It has been all change at Barcelona this summer, with the Spanish giants undergoing a major facelift in a bid to revive their fortunes after two years without any silverware.
Coach Frank Rijkaard was axed after five years at Camp Nou and superstars Ronaldinho and Deco have followed him out of the door with the inexperienced Pep Guardiola — a Catalan born and bred — taking over the managerial reins.
Ronaldinho and Deco were instrumental as Barca won a Champions League and league double in 2006 but since then the pair and the club have been on a downward spiral.
Guardiola has the job of pushing the club back in the right direction and inherits some world-class players in Lionel Messi and Thierry Henry along with Spain’s victorious Euro 2008 trio of Xavi, Carles Puyol and Andres Iniesta.
Barca will need Argentine star Lionel Messi to shake off his injury problems if they are to challenge for top honors.
French striker Henry had a difficult debut campaign last season with niggling injuries and playing out of position but he is confident of getting back to his best.
“I scored 19 goals without playing well last season so I hope to get much more this season and not pick up injuries,” Henry said.
Guardiola, 37, has no experience of handling big names having previous only coached the Barca B team but his playing career demands respect after making 379 appearances for Barcelona winning six league titles.
“Talent is important but you need to put the effort in first,” Guardiola said. “We want a solid, balanced Barcelona team this season that wins games with football that entertains the fans.”
The Barca board have given him financial backing with close to 75 million euros (US$110 million) spent on new players in the summer as they bid to stop Real Madrid winning a third successive league title.
A large slice of the budget was used to capture dynamic Brazilian right back Daniel Alves from Sevilla at a cost of 29.5 million euros while midfielder Seydou Keita also left Sevilla for the Camp Nou in a 13 million euro switch.
“I love the atmosphere within this group and the ambition to win titles again,” Alves said. “Everything comes from the coach. He lives and breathes football as an ex-player and gives out important advice.”
Tricky winger Alexander Hleb has arrived from Arsenal for 15 million euros and 16 million euros has been splashed out on Uruguayan defender Martin Caceres.
With Bojan Krkic, 18, realizing his huge potential and Cameroon forward Samuel Eto’o staying put Barca have a terrific squad but the same could be said last season when a Champions League semi-final loss was all they had to show for their efforts.
Some said there were too many egos in the Barca dressing room and Guardiola has the task of rebuilding team spirit and solving the team’s awful away record which saw them collect just 23 points on the road last season.
Barcelona have the perfect chance to get the ball rolling as they start with an away fixture at newly promoted Numancia tomorrow.
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