Atlético Madrid suicidal instinct

It has been three months since the official season started and we can already hear the war drums that come from the Manzanares river. Despite the polemic exits of "Kun" Agüero and Diego Forlán, the main references of the club during the last years, the club was able to generate illusion with the arrival of players like Arda Turan, Adrián, Diego and, especially, Radamel Falcao, new and fresh tools for the project of Gregorio Manzano. However, the negative run of results in La Liga have put the crowd of the Vicente Calderón in flames and the coach near the abyss. This is the way to describe this season, but it could have been the description of any season in the previous years at this point of the year.

Atlético Madrid is the third or fourth club of Spain in terms of fan base and TV revenues according several surveys. However, in the last decade, Atlético Madrid have only played once in the UEFA Champions League after their best season in this period of time, when they ended up in fourth position in the 2007/2008 season. A very poor record. Even though there was a time when Atlético Madrid could fight face to face with Real Madrid and Barcelona, perhaps it is too much to ask for this kind of battle nowadays, but it is definitely realistic to ask for much more and the club fails in the comparison with direct rivals, like Valencia, Sevilla or even Villarreal.

Quique Flores' UEFA Cup title

In this comparison there is a clear difference between Atlético Madrid and the clubs we just mentioned. The stability of the club. The question that arises is: is Atlético Madrid an unstable club because of the results or are the results which create this lack of stability? Since Atlético Madrid returned to Primera División in the year 2002, the club had 10 coaches. Ironically, when Atlético Madrid decided to keep their bet on a discussed Javier Aguirre for a second season, the club reached their so wished Champions League spot. In the same period of time, and not counting eventual home coaches who acted as bridge between the real directors of the club, Valencia had five coaches (Benítez, Ranieri, Quique Flores, Koeman and Emery), Sevilla the same amount (Caparrós, Juande Ramos, Manolo Jiménez, Manzano and Marcelino), while Villarreal only had four (Benito Floro, Pellegrini, Valverde and Garrido). It is also remarkable that some of these coaches left these club once their contract expired, looking for higher goals, and not as a consequence of bad results.

Basically, the main difference between these clubs and Atlético Madrid has been their higher dose of patience when it came to face the bad moments. This facts expose the management of the club, the lack of a clear direction. Atlético Madrid has never made a real bet for a project and the only time they did, it actually give them goods, although the club did not learn this lesson. Even Quique Flores, the coach who took the club to the UEFA Cup victory and a Copa final, did not receive the renewal offer, despite the support of the crowd. His evident bad relationships with one of the icons of the club, Diego Forlán, and the bad results of the past season damaged his relationships with the Board. The reality was that Quique Flores had an average squad with a star in decline, like Diego Forlán himself, and another one thinking in higher goals, like "Kun" Agüero.

Gregorio Manzano

This year the bet was Gregorio Manzano, a coach who had already managed the team in the 2003-2004 season, with not so good results, in what it was a surprising decision. Gregorio Manzano is a coach with a good record with humble teams, like Rayo Vallecano or Mallorca, but also with more or less questionable results in big projects like Atlético's and Sevilla's (in this case, not so questionable though). In one way or another, one of the coaches with more consistent results in La Liga in the last decade. Atlético Madrid refreshed the squad, with the addition of new and important names who were given the responsibility to make the fans forget their recent idols.

And the initial results were a reason to feel optimistic. Despite the initial draw at home against Osasuna and the defeat in Valencia, the team showed a relatively good image and the following beatings on Racing and Sporting, with a sublime Falcao, made people feel optimistic about the future. It was not so long ago when Atlético visited the Camp Nou convinced about their possibilities. The 5-0 beating, a result that far from good could have been seen as an accident (it is not that Pep Guardiola's Barcelona does not use to mistreat their rivals in their stadium in the last years, independently of their size), but it took Atlético out of track. Since that horrible night, Atlético has only won one Liga game, at home against Zaragoza, and another one in the Europa League, against Udinese. The 4-0 on Udinese could have been a reason to rebuild, but this credit got destroyed with the poor image shown against Getafe, throwing the match to the garbage, wasting a 0-1 lead and a 2-2 draw when Getafe had been playing with 10 men since the minute 27 of the match. Definitely, this game marked Atletico's lowest point this season.

Falcao vs Getafe

Atlético did not play in the Calderón since the horror night of Getafe, but it is easy to predict what is going to happen soon against Levante . A couple of weekends ago, in the last Liga match at home against Zaragoza, despite the convincing and clear victory, the chants of the crowd were clear: "Manzano, vete ya" -Manzano go away- and "Luis Aragonés, Luis Aragonés". It was it, that point of the season when the Calderón explodes against the team and the coach, making the home experience a hell for a team that already does not have self-esteem. In these situations, the owners of the club, the strange duo Miguel Ángel Gil-Marín and Enrique Cerezo, start to get nervous and it is also usual the chants against them. When the owners get nervous, they panic and it is usual to see them cutting the heads of the coaches to save theirs, in a clear short-time thinking, throwing projects to the garbage with incredible ease.

In the next couple of weeks, Atlético will receive Levante at home and will visit Real Madrid in the derby of the city. Preciselly, with the derby in sight, the ground under Manzano's feet does not seem very solid. With a rising Real Madrid, showing their best moments of football since José Mourinho is the manager, and the poor record of Atlético Madrid in the recent derbies, the possibility of a humiliating defeat is likely and this idea that roams in all the Atlético fans is particularly painful. Another way to see it is that it is a good chance to change the trend of the season, but, at this point, it does not seem the most likely scenario and it is not a minority who believe that Manzano will not have the Christmas dinner in the Calderón.

Cerezo and the long shadow of Luis Aragonés

With the fans finishing their patience and the lack of power of a scared board, the club is in the verge to throw the season to the garbage to start with the improvisations... once more. Patience and football do not mix well very often, especially in Spain, but in the case of Atlético Madrid, patience is the only strategy that has never been used. Improvisations, constant changes, schizophrenia. Atlético Madrid is about to commit suicide once more.

Raúl and the club of 100 caps

Yesterday, an event promoted by UEFA and the Spanish FA made a tribute on the modern myths of the Spanish NT: they players who have more than 100 caps with La Roja. Andoni Zubizarreta (126 caps), Iker Casillas (125 caps) and Xavi Hernández (105 caps) were in the facilities of the RFEF in Las Rozas and got a commemorative blue cap with a golden tassel for it. Angel María Villar, the president of the Spanish FA, said: "Only those who have been football players know how difficult this is".

The cap is a symbol, it represents the first international match, played in 1872 between England and Scotland. Each player of this match were given a cap as memento of this match and this tradition still continues in England. Also László Kubala, in his times as coach of the Spanish NT, used to give a cap to the players that were called to play the international matches.

Xavi, Casillas and Zubizarreta

The first Spanish player to reach the 100 caps record was the goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta, who defended the shirt of the Spanish team from 1985 to 1998, playing 4 World Cups and 2 Euros, while playing for different clubs like Athletic, Barcelona and Valencia. In his speech, Zubizarreta made his personal tribute on players who also deserved to reach these 100 games, but never did it, like "Iribar, Arconada, Hierro or Camacho".

Iker Casillas also got his cap, the captian of the team, the one who raised the Euro and World Cup trophies in images that will be kept forever in the retinas of the Spanish people. Iker Casillas recalled that he was called for the first time 11 years ago and assured that he faced "the next match as it was the last". Iker Casillas probably represents the times of a golden generation of goalkeepers in Spain, including his teammates Pepe Reina and Victor Valdés, not forgetting others who are triumphing in La Liga or abroad. As good captain, he also recalled all the teammates he had in all these years. "Without them, it would not have been possible".

Zubizarreta

A double tribute awaited for Xavi Hernández, who also got the gold medal of the RFEF, aside the already mentioned UEFA's cap. Surrounded by two special coaches for him, like Luis Aragonés and Vicente Del Bosque, Xavi assured that he felt "priviled to live from football, achieving so many things of a sport that I love and adore". The Catalan midfielder, who made his debut in the year 2000, made some memory and recalled that, in this team, "we lived not so good eras, like nowadays, but with all this recognition and these victories, I am enjoying like a kid". Xavi also got a particular tribute in the words of Del Bosque and Aragonés. The current coach of the Spanish team used him as an example by stating that Xavi "represents the modern player in and out of the pitch, a singular player, gathering too much football in his boots, a very complete player". Luis Aragonés, who Xavi himself labaled as the coach who made him reach a new level, highlighted the "virtues of this player and his extraordinary quality" to raise the importance of this player in the current scheme by assuring that "the influence of the coach is not that high, the example is Xavi for his way to live and play".

This event also made a tribute to several players for the importance of their goals in the history of the Spanish national team. Five paintings of these goals were shown. We refer to the goal of Zarra in Maracaná in the World Cup 1950 against England, which allowed Spain to end up in the fourth position of this tournament, which was the highest achievement of this competition for this team until the last World Cup. The goal headed by Marcelino against the USSR in the Euro 64 final in the Santiago Bernabéu, the first international title of the team. The winning goal of Kiko Narváez against Poland in the last minutes of the Olympic Games 1992 in Barcelona's Camp Nou, a goal which was worth a gold medal. The goal of Torres in Vienna, in the Euro 2008, the goal that opened the era of the champions. And, of course, Andrés Iniesta's historical volley in Johannesburg, in the South Africa World Cup final.

Iker Casillas and the Euro 2008

Another played had been invited to this tribute, another player who also has more than 100 caps: Raúl González. The nowadays Schalke 04 player and already madridista and Spanish NT legend declined the invitation with a very weak excuse sent via fax: a training session with his current team, because Schalke had a friendly match. Yesterday, the department of communication of his own club denied the existence of this friendly match. Raúl erased himself from this tribute, showing his personal feelings in a historical error.

There was a time when Raúl was a living legend inside the Spanish team. Raúl broke all the goal-scoring records, he was the Gran Capitán, the Siete de España (the 7 of Spain). In the summer of 2006, Luis Aragonés' Spanish team had failed in the World Cup played in Germany. The more experienced French team had knocked out a team that mixed veteran players like Michel Salgado, David Albelda, Santi Cañizares and Raúl González with the core of young players that nowadays form the golden generation of the Spanish football. This failure had a bitter taste and there were rumors of rebellion inside the Spanish team, led by the veterans. Salgado, Albelda and Cañizared disappeared from the team for good, but Raúl was the captain.

Xavi, leader and reference

In the following official match, already in the qualifiers of the Euro 2008, Spain visited Belfast to face Northern Ireland. With the smoke of the ashes of the previous tournament visible, Spain failed in a miserable way and got a shameful 3-2 defeat. The press exploded and Luis Aragonés was targeted. At that moment, Luis Aragonés took a decisive decision, dropping Raúl González from the national team to give a new protagonist role to the young generation led by Xavi as the reference of the new style. The decision was an earthquake and, despite the results backed the team, Luis Aragonés had to deal with uncomfortable questions about Raúl in every press conference. The pressure was huge on the coach, a rising pressure while the Euro 2008 got closer and closer, while Raúl recovered his best goal ratio. In the 2006/2007 season, Raúl scored 23 goals and, in the following season, 24 goals. In these two seasons, Raúl won two Ligas and was near the figures of his best years, when he built his legend. Despite the huge pressure of a sector of the press and the constant "Raúl, yes; Raúl no", Luis Aragonés kept betting for the new system and the new generation, leaving Raúl out of the Euro 2008. The rest is history and, even Del Bosque, did not touch what was not broken.

Raúl never criticized the decision in public and Luis Aragonés never closed the door to a possible return and only with the pass of time admit that "there was a point when the national team was too big for Raúl and we had to think in the team and not in a player". The rumors were different though. Luis Aragonés always defended the new model of team around the midfielders, mainly Xavi. The Catalan midfielder and Luis Aragonés designed the team that has given Spain the highest achievements of its history and Raúl did not fit in this new concept. Raúl, always moderate in public, was in the mouths of many people in the tribute on the historical players. These voices suggested that Raúl holds resentment on Luis Aragonés and some players who blocked his presence in the national team in the Euro 2008, his last chance to achieve an international title, the only titles he missed in his infinite curriculum of records.

Raúl and Euro trophy

This resentment made him blind to understand the mechanics of football and his no presence is a historical record that he will probably regret in some years, when the perspective of time and the calm of the retirement allow him to realize that the changes made by Luis Aragonés in the national team were necessary, logic and ended up giving Spain the so wished titles... despite he was the main victim of it. The Gran Capitán failed to understand that he should have been there, with his teammates Zubizarreta, Casillas and Xavi, because his weight in the history of the Spanish team is huge, because it is impossible to understand the modern history of the team without him, because these titles do not hide his legendary status. In one way or another, Raúl also got his commemorative cap and the place in history he still is unable to understand.

David Silva, Del Bosque and Luis Aragonés.

June 16 2010, Spain made their debut in the World Cup they ended up winning against Switzerland. The coach of the team, Vicente Del Bosque bets on a system that is similar (but not the same) to Luis Aragonés' lineups in the previous Euro 2008. But the result could not have been worse and Spain lost 0-1 against the Swiss team. There was a victim of this game: David Silva. Since then, the player of Manchester City did not count for Vicente Del Bosque, who has been calling him, but always for a very secondary role. Last week, David Silva exploded and targeted Del Bosque: "He does not trust in me". The words of someone who feels strong after the memorable games Silva is playing in the Premier League. But behind these words there is a debate that has been hidden under the success of the Spanish NT.

There is a remarkable difference between Luis Aragonés and Vicente Del Bosque, a difference that is not irrelevant: Silva or Xabi Alonso. After the World Cup 2006 and the failure in Northern Ireland in the qualifying round of the Euro 2008, Luis Aragonés made a bet for the rupture. Since the World Cup 1998, Spain had been walking on the shoulders of Raúl, icon of the Spanish NT and Real Madrid. Raúl defined the style. Raúl was not a classic striker, but a forward that always played with a striker along him. Since then until 2006, Spain had been using a system with two forwads, two wingers and a double midfield. However, Luis Aragonés thought that the change was needed and there was a radical change in the model and the point of gravity. The team would not turn around Raúl, but a new figure: Xavi. This change was not just a change of names, but a change of style. The huge personality of Raúl swallowed everything, while the new model around Xavi focused on the system. Xavi defines the style as long as he has partners that speak his language.

Xavi

In this idea of football, Xavi was the center and it was necessary to create the appropriate atmosphere for him. Since then, Spain basically played with a defensive midfielder (Senna), two central midfielders (Xavi and Iniesta) and two open players cutting in (Villa or Silva) plus a striker (Torres). The system admitted some changes, as in the semifinals and the final of the Euro, when Villa got injured. Then Cesc was the 12th player instead of David Villa. Using this system, Luis Aragonés took the best of the Spanish team, in terms of success and brilliance.

Vicente Del Bosque, during the qualifiers for the World Cup 2010 did not fix what was not broken, but the rivals were not important enough to know his intentions. Besides, some injuries, especially in the case of Iniesta, the main victim, made not possible to know his real intentions. And, in this situation, we go back to June 16 2010. Spain lose against Switzerland and Del Bosque points the guilty: David Silva. Silva disappeared from the lineups and Del Bosque made a cautious approach. The idea was the same, ball possession and attacking football.... but with the handbrake on. Del Bosque made a very strong bet on a double defensive midfield, untouchable until these days, with Sergio Busquets and Xabi Alonso. While Sergio Busquets may fit in the shoes of Marcos Senna, since both were used to play in a system with only one anchor man, the main difference was Xabi Alonso. If everything had to turn around Xavi Hernández, the Catalan midfielder lost a partner upfront to get one at his back.

Alonso & Busquets

Spain won the World Cup, showing good moments of football, but never reaching the brilliance of the Euro 2008. Since the knock-out rounds, Spain won all the games with a short 1-0. Spain was the best team, probably because they had the best players on the pitch, but the new system killed some of the beauty shown in the Euro 2008. The difference was Xabi Alonso instead of Silva. Last week, Silva talked to the media and said that "before the game against Switzerland, I had confidence. I played regularly and I had a place in the team, but everything started to change with the defeat. Because of this reason, with the pass of time, I believe I was the victim of the bad debut in the World Cup. The only thing I say is that Luis (Aragones) trust in me... Del Bosque thinks in a different way. I am going to work to keep the level I am showing in this first games, however, I doubt that I can have a protagonist role in the Euro. I feel I played in a high level and it was not enough to have a place in the starting XI. There are lots of good midfielders, not good, really good! Nothing to say about them to be chosen. I do not discuss the lineups: I analyze my situation and I am not happy. And I do not see that anything is going to change. Not playing for Barça or Madrid damages me".

Probably David Silva is right in his thoughts. The problem is not his good or bad performances, but Del Bosque's concept of football. Del Bosque sacrificed an attacking player to introduce a defensive midfielder to cover his back. Del Bosque is not Luis Aragonés, who created the circle around Xavi, nor Guardiola, who is the flag of La Masia's style. Del Bosque always trusted in the double defensive midfield, call it Makelele-Helguera or Busquets-Alonso. But, definitely, it is out of question that Del Bosque belong to a more conservative school in terms of lineup design. Del Bosque probably believes that it is better to keep the back well covered, since the talent in attack will solve the games anyway. It is logical to think that, at some point, Xavi or Iniesta will find Villa, Torres or whoever to win a game... but everything starts by keeping the order in defense. It is not that Luis Aragonés does not trust in defensive balance, he surely did, since his motto was "compete, compete, compete". But Luis Aragonés thought that the balance was assured with only one defensive midfielder... this is not possible for Del Bosque's idea.

David Silva

The consequence is that Spain waste two magnificent attacking midfielders like David Silva and Cesc Fàbregas, relegated to a secondary role, to hype Alonso and Busquets. The gravity of Spain's football is 20 meters backwards and this is not irrelevant. At the same time, Xavi will probably keep doing well, since his talent is out of question. However, when he raises his head, he will miss references that he usually has in Barcelona or used to have in Luis Aragonés' Spain. So far, both systems triumphed, but Spain's brilliance got lost in the way and the results started to walk on a thin line of 1-0's.

The debate was hidden by the success, but I am glad that David Silva put it on the table and it will mark the future of Spain. Personally, I believe it is a tragedy to punish Silva and/or Cesc in order to play with Alonso, when Busquets has shown to be capable of doing the task by himself. Why punish the attack with such a defensive and (why not) coward approach? Why? Del Bosque may win the Euro again, but I doubt Spain will find the excellence of the Euro 2008 again... and the absence of David Silva explains the difference.

Atlético Madrid's historical meltdown

When I was kid (and I'm not that old!), you did not hear about the 2 giants. There was a third that always counted: Atlético Madrid. Back in the 80s, the colchoneros were a power in Spain. In fact, they were the main threat for the glorious era of Real Madrid during the 60s and 70s and FC Barcelona was struggling to win a title. We are talking about the times of Luis Aragonés, Joaquín Peiró, José A. Ufarte, Adelardo, José Eulogio Garáte, Jones, Jabo Irureta, Rubén Ayala and the endless list of Atlético legends of this era. We are talking about the 4 Ligas (1966, 1970, 1973, 1977), the 4 Copas (1966, 1970, 1973, 1977). the Cup Winners' Cup (1962), the Intercontinental Cup (1974) or the European Cup final lost against Bayern (1974). The president Vicente Calderón had built the Estadio del Manzanares (later renamed with the president's name) and took the club to the highest rates of success. Atlético de Madrid was a power in Spain and had prestige in Europe. It was the golden era.

But in the 80s, an already old Vicente Calderón resigned and the club started an era of instability with several provisional presidents. The team got affected by this situation and only the return of the old president Calderón and the Copa of 1985 were the only satisfaction for the fans of the club, before the legendary president died two years later. The socios of Atlético Madrid gave Jesús Gil the presidency of the club in the elections of 1987 in, what it was the biggest historical error of this club. A poison that started to kill them slowly.

Jesús Gil was a businessman, always related with the real estate sector, who had made his fortune under the wings of the dictatorship of Franco. In fact, back in 1969, Jesús Gil was found guilty of homicide for the death of 56 people in one of the constructions he built, but the government gave him the pardon, which allowed him to escape from jail. At that time, Gil had all the money he wanted, but he knew that football could give him power, political influence and fame. Atlético Madrid was the victim of his greed, although they did not know it yet.

Using this fame, he made campaign and won the elections to be the mayor of Marbella (Málaga), a touristic town which offered a high standard of living for visitors and some famous people of Spain and other countries. It was easy to see big mansions and very expensive cars in its streets. It was the first step into politics for Jesús Gil, who wanted to use the influence of this area as a trampoline to more important political objectives. He wanted to be the Spanish Silvio Berlusconi and, definitely, he was as populist and pathetic as the Italian Prime Minister, swimming in the miseries of democracy in order to feed his political and, obviously, personal interests, breaking any line between them and the responsibility of administrating the money of the taxpayers.

At the same time, the Spanish sports law changed, forcing all the clubs with losses to become corporations. Atlético Madrid became a company in 1992, with Jesús Gil as owner. Later on, in 2004, the Supreme Court of Spain proved there was missapropriation of shares in the process to become a corporation, but the prescription of the offence was declared. At that time, it was public that Jesús Gil was always walking on a thin line.

In the sports aspect, the first years of Jesús Gil were marked by the important signings of players like Paolo Futre or Bernd Schuster, which allowed Atlético to have a short term impulse, winning 2 Copas in the early 90s (1991, 1992). At the same time, Jesús Gil was not just the owner, but a president who did not hesitate to use intervention in every single aspect. It was well-known that he forced lineups, despite his attraction to sign prestigious coaches like César Luis Menotti, Ron Atkinson, Javier Clemente, Luis Aragonés or Pacho Maturana. These interventions had as a consequence to have 3 or more coaches every season, putting the club in a state of permanent crisis and instability.

Atlético Madrid's and Jesús Gil's moment was the glorious Doblete in 1996, when the club won Liga and Copa under the direction of Radomir Antic and the talent of players like Caminero, Kiko, Penev or Pantic on the pitch, in a season of unexpected calm. It could have been a turning point and some people even thought that the president had learned the lesson... but it was just an illusion.

Justice started to haunt the activities of Jesús Gil. In 1999, the Audiencia Nacional (a court specialized in terrorism and corruption) put the club under administration. Jesús Gil was accused of embezzlement (nearly 5 million euros where moved from the City Hall of Marbella to Atlético Madrid using simulation via sponsorship and contracts with unknown African "players") and missapropriation (nearly 60 million euros disappeared from the accounting of the club), later on he was also accused of a new case of embezzlement (26 million euros disappeared from the treasury of Marbella from 1991 to 1995). The institutional chaos, with the club under the administration of justice, had a direct consequence in the team, who got relegated to Segunda División in the 1999-2000 season, where Atlético wasted 2 years of their history.

Viewing these events with some perspective of time, I believe there is a direct effect in these episodes of corruption and the meltdown of the 3rd club of Spain in terms of support. During the late 90s and the early 2000s, football enjoyed the bubble of the money of the TV rights. While Real Madrid and Barcelona had an exponential growth that allowed them to be what they are nowadays, Atlético Madrid were struggling with multiple cases of corruption and the relegation to Segunda División. In these years, Atlético Madrid missed the high-speed train of their direct rivals, looking how the money did not visit the Manzanares river.

Atlético Madrid's main asset is the support of their loyal and passionate fans, but this is not enough to go back to where they were before the explosion of the club at the end of the 20th century. Atlético Madrid still won the Europa League last year and they even played a Copa final a couple of years ago, but there is a permanent feeling of nostalgia, a sense of a rich that turned poor. Atlético always had the tradition of the pupas (cursed), but the nickname became a heavy reality that is an infection to the point that, even in the centenary anthem of the club, appears in the lyrics as a reason of pride, while I believe it is a virus that keeps the club in an eternal state of sickness, as if it was part of their DNA. Jesús Gil died in the year 2004, but this is his legacy (and his son Miguel Ángel and his good friend Enrique Cerezo are still in charge).

Nowadays, we read in the news how Kun Agüero, the icon player, wants to leave the club looking for titles and glory. Just as Fernando Torres did some years ago. Just as Diego Forlán wanted to do last summer (without success). I only see a club in ruins and constant crisis. If you had told me something like this when I was a kid, I would have never believed you.

Why Xavi should be the #1

Yesterday, UEFA announced the 3 nominees for their Best Player in Europe Award: Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Xavi Hernández, and the winner will be crowned in the UEFA Gala at the end of August, as always, in Montecarlo. Some months ago, UEFA said that "the new accolade will recognise the best player, irrespective of his nationality, playing for a football club within the territory of a UEFA member association during the previous season. For the inaugural award, players will be judged by their performances during the 2010-2011 campaing in all the competitions, both domestic and international, and at club and national team levels". The jury is formed by 53 journalists, members of the European Sports Media (EMS). Basically, this award is an answer to the FIFA World Player after they merged with France Football's Ballon D'Or and, somehow, wants to fill the space left by the award of the French magazine.

Aside the 3 nominees, UEFA announced the top-10 and there is a fact to highlight: aside Xavi and Messi, FC Barcelona have 2 other players in the top-10, Gerard Piqué and Andrés Iniesta, who was 4th in the votes. So, according to these results, 3 of the 4 best players in Europe play in Pep Guardiola's and the Spanish NT teams. These results do not differ much from the last FIFA World Player Award, which suggests some consensus about the domination of the mentioned teams in their respective tournaments.

Out of the pure facts, I must admit that I am not a big fan of these individual awards. In fact, I believe they are unfair and somehow silly, since I believe football is a collective game, a team game, where the synergies are more important than the pure sum of individuals. Of course, individual talent is important, but it only excels when the collective functioning works as a perfect machine, where the connections, the associations, the flow of a system allows the players to express their natural talent inside the rules and discipline of a system.

Is Xavi better than Messi and Ronaldo? First of all, I believe it is not possible to compare. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo probably represent the image of football, they are the best commercial of the game, outstanding players who make the difference when and where it matters. Both are a joy to watch, each one in their own style. No one is going to discover their talent at this point and, of course, if they win any personal award, I would have nothing to say about it. Xavi is not in charge of the electric chair as the other two, his style is more subtle, or just different, impossible to compare.

So why Xavi? Despite I know that these awards are a recognition for the contribution of a particular player in a particular season, I also believe that it is necessary to take some distance and analyze the overall moment. It is evident that Xavi can not compete with the other 2 in terms of goals, highlights or these particular moments that, at the end, are the aspects which make this game be different and attractive. On the other hand, before the goals and the highlights, there is a team, in FC Barcelona, Real Madrid or any other team you can think about. A team that, with their collective performance allows the executioners to excel in what they do.

Looking at the last years, the most successful club has been FC Barcelona. A success based on a certain and maybe unique style of football, which has attracted the attention of the World. At the same time, the Spanish NT won the Euro 2008 and the World Cup 2010, with a different system, but the same idea of football. Basically, we are talking about the most successful teams of their era, in the club and international level respectively. All these teams have something in common: Xavi Hernández.

History will say that, in this era of football, there was a dominant style and, in my opinion, the icon of the style is Xavi. The Catalan player is the engine, the brain and the soul of the teams he plays in. Xavi and his way to view football define the idea of his teams: Barcelona and the Spanish NT. Without Xavi, it would be impossible to understand the success of the dominant teams of this era. Pep Guardiola is not Luis Aragonés and none of them is Vicente Del Bosque and vice versa. The system changes, the mechanisms are different, but the philosophy is the same and the whole idea is built around Xavi.

As extraordinary as they are, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo do not define a style, they do not change the teams they are in. They are the best in what they do. They make the difference and they would do it anywhere they would go, but none of them have the influence to change the style. Put it this way, Barcelona and Spain would not be what they are without Xavi. They might be as good as they are nowadays, they might win everything too, but they would be different. Xavi is the key of the idea, everything flows around him, the teams where he plays in build their overall mechanisms and automatic movements around the game of Xavi. If intelligent and patient ball possession is successful, it is because there is a player called Xavi, who reads the game as no one else does nowadays, always choosing the best option, giving the ball backwards instead of losing it or risking an impossible pass, accelerating the pace of the game with a killing assist that breaks 2 defensive lines, but always with an idea in mind: "if the ball is yours, the rival does not have it", which is an idea that breaks the supposed defense and attack border to become an overall idea of football. If the ball is yours, you can score the goals you need... and if the ball is yours, the rival does not have the ball they need to score a goal against you.

Maybe these awards will never recognize the individual achievement of this player, but I believe history will put this Barcelona and this Spanish NT in their right place and Xavi will always be recalled as the architect of their idea of football. I do not believe in personal awards, but I believe in recognition where its due. This is why I believe Xavi should be the #1.