Spanish Inquisition: The Towering Pique Of Barcelona

While it was Pep Guardiola who may have been the mastermind behind today’s dominant Barcelona side and Dani Alves who, as the most expensive right-back in football, may have been the missing link in completing a dynamic offence positioned well into the opposition’s half of the pitch, there was one player added during the off-season last summer who was integral to Barcelona’s successes in the 2008/09 campaign and promises to be a gem in the Barca line-up for seasons to come.

Gerard Pique, the grandson of former Barcelona vice-president, Amador Bernabeu, began playing his football in Barcelona’s youth ranks, before Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson coveted the youngster and the Red Devils subsequently prised the towering defender away from Catalunya to sign him to his first proper footballing contract, incidentally without any transfer fee as Pique was then too young to hold a professional deal.

With the United, the young Spaniard slowly began to learn the rigours of the English game, making his debut in late 2004 as a late-match substitute. His performances, most notably with the reserve team, earned him another contract, which he signed in February 2005 which tied him to Old Trafford until 2009.

Before the 2006 season, however, Pique was dealt to La Liga side Real Zaragoza on a season-long loan deal that would see the central defender gain a substantial amount of playing time. The conditions of the loan involved Pique having to feature in at least 20 games for the Aragonese outfit. Pique ended up making 22 first team appearances, many of them made alongside Argentine defender Gabriel Milito (who, incidentally, would sign with Barça during the following season, a year before Pique would re-join the Blaugrana ranks).

For the 2007/08 season, Pique was brought back to Old Trafford and this time his first-team appearances were much more involved as he made nine league appearances and scored in his first start in the UEFA Champions League, a 4–0 home win against Dynamo Kyiv. Little more than one month later, he would earn himself a reputation for having an eye for the back of the net and scored his second Champions League goal in an away match to Roma. Learning from the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Pique had become one of the most promising young defenders in European football and the rest of the continent began to take notice.

But it was his home-town club and new Barca coach Guardiola who would entice the player away from England and in the summer of 2008, Pique signed a four-year contract with Barcelona, with a €50 million buy-out clause, reflecting the value the future treble champions saw in the youngster and the determination not to allow him to be whisked away from the Camp Nou again so cheaply.

It was at Barcelona that Pique’s play hit a new plateau entirely. Alongside veteran captain Carles Puyol, the young defender became a force in the Blaugrana backline with strong tactical play and a physically imposing style of defending. It is thanks to Pique’s confident play that both can afford to spread the central defenders across the width of the pitch, allowing the right and left backs to climb up across the halfway line.

But despite his role as a central defender, Pique still found the back of the net with surprising efficacy, scoring his first goal in the club's 5–2 UEFA Champions League group stage win at Sporting CP and tallying his first domestic goal for the club two months later, in a Copa del Rey match against local rivals Espanyol (that vital goal turned out to be the game winner in a 3–2 victory for Barca).

None of the goals in his first season with the Blaugrana were as memorable though as his first league goal, which came in a 6–2 away thrashing of Real Madrid, in El Clasico. On one of his typical runs through the centre of the pitch (on this particular run, Pique was leading the line of attack), the defender received a pinpoint-accurate cross from Samuel Eto’o. The Spaniard’s shot initially ricocheted off the always-clairvoyant Iker Casillas, but Pique managed to follow the play at the far post and, collecting the ball, spun around and slotted the rebound into the back of the net.

In his first season at Barca, Pique managed to help the club secure the Copa del Rey trophy, the Primera Division championship, and the Champions League crown, becoming third player to ever win the European club championship with two different clubs in consecutive years.

As if his club successes have not been impressive enough, Pique’s performances for Barca have seen him earn a coveted call up to Vicente del Bosque’s Spanish national team where the Catalan defender has enjoyed significant minutes and, recently, featuring in the starting lineup alongside club teammate, Puyol.

In only his second appearance for the national squad, Pique found the back of the net, scoring in a crucial World Cup Qualifying match against Turkey, and just this past Saturday against Belgium, he netted one of his most impressive goals of his so-far-brief-albeit-illustrious career, marauding up the centre of the pitch to receive a cross in the box and slot home with the cool, collected, composure of a world-class striker.

At just 22 years old and at 6 feet 3 inches tall (1.91 m), Gerard Pique looks well on his way to becoming a legend at the Camp Nou. Defensively sound and extraordinarily frugal with the ball at his feet, he not only fulfils his duties as a staunch defender who does not shy away from physical contact, but also a strong contributor to his team’s attack, deftly distributing the crucial pass out of the back and, when he chooses to follow the play on the counterattack, a deadly efficient goalscorer.

Pique’s return to the Camp Nou after his developmental years at Manchester United have given the Blaugrana what one of their most important players for years to come. With Puyol slowly fading into the twilight of his career, Pique will soon be ready to take up the leadership duties at the back and provide Barca with defensive security for the foreseeable future.
But furthermore, and somewhat more interestingly, Pique’s return to the Camp Nou may have established an interesting precedent for Barcelona youth players who have taken their football elsewhere only to return home to contribute to the first team - a precedent that could see Cesc Fabregas follow in Pique’s footsteps in the very near future.