The Blog Files #1: Just Football interviews Barcelona Football Blog

Football bloggers. Does a more committed collective exist anywhere in football, across any cross-section of the game? Not only are they dyed in the wool supporters and students of the game themselves, but they also give up a large chunk of their own free time to create, debate, muse, argue, serve and inform a wide and varied audience of fellow football fanatics, all the while managing to balance the additional demands of running a website, creating regular content, handling the boring administrative nuts and bolts and just generally keeping informed. And all for little to no money. Weirdos.

Well, as we celebrate the relaunch of Just-Football.com, we decided to catch up with some of the blogosphere’s leading lights writing about Europe’s top clubs to find out what makes them tick, get their perspectives on the teams they hold dear and their opinions on said team’s prospects for the rest of the season.

First up in a multi-part series and where else to start but the European Champions FC Barcelona and Isaiah Cambron, one of the brains behind Barcelona Football Blog:

JF: First, tell the readers of Just Football a bit about yourself.

Well, I’m Isaiah and I’m just another typical 20-something living in the “big city” of New York, trying to make a name for myself. I’m from all over, having been born in the Middle East and lived throughout the world, though mostly in the US.

How did your love affair with FC Barcelona begin?

I wrote a post on this before which I think tells you everything about my love that you could possibly want to know, but it really boils down to one moment that just captured my heart and never let go: Rivaldo. Valencia. Hat trick. That goal.

And what inspired you to create your blog about the club?

I’ve always loved writing. It is what I do for fun and it just seemed natural to move from one sort of writing (fiction) to writing about the beautiful game. I started with a blog about the entirety of the sport called SoccerSpot, which was just another Wordpress blog, then I found The Offside and the then-head Bob graciously allowed me to start the Barcelona Offside page. After writing there for 2 years and picking up loyal reader Kevin as a member of the team, I moved to Barcelona Football Blog.

To answer the original question, however, what inspired the writing to aim towards football was, really, Futbol a Sol y Sombra by Eduardo Galeano, which was translated into American English as Soccer in Sun and Shadow. It is the greatest thing I have ever read. Period. It is worth your time and your money and it’ll broaden your horizons.

So how would you rate Barcelona’s performance so far this season?

Amazing. It’s easy to say that the team has been complacent or not as good, but coming off the greatest season in domestic football history, that we’re tied for first in La Liga (second on goal differential) and into the Champions League quarterfinals is an astounding feat. We won six trophies last year and anyone who thinks that there’s a chance we’ll underperform this year is in some sort of la-la land.

I love this club. I mean, it’s weird. It’s like a person for me. I love my family and my girlfriend in ways I don’t love the club, of course, but the club has proven itself simply by being there, always, and now that it’s in a year that isn’t going to produce 6 trophies, I’m okay with that. I love this club, it is great, and it gives me all the joy I could want out of a sports team. All of that is to say that the team cannot disappoint me.

And so, this year, they have amazed me. We have done so well, pushed so hard, done so much, and while we have so much left to do to come home with trophies, I still love the club, the team, and the players. Yes, I want to win more, I always do, and this year I want to destroy Real Madrid, teach them a lesson about canteras, about building a team instead of buying one, but really, I’m happy when we play well. And we play well because we have Guardiola in charge, Xavi at the helm, Messi manning the torpedo bays, and Puyol, er, well, okay, so Puyol just blows things up and asks questions later. But I still love him.

In your opinion who have been the team’s 3 standout performers and why?

1)      Lionel Messi: this one is obvious. 22 goals in 23 league games and 29 goals in 36 appearances (at the time of writing). He’s so spectacular that he is beyond spectacular. He’s the best in the world. No offense to Wayne Rooney, of course, whose accomplishment should be lauded, but Messi is beyond anything anyone else in the world can do at the moment. And I’ll admit here that I hate the term “best footballer in the world”—I think it’s silly, but Messi is the best footballer in the world. Bar none.

2)      Xavi:  again an obvious one. He’s our general, he’s our brain, he’s the one that makes the whole Barcelona machine go tick-tock like an anti-Captain Hook machine. Sure, he was out for the destruction of Stuttgart, but without him, we are lost against the tougher sides in the world. Even with Messi. There’s just such calm and understanding of space

3)      Victor Valdes:  Say what you will about him (butterfingers, weak in the air), he’s been the reason that we won what we did the last 2 seasons. His stoning of Drogba in the Champions League semifinal last year is just one of the myriad of one-on-one battles he won against strikers last year and this year. How he stands back there by himself for so long and then jumps into action fully ready is beyond me.

Most football fans, and particularly bloggers, think deeply about their club. What are the key issues facing Barca right now, both on and off the field?

We’re entering a presidential election cycle and that obviously impacts both the club’s organization and the team itself. Joan Laporta has been in charge of the club since 2003 and his reign, while at times rocky, has been one of increased financial stability and has included 2 Champions League trophies. Laporta’s successor (Laporta can’t be re-elected) will have his hands full with the various media outlets and fan groups that are making demands. There are always transfer demands to be met and I think that that kind of capital investment will be the biggest contention.

Questions like whether we should (attempt to) get Cesc Fabregas or Franck Ribery, get rid of Thierry Henry, or promote youth players like Gai Assulin are always going to be there, but it seems that since Real Madrid spent their hundreds of millions on Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Xavi Alonso, etc, the Barcelona-based press has pushed the mega signing more than anything else. I find this extremely distracting and while I suppose they need to sell papers to stay afloat and manufacturing transfer news does just that, I think it is ultimately a negative for the club they’re supposedly supporting. Whether the new president crumbles under this kind of pressure remains to be seen, but it’s vital that we don’t become reactionary.

The most important thing is to keep Pep Guardiola, who has an agreement in principle to extend his contract, but it will have to be ratified by the new president and his board. If the new president isn’t happy with the details of the deal (amount of control, etc), then we’ll probably see Guardiola leave and a new era begin at Barcelona, which would be horrendous.

Barca and Real Madrid are streets ahead of the competition in La Liga right now. How do you see the title race panning out?

I think it comes down to crushing Real Madrid’s spirit in their own home, like we did last year. I don’t expect a 2-6 blasting again or anything like it, but a victory would be huge. I see it being a battle of wills, with each team needing the other to slip up to make it easier, but neither will. It’s all down to the April 11 match at the Bernabeu.

And with the Champions League final at the Bernabeu, which trophy would you prefer?

Always and forever the League trophy. It’s the one that matters. The Champions League is amazing to win, of course, but the league will always be number one.

Behind the scenes the club presidency is up for grabs this year. Where do you stand on Laporta/Rosell and the elections?

I don’t stand anywhere yet. None of the candidates have really made their positions clear this far from election day (June 13), so it’s impossible to know what anyone will do. I’ll obviously be monitoring the situation closely as we get closer to it and form concrete opinions about it.

Lionel Messi. Discuss.

I don’t even know where to begin. Best player on earth by about a mile and a half? I guess that about sums it up. And what’s scary for anyone who isn’t wearing blaugrana is that he’s only getting better.

Unsung hero?

I’ll have to go with Abidal on this one. I considered including him in the three players above, but the injury that has sidelined him for the last month has kept him out of any season-long awards. Still, for the first half of the season he was arguably our best player and certainly our best defender. His speed and positioning have been instrumental in many of our wins.

How do you see the club evolving over the next few years & are you optimistic about the future of the club?

I’m hoping the club can deal with at least a small amount of financial stress to avoid getting into a pissing contest with Real Madrid and that is probably what will sway me the most in the coming elections. It’s hard to know where we’ll be going as an institution when I don’t know who will be in charge, but I think the Laporta model of business will continue to help the club grow.

With players like Jonathan dos Santos, Gai Assulin, and Jeffren Suarez potentially stepping up to the first team, I think we’ll have a great coming series of years. Luis Enrique is doing a great job with the youth squad (Barcelona Atletic) and they’re really maturing well. Jonathan is probably our best prospect and I think that he’ll end up being a star for years to come. That said, we’re going to have growing pains for a little while and if anyone thinks we’ll win 6 trophies again in the foreseeable future, they’re insane, stupid, or both. But we’ll be fine.

Onto Barcelona Football Blog, which is a multi-writer site. How have you found blogging since you began & what have been the blog’s biggest challenges?

Personally, blogging is a blast. It’s a way to not only put out my own opinions, but also get a lot of feedback to help me grow as a thinker and fan. I suppose the biggest challenge is growing the reach of the blog while never giving up your core reasons for blogging. It’s a hobby and it’s important to keep that in mind when business questions come up.

Getting to know the other writers on the site, Kevin and Hector, and our IT guy, Tarun, has been great and I think we make an awesome team that’s able to be dynamic and interesting no matter what happens in the world. It’s good to have teammates, obviously.

What does the future hold for Barcelona Football Blog?

I hope it’s a lot of growth and fun. Other than, I think the idea is to continue to write posts that can help foster discussion and interest in the club we love.

And finally, with journalism and media struggling post-recession, what do you think is the future of sports journalism?

I would hope that sports journalism is going the way of political journalism, which has greatly expanded the number of voices and visions through blogs and “new media” in general. It seems to be happening pretty steadily and I hope that sports blogging continues to grow and incorporates more viewpoints than it currently has.

For more great writing about what is currently probably the best team in the world check out Barcelona Football Blog.

Next up in the Blog Files, part 2 – Manchester United and the Republik of Mancunia.

FC Barcelona, The Blog Files