The Athletic

Hello and welcome to the TIFO football podcast.

I'm John McKenzie, but I'm not joined as I always am by my good friend and producer Mike Zimmerman.

Well, well, well, look who we've got here.

It's only Joe Devine.

Hi, John McEljensyy how's it going i'm doing

very well yeah no so i've heard i haven't actually listened to any of the episodes they seem very boring but uh i'm glad that you're enjoying doing it it's a bit like uh you know if you've got a sort little nephew or whatever you want to give it work experience that's what we've done with you and I think it's going just great young man. Yes, I do think it's going well too, Joe. And it is continuing to go well in this episode because I have another fantastic guest for our listeners today. In Jalalalabagrae, who is the proprietor of the Purist Football YouTube channel. We're talking all about Barcelona and the tactics of Barcelona under Shabby Hernandez. Do you think that sounds exciting, Joe? Yeah, that does sound exciting, John. It does. I can't wait to listen to that one. But do you know what else I can't wait to listen to? I can't wait to find out who you can't wait to listen to. Well, it's not a who, John. It's more of a, oh, it is a who, I suppose. It's me, telling you about the TIFO book. Now, do you remember the TIFO book, How to Watch Football released last year? Huge bestseller, John. I believe so, yes. Yeah. Well, I'm here to remind people that, you know, for some of our listeners, who, you know, supporters of certain religions, it's Christmas soon, isn't it? You know, at a holiday of consumerism, where we all buy each other things that we don't need. Well, if you'd like to break that tradition, then maybe you should get how to watch football. Tifo's guide to watching football. It doesn't, I mean, actually, it's quite small. It could fit in a stocking, depending on how big your stocking is, or slide under someone's door, or, you know, pop it in their bank vault or, you know, hide it under, cook it in a pie. The Dutch leave clogs outside their front door, don't they? Would it fit in a clog? The clogs would make a terrific sound on it because it's a hardback, of course.

You know, I keep mine in the bathroom. So every time I go for a poo-poo, I get to read another rule about football. It's just a whole sort of, it's a whole mess really in there. But it's great. The book's fantastic. So please, if you're thinking of someone who enjoys football and you'd like to

treasure them this Christmas, then go get the book. You can get it from on the internet and in

shops probably, but, you know, go and get it because that would be good. And listen to the rest of

this podcast with John McElagin-Z and Jill O'Tappagray from the purest football.

Now that's enough of that nonsense. Let's get into the episode.

Barcelona are one of the most famous clubs in world football, made popular by names such as Lionel Messi,

Andres Iniesta, Javi Hernandez, and Pep Guardiola.

They are one of the first names to be mentioned in the conversation

about the greatest teams in world football.

More recently, though, they have fallen on trickier times,

most prominently off the field.

Having to walk the tightrope of La Liga's squad cost limit,

the club have handed the management reins over to one of their playing legends,

Shavi. It's been three seasons since he joined, and the journey has had ups and downs,

but is the trajectory upwards? Well, we're fortunate to be joined by someone who is able to help

...