In the history of Barcelona Football Club, there has been many big players who have taken Camp Nou pitch . These players are now carved in the heart of all avid and noted Barca fans across the globe. It might be virtually impossible to anoint anyone as the outright winner but there are some persons who befittingly can be described as the best due to their contribute to the club’s performance.
The Messi Era
Without doubt Messi is one of the best footballers to ever grace the pitch for Barcelona. Lionel Messi is one of the most famous athletes in the football club and one of the leading goal-scorers known to football history; however, he started his career in the club from the childhood. Close control, vision and goal scoring capability make Messi one of the most decorated players in football four times Ballon d’Or winner. Some of the achievements include: The domestic league trophy, and the UEFA champions league are some of trophies that he has claimed for Barcelona.
The Cruyff Legacy
Current AC milan coach, Frank Rijkaard being a former Dutch player along with Johan Cruyff oversaw the transformation of FC Barcelona into what maybe termed as ; Catalan Barca’ with Spanish flair. Cruyff is widely appreciated as the highly technical player with footballing vision that would enable him to overpower a match. After hanging up his boots, Cruyff carried on in the same manner by coaching Barcelona to its maiden European Championship in 1992. He was well known for his “Total Football” idea which shaped Barça’s passing mentality that continued to actualization of La Masia young talents system.
This paper will proceed to investigate into talent – the incomparable Xavi Hernandez.
He is an example of one of the brightest players of mobile generation with unbroken link with the club where he was trained – FC Barcelona. Short precise touches, excellent distributive skills, and an understanding of the game that places him right in the top echelon of the sport makes him a key cog in Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona. Xavi was a very important cog in Barcelona’s wheel even into European and domestic tournaments. The way he played the game and his conduct of the tempo of that game made him to be a total midfielder.
The Unforgettable Messi-Ronaldinho Era
Prior to Lionel Messi coming to the limelight another Brazilian magician was famous for his dribbling, wiggle and smile which is Ronaldinho. The Brazilian probably had his greatest period at Barcelona where he was famed for dribbling past the opponent’s defenders, his fancy feints and his capacity to make breathtaking shenanigans in the football field. He was instrumental in the process of bringing Barca back to a path of future success.
Other Legends
In the course of analysing who the single greatest player in Barcelona is none can undermine the role played by the following other legends. These players include but are not limited to names like:
- Andrés Iniesta: A rather elegant footballer who got Barca into triumph with close touch and solid passing range.
- Carles Puyol: A Spanish dedicated footballer fond of the team and known for his prowess as a leader and great sense of fearlessness.
- Ronaldo Koeman: Never before has there been such a goalscoring defender whose talents with free-kicks led Barcelona to capture their first European Cup in 1992.
- Laszlo Kubala: A True Hungarian forward who helped define Barcelona in the early 1950’s and could be the first superstar associated with Barcelona.
Conclusion
It might be herculean to try and select the best player in the history of Barcelona since there are so many incredible football talents within the team. Lionel Messi, Johan Cruyff, Xavi Hernandez and Ronaldinho are all tremendous legends. Every person in Barcelona contributed to the team’s success in their worthwhile and thus to pinpoint who holds this particular title it is difficult. Lastly, the choice of who is the ‘best’ player will in fact, boil down to an individual’s preference. But the epoch-making contribution of these players cannot be utterly excluded from the fact that they shaped the Barcelona Football club as we know it today and in fact shaped the future of football as it is played today.
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