Tata Martino lands the Barca Job - Is he the Right Man?

Gerardo "Tata" Martino has been officially appointed as Football Club Barcelona's Coach for the next two season. One have to be excused if he end up reading the first line with a familiar expression - "Tata Who?". And it's a fact! No one knew Martino before a week or so. He was virtually unknown to majority of Barca fans and almost whole of the European football fans. Can't blame the fans? You hardly track news about a guy who has never managed anywhere in Europe. Even his Spanish football experience is limited to a single season with Tenerife. In his prime as a player in Argentina, Martino could only muster up a single appearance in the National colours. Hence the virtual anonymity in Europe. Even then he was voted as the Greatest Player of the Newell's Old Boys by their fans. The legendary status is reinforced by taking the club to the top of "Torneo Final" last season. But Why did Barca go with someone who has no experience in Europe and all his success and experience has come in South America?

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Gerardo “Tata” Martino pips Luis Enrique to become Barca Coach

OFFICIAL UPDATE : FC Barcelona has confirmed the appointment of Gerardo Martino as head coach for next two seasons.

Unconfirmed reports are emerging that Barca has finalised on Gerardo "Tata" Martino as the replacement for Tito Vilanova. The club has not openly confirmed these reports and even Martino has confirmed that the final decision is not taken. But when Mundo Deportivo, Sport and Marca all report the same thing, then there has to be a bit of truth in it and above all Graham Hunter has also confirmed the decision. Till yesterday as I wrote Luis Enrique was in prime position to take Barca's coaching job. The biggest disadvantage for Martino against Luis Enrique was the lack of European Cup Competition experience. But looks like the club management wasn't much concerned about that and the late video conference seems to have convinced about his potential. Another issue could have been the 3 million buyout clause for Luis Enrique and Rosell who has been very reluctant to spend might have decided on Martino. On a causal note, with Martino taking charge we will have "TATA replacing TITO".

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Neymar and Messi, Who Said What?

The much anticipated arrival of Neymar to Barca has brought its share of mixed reactions from footballing greats. Here are some of those bordering on the sides of positive and negatives.

"With Neymar on board, I would have planned for the possibility of selling Messi. Some would agree with me and others would not. Neymar's arrival could cause problems. Just look at free kicks for example. Neymar is very good at taking them. And Messi has already shown he is great, too. Who's going to take them. You are talking about a team, its players, the things around it. There are too may things at stake. That's why it's so difficult to manage such a top class squad. Neymar is talented, but we will have to wait and see how he gets along with the rest of the squad. I would not have taken the risk of bringing in Neymar." - Johan Cryuff

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Luis Enrique in Prime Position to become Barca First Team Coach

Former Football Club Barcelona player and B team coach Luis Enrique is widely expected to replace Tito Vilanova as first team coach. Currently the Spaniard is managing La Liga side Celta de Vigo, and has a 3 million buy-out clause. Barca management is ready to buy him from Celta and the initial report is that the Celta may not oppose such a move. There are also rumours that current assistant coach, Joan Francesc Ferrer popularly known as Rubi may be allowed to join Celta in a deal. From Barca's footballing and management perspective, Luis Enrique presents a safe choice. The Spaniard was in charge of the Barca B time which won promotion to the second division, no mean task considering the age of our squad. His later stint at Roma wasn't successful; but there is no denial that he will be very comfortable in our way of playing and also the players. Already we are hearing that Jonathan Do Santos has asked his agent to put his transfer to Real Soceidad on hold Luis Enrique was his manager at Barca B.

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Tito Vilanova Steps Down as Barca Manager

Football Club Barcelona's president Sandro Rosell has announced that current first team coach Tito Vilanova will step down from his position immediately following a relapse of the tumor. A routine check up had revealed a relapse of his illness and for now Tito can now focus on the treatment of his illness fully. The last two years has been very difficult for him as he had to handle the first team activities while fighting a serious illness. Even though it's sad to see a manager leaving at a critical point in the transfer window; but it's essential for Tito not to be burdened with anything else.

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Barca Tranfer News Update : PSG making a mockery of Barca's Desperation

Everyone knew that Football Club Barcelona needed defensive reinforcement this summer; it is safe to say that they were desperate for a quality center back. But it looks like Barca fans have to wait a lot more for their defensive reinforcement. Surprisingly it's Rosell's Qatari master's who is driving a knife into Barca's reinforcement dreams. For the record, Barca's three main choices for defense this summer has been Thiago Silva, Marquinhos and David Luiz. At the moment none of them are coming, those who follow my posts wouldn't be surprised as I have warned earlier that these deals are not gonna happen - FC Barcelona's Summer Transfer Targets. Our pursuit of Thiago Silva has annoyed PSG so much that they have openly stated that they will activate Lionel Messi's release clause of 250 Million Euros. Activating the release clause and signing the player are two different matter, but that statement drives the message clearly that Thiago Silva is not going anywhere.

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3 Reasons Why Thiago Alcantara's Departure is Good For Barca

• FC Barcelona was forced to sell their promising youngster Thiago Alcantara to Bayern Munich
• The entire deal fetched Barca 25 Million Euros.

There is no denying the fact that Thiago Alcantara was the best talent to come out of La Masia in the last two seasons. The very fact that Barca management tried every trick to stop his departure was a testimony to his promising talent. He was destined to be the main stay of Barca's midfield, not anymore. Now one could blame the board, the management, the coach and the player himself for this scenario; but in the end it is very difficult to stop someone who is hell bound on leaving. That doesn't mean Andoni Zubizarreta, Barca's Football Director can absolve himself from getting a deal which promised a minimum playing time to Thiago Alcanatara. With the likes of Cesc Fabregas and Alex Song, waiting in bench it was difficult to give Thiago a guaranteed playing time. So the question of why did the management agree for such a deal becomes louder!

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