For the Love of the Ball

by Albert Folch Folch

This book tells the story of how FC Barcelona has managed to build one
of the best soccer teams in the world using primarily the players from
its youth academy (nicknamed " La Masia " - the farmhouse). During the
2013-2014 season, 17 of the 25 players of the first team were from La
Masia , a historical record. These players, including Messi, Iniesta, and
Xavi, have dazzled soccer fans around the world with their dance-like
positioning and passing skills. La Masia now trains kids from all
continents, including its first American, Ben Lederman. This book
reveals that this accumulation of talent is not a coincidence but the
result of a 30 year-long plan, set in motion by the brilliant mind of
Dutch coach and ex-Barça player Johan Cruyff. Cruyff brought to Barça
the attacking, 4-3-3-based soccer style known as Total Football and
converted La Masia into a high-throughput factory of players for the
first team. Cruyff's brightest pupil, Pep Guardiola (from La Masia ),
became the coach that won three Ligas in a row and two Champions Leagues
in four years with a team full of homegrown players. They have been
playing soccer together since their teens and they are all close
friends. Some even attend college, which shows that the club cares for
education. The author reveals here that the strategy followed by most
rich clubs to be at the top (purchase the best players and sell their
homegrown) is not self-sustainable because the investors' money does not
come from soccer. La Masia , on the other hand, has saved Barça millions
of euros. Will the MLS learn this valuable lesson and promote its youth
academies, or will it let American soccer fall in the hands of big corporations whose primary goal is to make a profit?

260 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 6, 2013

Reviews

[Cheng · Rating 5 out of 5]

Help me understand more about my beloved soccer team. Love the writing style since the author is a like-mind person.

[Sonia Aran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the stories about La Masia!

[Biographyguy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Folch's book details the rise of FC Barcelona's Youth Academy from its' early days under Cruyff when it at last began to instill in the young players the ideas of total football. The extraordinary thing about the academy, La Masia, is that from the youngest players to the first team in La Liga, all play the same style of football/soccer. This is so contrary to what goes on here in the United States when it comes to sports like American Football. How many unique styles does a football player learn from his time as a youth to high school to college and then in the NFL? Imagine if a whole group of players were to be 10 years old and discovered by scouts and sent to the same middle school, high school and college all in order to be drafted by the same team. Would that not be amazing? Well that's what the Youth Academy does for FC Barcelona.

I must admit that I am a bit of a bandwagon fan for Barcelona. I saw them win the Champions League in 2009 and saw Lionel Messi win FIFA Player of the Year and decided this was the soccer team I wanted to follow. My favorite American Football team is the Pittsburgh Steelers, and one of the reasons why is because they almost exclusively build and rebuild through the draft. Doing that is as close as it can get to what FC Barcelona does through its' youth academy so that was another reason to enjoy their product.

For those who wish to read about the history of the Youth Academy and how, given time, the United States own Major League Soccer teams could replicate and, who knows, surpass the successes of a team like FC Barcelona, this is your book to read.

[Cheng · Rating 5 out of 5]

First book to let me know more about my beloved team of FC Barcelona. The author's background, thinking and writing style resonate very much with mine. I would love to play football and/or have a chat with the author if the opportunity arise.