If anyone can understand the essence of Barça DNA, it's Paco Seirul·lo (Salamanca, 1945). His long career at FC Barcelona speaks for itself, starting as a coach for the club's athletics teams, then as a physical trainer for the handball team under Valero Rivera, and later for the Barça youth football team. In 1993, Johan Cruyff appointed him to lead the physical preparation of the legendary 'Dream Team'.
He stayed with the first team for many years, working with Frank Rijkaard and Pep Guardiola. Before retiring in 2022, he spent two years in the methodology department at the club, teaching La Masia coaches the unique style of play that made the team famous worldwide.
Now retired, the man who was Cruyff and Guardiola's right-hand man has released 'ADN Barça' (Roca Editorial), a book that delves into the team's playing style. In an interview with EFE, he explains that he hopes to leave a legacy for future generations.
Question: At 78 years old and retired, you've decided to publish a book about Barça DNA. Was this a long-standing project or did someone suggest the idea?
Answer: After leaving the field, I spent my last two years at the club training coaches and implementing the methods we used in the first team into grassroots football. With all the knowledge I gained from my time with the first team coaches, I decided to write a book. I aimed for a less academic and more practical approach. I hope I've achieved that.
Q: The book is titled 'Barça DNA', a term that has been used for 35 years to describe a specific style of play that you analyze in detail.
A: After more than 45 years at Barça and working with many successful coaches, I've realized that the Barça DNA comes from how they interact with players, the way they communicate, and the information they share before and after games. This all influences the style of play, the unique training experience, and the collective approach to the game that our players have. It's something that can only be truly nurtured at FC Barcelona. That's why players from other countries struggle and have ups and downs in performance, as they have to adapt to new concepts.
Q: In the beginning of your book, you mention that it's not a "football" book, but a "football" book. What do you mean by that?
A: Yes, it's about the football played at FC Barcelona for a long time. Coaches usually learn from coaching schools and base their ideas on successful game systems. There are many books on this, but mine focuses on what the game is and how we engage with it. It explains why passing simplifies the complexity of the game, what elements are essential, and what aspects are often overlooked by traditional systems.
Q: So, you're trying to take the Barça model to the next level?
A: Exactly. I'm talking about playing the natural game, which should be the simplest. It involves creating confusion for the opponent to maintain possession and ensuring that every player has a role, even when defending. Soccer is unique because it's unpredictable. In the book, I emphasize the importance of training players to recognize complex and ever-changing situations, even if they seem familiar.
Q: Your book doesn't focus on game systems. Are systems overrated in football, or are they all valid?
A: Game systems are the strategies that coaches use to outsmart their opponents, and there's a fine line between tweaking a plan and completely changing it. In football today, the big challenge is playing against a team using the same system, relying on the players' skills to outperform the opponent. The game is more than just following a linear path; it's about the hidden truths, the team's thoughts and intentions communicated internally to execute them.
Q: You mention terms like "relational advantages," "optimal circulation flow," and "operational functionality" in what you call "idiograms." It seems like a guide for coaches rather than for general football fans.
A: I wrote it based on my own needs, not considering the audience. However, I believe that if coaches adopt the training methods I propose, football will benefit with more beautiful gameplay. Coaches aim to see their strategies executed by their players, but it's concerning when they prioritize their own ideas over the players' freedom. The game should be about the players' creativity, not just following a set plan.
Q: In the prologue, both Pep Guardiola and Jordi Cruyff express admiration for your concept of "phase space." Can you explain what it means?
A: Instead of focusing solely on attacking and defending, "phase space" emphasizes creating areas where players can interact and feel comfortable during the game. It involves having possession of the ball, sharing it, and organizing to keep it, as well as the phase of trying to regain possession when the team doesn't have the ball, creating a different dynamic space.
Q: You have worked with Cruyff, considered the father of that style, and with Guardiola, who is the coach who sublimated it. How do you value the influence that both have had?
A: Johan, in three words, developed the entire essence of the Barça DNA: playing face-to-face, on the foot and with the first touch. That is what means that millions of different situations can occur in each play depending on the type of relationships established between the players. And Pep has experienced that with Johan and has been able to identify that DNA but developing a halo of space-time elements that make it possible to play like this. This also allows him to have the security of being able to inform his players of things that they are not able to identify, because they are focused on the material, on what is seen, not on what they can make happen. And that makes the players feel attracted to that game, they feel like a special family that has a secret to share, a clan capable of doing something that the others are not capable of doing, deceive the opponent with that, and that that's what they win. Pep has created a language and communication with his players and his staff that makes them feel special.
Q: If Barça has a treasure that is the how, the story, its own playing methodology that only the home players understand, why is it sometimes so difficult to bet on La Masia?
A: I think it is due to cultural issues, almost ancestral or insecurities or fears. I hope when a new board arrives at the club they consult my book, because they have to know and identify the essences of the game. Because if they bring other things, even if that change goes well for a while, the spectator who enjoys Barça will ultimately be dissatisfied with what he sees.
And I would also like this book to be a bit of a seed that players and coaches can grab onto when they have doubts. If we compete like everyone else, we have many to compete against, but if we do something that others do not do, we will only compete against ourselves.
This content has been translated and adapted from the Spanish version of the digital newspaper