Hi guys! Just a brief note to let you all know that this Barcelona blog has been moved to ESPN FC. Thank you for all your support over the years, you make it all worthwhile. Click here to access the latest on Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez and the rest of our Camp Nou stars. Looking forward to your comments and thoughts. Força Barça!

Tito Vilanova is about to face one of the toughest challenges ever in world football during his debut season: Succeeding Pep Guardiola, the most successful coach in over 110 years of Blaugrana history.

If we compare English and Spanish football, there is no question: The Premiership is more direct, physical and pacey than La Liga.

Tito Vilanova bravely accepted the very challenging task of succeeding Pep Guardiola, the most successful manager in over 110 years of FC Barcelona history. His experience as Pep's highly-involved assistant coach means that he doesn't need to waste time getting to know the squad, only recruit the right players to improve the team we already have.

Neymar da Silva Santos Junior will be the next big name to join FC Barcelona. That is, of course, if you choose to believe the hype that the Catalan media keeps trying to create on a daily basis.

Spain's Olympic football team crashed out of the London 2012 Olympics after two painful defeats against Japan (0-1) and Honduras (0-1). Against the Central Americans, La Rojita failed to score despite taking 24 shots and hitting the woodwork three times in the second half.

I get asked the following question far too often: 'Who will win the Ballon d'Or, Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo?'

Let's be clear: Individual awards such as the Ballon d'Or are more of a publicity stunt than exact science and, as such, we shouldn't give them too much importance.

Sandro Rosell, Barcelona president, has reignited the controversy that surrounded the La Liga campaign last season by saying: "We all know that the last edition of the Spanish League was very strange"

Rosell is alluding to the conspiracy theories doing the rounds in Spain and, allegedly, the power of five key men.

Javi Martinez is the missing piece in Barcelona's puzzle ahead of the 2012/13 season. I believe that adding the 24-year-old Basque midfielder to our squad would be sufficient to challenge for all titles next season. Especially after completing the transfer of speedy left-back Jordi Alba for a mere €14 million, which, as you can read here, was an absolute bargain!

Jordi Alba has finally achieved his dream of coming back to Barcelona. After months of negotiations, the Cules have agreed to pay Valencia a total of €14m despite the fact that Alba only had 12 months left in his contract. Some argue paying that much for a player who would have been free next summer is a waste of money. Keep reading to find out why they are wrong.

Barcelona players have to put up with constant attacks from the Madrid-based media on a regular basis. Their numerous unfounded accusations of drug-taking, mischievous diving and other pathetic stories are systematically used as a strategy to try to upset our Catalan team. Such practice is happily tolerated in Spain, as if Barcelona’s success was purely based on cheating rather than football skills.

I must admit I am increasingly annoyed about the obsession the Catalan media seem to have towards signing of Thiago Silva from AC Milan this summer. It really feels like one can simply not read any Barcelona-related news without the Brazilian centre-back's name popping up at some stage. Is he really the only central defender on Earth?

Barcelona's season collapsed after a horrendous week which included defeats to Real Madrid in La Liga and Chelsea in the Champions League. While the other 4 titles lifted this year can't be overlooked, it must be said that Barcelona were unable to beat teams who opted for ultra defensive formations at crucial points of the season.

Barcelona won the Spanish Supercup, European Supercup, Club World Cup and Copa Del Rey this season. Winning 4 out of 6 possible titles should be considered a success but, being brutally honest, I must admit I expected better considering our powerful squad and previous achievements under Pep Guardiola.

Barcelona fans around the world love new signings but we must take our time to analyse our current situation before we can decide how our limited budget should be spent.

Who excelled? Who must be sold? Who must be given another chance? Who deserved more playing time? Who needs to be loaned out?

Read on to find out my assessment of every Barcelona player in the 2011/12 season and whether they deserve to be at the Camp Nou next year - or not!

Pep Guardiola walked away from Barcelona. While I am obviously sad to see him leave, the Camp Nou will continue to stand strong without him. Many greats have left in the past, many greats will leave in the future.

The show must and will go on.

Since Guardiola announced his departure, I have heard a variety of rivals and so-called football experts arguing Barcelona's winning cycle is over. For me, it is clear those who doubt don't understand how our Blaugrana club works behind the scenes: Barça is much bigger than one person, whatever their name is.

Barcelona never stops. The Catalan media is full of a variety of transfer rumors, people within the Blaugrana community regretting Guardiola's departure, David Villa missing the Euro 2012... Am I really the only Cule out there who remembers Barcelona still have a major trophy to play for this Friday?

Pep Guardiola decided to leave his post as Barcelona manager in what was a highly anticipated and expected decision. The Catalan Master had been signing one-year contracts since he landed the Blaugrana job back in 2008, always arguing his time at the Camp Nou was limited and dependent on the 'feeling' he got from the players - which brings out the question: What really happened that made him leave?

Lionel Messi has won the La Liga Pichichi (top goalscorer) award after scoring a superhuman 50 goals in 37 matches. If we consider all competitions, La Pulga's tally adds up to a tremendous 72, which is more than any other player has ever achieved in any major European league.

While Leo Messi's goalscoring record is obviously a legendary individual achievement, I would be much happier if those goals actually meant Barcelona had won at least one of the two major trophies this season.

I must admit I was fairly surprised while reading your comments following my previous '10 Players Tito Vilanova May Sign For Barcelona 2012/13' article as most readers argued Barcelona must consider the signing of a new goalkeeper as an urgent, major priority. While I am delighted that you want to share your views with our fellow Barcelona fans and obviously understand everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I disagree.

Barcelona are only 2 matches away from closing the 2011/12 season. Despite having already won 3 titles (Club World Cup, European Supercup and Spanish Supercup) and having the chance to add La Copa del Rey in a couple of weeks, I can't help but feeling we missed a golden chance of retaining La Liga and Champions League this season.

Since Pep Guardiola announced he was leaving his post as Barcelona manager, many rumors have started filling the front pages of the Catalan media, mostly focusing on how newly-appointed Tito Vilanova will develop the team further and, inevitably, which players he has identified as main targets this summer.

Pep Guardiola has decided to leave FC Barcelona after 4 glorious years in which our club has achieved sporting excellence and matured into a much stronger, respected and well-organised institution.

Barcelona failed to qualify for the Champions League final after drawing 2-2 at home to Chelsea in the return leg of the semi-finals, losing 2-3 on aggregate in what can only be described as a 'footballing miracle'.

Whenever Barcelona face Real Madrid at the El Clasico, the world of football stops and watches. Every little move, every single detail is noticed, then analyzed for weeks to come.

Let's start by putting the truth out there: The best team won.

FC Barcelona's 1-0 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge can only be interpreted as 'The night when Drogba, Cech and his 9 mates survived the Blaugrana dominance by playing long balls'.

Chelsea chose to play ultra-defensively, openly admitting FC Barcelona's footballing superiority before the game kicked-off. Their plan to concentrate all their defensive efforts into stopping Messi, then hoof the ball up to Drogba worked pretty well though, as they ultimately achieved the result they wanted.