Tuesday, 23rd October, 2012
Barcelona legend Johan Cruyff has told the club’s fans that now is not the time to judge new coach Tito Vilanova, with how he responds to a crisis crucial to determining his talent in the dugout.
Vilanova succeeded Josep Guardiola in the summer and has so far enjoyed a superb start to life at the Camp Nou, with Barcelona having won seven and drawn one of their eight La Liga games so far, while the Blaugrana have also won both matches in their Champions League group to date.
Guardiola’s former assistant is having to make do without a number of key defensive players, including Dani Alves, Carles Puyol and Eric Abidal, while Gerard Pique’s fitness has also been suspect. All of which could lead Vilanova to claim he is managing a defensive crisis.
But Cruyff believes things must get much tougher first to provide for a true test of the Spaniard.
"Everything is going well for him now, as we all expected", the Dutchman told Spanish daily AS.
"He knows the players, knows the club, helped Guardiola and was part of a very successful team.
relatedNewsStory"This is not the time to judge.
"The time to judge is when something goes wrong.
"When things go wrong, when there is a crisis, that’s when you know if the coach is able."
Vilanova will be aiming to put another feather in his cap this evening when he leads Barcelona against Celtic in the Champions League.
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