, some quarters their legacy should be changed to a team of whiners who happened to play good football. This, plainly and simply, is not true. They are a brilliant team which employs some players who are prepared to feign injury to gain a tactical advantage.

There's no doubt in my mind that Barcelona are the best I've seen. They have three of the best four and maybe five of the ten most influential players in the world. But they want to win and do so by making the most of opportunities - in front of goal, or in front of the ref. This doesn't mean they don't deserve their place in the all-time greats - find me a "pantheon" team who wouldn't do the same.

In any "football almanac" written fifty years from now they'll be remembered rightly for their offensive skill, not for diving. Those occasional "simulation" incidents definitely deserve mention, but let's not have a (relatively) small issue change our wholesale perception of such a great team. That some elements acted (badly) in such a high profile match as the Champions' League Semi-Finals doesn't make them The Beast. It does provide more well-rounded analysis, however.

This Barcelona team are brilliant. Flawed slightly, perhaps, in some players' willingness to exaggerate injuries. Let's remember their greatness, not change them into a "dirty" team just for the sake of a story, or to be different.

Image of Darth Vader courtesy: howzyerteeth.beacondeacon.com

Image of Sergio Busquets courtesy: 11x2.com

UEFA Champions' League: Sergio Busquets, the most hated man in Spain

For a someone playing a crucial role for two of the most lauded clubs in recent history, Sergio Busquets is perhaps both the man who does the dirty work and the face of a popular dictatorship. In other words, Sergio Busquets may be the most hated man in Spain outside Catalunya, a player Spain forgives only when his stunts are used (from their perspective) for their team - another popular autocracy.

Barcelona - and Spain - rule world football. They are the two best teams in the world today and there is much overlap between them as many of the Spanish national team play their club football for Barca - including Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Carles Puyol and Bojan. In a league where spectators are forced to tacitly support one of the "Big Two" as well as their own preference, certain players who irritate when playing against your side become fast favourites.

Not so with Sergio Busquets. That's not to say he's not a wonderful footballer - he is almost everything you could want from a defensive-minded midfielder - but his big stage playacting (see here for one example) during yesterday's Champions' League SuperClasico may well have proved the final straw for many neutral observers. In Facebook terms, he will have gone from "Like" to *Dislike* for many neutral observers. Roundly condemned by Madridista fans and commentators alike, his - and other Barca players' - overexaggeration of several minor incidents irritated so much that a game which should have been a wonderful spectacle (and at times was, especially Lionel Messi's marvellous solo goal to seal the win) was overshadowed by the Dark Arts - diving and exaggerating contact to attract free kicks or cards.

Outside Barcelona - where too his actions should not be lauded - it's likely that his performance last night attracted Busquets no fans, and indeed the ire of several sections of press and supporters. UEFA make a habit of not wanting to set precedents and as such are unlikely to sanction him for his actions, especially when the game also prompted a brawl, a foul-mouthed Pep Guardiola presser, Jose Mourinho sent to "The Cage", an arguable red card for Pepe, further alleged diving incidents from Pedro and Dani Alves and finally, a war of words since the match leaving Barcelona investigating a formal complaint.

While many individuals involved with yesterday's encounter appear the worse for their actions and antics, it is Busquets who will almost undoubtedly come off amongst the worst. Firstly, he has priors for "simulation". Secondly, for a Spaniard it's impossible to get a larger stage than a Champions' League Semi-Final against Real Madrid - a match which nominally forces the entire of Spain to choose a side (in a World Cup final, the vast majority will be supporting Spain already).

Finally, these actions only reinforce his popular perception (at least by pundits on ESPN and the Guardian's Football pages) as a player who dabbles - and occasionally dives headlong into - the dark side of the force. Mourinho, though his postgame statements reek of paranoic mania, has a history of playing people offside with his comments and doesn't play such a crucial role in the Spanish national setup. Where Jose seems to have accepted his role is to be disliked by everyone other than fans of his current employers, Busquets must face Euro 2012 next year as one of the faces of a Spanish midfield. He may not be looked at in quite the same way again by the neutral.