Quote by Guillem Balague

“a passer of the ball positioned in front of the defence who could provide the platform from which every Barcelona attack would begin.”

— Guillem Balague

“He represents the values and feelings of Barcelona. Attacking football, respect for team-mates, respect for the fans. And now he was going to be…

— Guillem Balague

“He was given one more chance, invited back for a third day. The coach moved him into central midfield where, suddenly, Pep was a…

— Guillem Balague

“Johan, who imposed the criteria for quick movements of the ball, the obligation to open up the field in order to find space. To…

— Guillem Balague

“I only ask this of you. I won’t tell you off if you misplace a pass, or miss a header that costs us a…

— Guillem Balague

“He continually learnt from everything he saw around him, from other teams, from coaches, from older team-mates. On one occasion, he asked a couple…

— Guillem Balague

“Discover constantly where the free man is and through passing, passing, passing, work the ball into forward positions.’ The high technical quality of Barcelona’s…

— Guillem Balague

“He wanted players who controlled the ball with their first touch, who had quick feet, who retained the ball and created superiority from individual…

— Guillem Balague

“within that meticulous preparation there co-existed a high degree of expression, always bearing in mind that this is football, that players must think in…

— Guillem Balague

“I observed that when a footballer is about to make a threatening strike to score a goal, there comes a big shout from spectators…

— Israelmore Ayivor

“On the field of play, in the heat of the action, it enabled Guardiola’s Barcelona to switch formations or positions as many as five…

— Guillem Balague

“With Pep’s help and his own intuition, Messi started playing football with an accordion-like movement: the further the ball was away from him, the…

— Guillem Balague