Merry X-Mas Blaugranes

Time flies by, or so I have been told. It’s been some 18-odd months since Pep’s Barcelona squad accomplished the treble yet I feel like I saw the 2-6 demolition of Real Madrid yesterday (maybe I did because I saved it on my hard drive). Maybe I’m confusing the legendary a**-whopping of 2009 with the 5-0 spanking of 2010. I just can’t tell.

Please excuse my foul language as it is not a proper reflection of Barca Blaugranes. I am merely trying to exaggerate so don’t take everything I write too seriously.

FC Barcelona Vs Real Madrid 5-0 Goals El Clasico 2010/2011

Nevertheless, in between the incredible 2008/2009 season and today a lot has changed. Barca have become the only club side in history to win six trophies in one calendar year, Lionel Messi was officially crowned the best player in the world and Spain overcame the Kung-Fu-tactics of Holland to become World Champions at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Never one to leave an opportunity to spoil the festivities, Jose Mourinho masterminded a treble of his own (with Inter Milan). Among the casualties in his quest for European dominance, FC Barcelona. To this day I am not sure if the Inter-players confused the Camp Nou with the Aeroport de Barcelona. Because it appeared as they were not intending on leaving the Airbus.

But let’s try and be gracious in defeat, they have won fair and square.

Personally, I don’t like being on the losing end of things. To be second-best is unacceptable. I guess that’s a trait I share with FC Barcelona and its supporters. While other see it as a character-flaw I think it’s good to be demanding, as long as you demand as much from yourself in return.

As fans or supporters we demand to be entertained week in and week out. We expect nothing less than perfection from our team, FC Barcelona. A win is never good enough for a true Culé, we demand a spectacle every time we watch a game. Inadvertently it makes us some of the most spoilt supporters around. Instead of enjoying the thrashing of an opponent, we analyze the chances the Blaugrana didn’t converted into goals.

Frankly I believe it is because FC Barcelona is one of the few football clubs that has very clear principles and a unique philosophy. Just as an adult’s character or personality is unlikely to change, the Blaugrana will never change their approach to the game. Whether FC Barcelona win or lose, they will always be true to their principles. It’s a quality I can identify with.

It’s hopelessly idealistic but I wouldn’t want FC Barcelona to win titles by playing ugly football. Imagine the Blaugrana becoming overly physical or employing long-ball tactics. To tell you the truth, it gives me the creeps just thinking about it. In retrospective I’m glad the "Translator" was never installed as manager of FC Barcelona.

I believe every Culé has an opinion on that matter, mine is well documented. I do like Jose Mourinho the character, the individual – mostly for his often times funny but always outrageous comments. It’s hard not to like his brand of braggadocio. C’mon, how many managers do you know who announce themselves in a different country as "The Special One"? The guy has the guts and the skill-set to back his claims.

By accident I stumbled upon some of the worst written and biased articles ever typed by a human being. And since I can’t possibly leave a simple comment I had to address the author with a full-fledged article.

I guess there’s a little bit of Mourinho in me, less narcissistic but equally ignorant to the fact that this was new territory to me.

To be honest, I didn’t intend to continue writing it just happened. Little did I know that I’d end up serving as Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report and Senior Editor for Barca Blaugranes. Furthermore, I wouldn’t have imagined that I’d make a whole lot of friends and acquaintances through writing.

At one point I became quite disillusioned with the direction of B/R and I seriously entertained the idea of not abusing my keyboard anymore. Unfortunately for my keyboard, a certain fella named Nick contacted me out of the blue to ask me if I was interested in a new Barca-related project. Needless to say, I was equally stunned and surprised.

Frankly, at first I thought he must’ve confused me with someone else. After all, I thought my personal stats were relatively good in relation to other writers but not exactly spectacular. Not to mention that I hadn’t known him prior.

Now we are closing the curtains on 2010 and I’m co-managing Barca Blaugranas with that very person, Nick and of course Manuel.

Who would’ve thought that the passion for football or in our case, FC Barcelona, bring three strangers from three different parts of the world together to create a joint-project?

What makes this ever weirder is that we do function as a group. We even have increased our team with the additions of Arron Duckling and Bostjan Cernensek. And if I’m not mistaken, the membership of Barca Blaugranes keeps growing every single day. It’s funny how things work out.

I don’t know what to ask for, since all my expectations have been surpassed. At the beginning of the year I was writing articles for fun, I still do. But I couldn’t have imagined that it would lead to a plethora of opportunities and more importantly introduce me to like-minded people who in some cases have become friends of mine.

Nick is located in the United States, Manuel in Portugal, Arron in England and Bostjan in Slovenia while I call Germany my home.

In the spirit of Christmas and on behalf of the Barca Blaugranes team I am wishing you all a happy Christmas!

….heck, I do have a wish. I wish for another treble season!

Yours truly,

Sebastian