FOOTBALL TALKS is the new section of SHOWMYBIZZ where visitors will see us interviewing fan clubs , football journalist or individual football personals.
On today’s episode of football talks, we are joined by Omar Hawwash, journalist, co-host of the official Fc Barcelona live match coverages on twitch and founder of blaugranagram.
So enjoy as we talk about his love for Barcelona, inspiration for Blaugranagram, the current situation at the club and its future.
Omar: Hello, and thank you for having me!
My first waking memory would have to be the 5-0 victory for Barcelona over Real Madrid. The goal Messi scored in that 3-1 win over Real Madrid in the UCL semi-final also holds a special place in my heart.
Q: Please Tell us about, how did you started following FC Barcelona and what made you to be a fan of the club?
Omar: FC Barcelona's beautiful style of football, the culture around the club, everything about it. I grew up in a school where most people were Barcelona fans, and I was still getting into football at the time, so Barcelona were one of the teams I looked at - and I wound up loving it!
Q: How did the project 'Blaugranagram started? How it feels to have one of biggest fan pages on twitter?
Omar: Blaugranagram started.. it's quite a funny story, actually. The idea when I started off wasn't to start a company nor start a news outlet - it was to just get on Twitter since I heard it was a good platform for voicing opinions about football and engaging in healthy debates. So, that's what it started off as. Slowly I realized that no one really covered the news properly, it was all copy-paste (and to some extent for many accounts still is), and I felt I could fill that gap of integrity in news reporting when it came to covering FC Barcelona. So, I did. Slowly, my account kept growing, seeing as the approach I took was rather new: reporting news as a page, but with a personal touch - and that wasn't really seen before on Twitter, so it skyrocketed! After a while, it dawned upon me that I could turn this into something bigger, as my ambitions continued to grow - so I started branding it, getting more people on board, and in January 2021 registered it as an official company. I don't see us as a fan page, at all - we're a professional, independent news outlet and company, not merely a social media account in any way.
Q: As you are the CE0 of blaugranagram, how do you handle adversity at work and in life?
Omar: When it comes to adversity, I believe in two key aspects to any relationship (working or personal): transparency and honesty. If someone's late with something, I expect they inform me, just like I'd do the same if the tables were turned. I believe in taking initiative and putting your best foot forward, and organizing the things on your plate really helps you achieve that. As some people may have seen on the streams I feature in, I have a large whiteboard behind me at all times - that, as well as my calendar, help me keep everything in check, both with Blaugranagram as well as my personal life.
Q: How it makes you feel to have a competent president in Joan laporta and your views on whole financial situation and there's lot changes that happening within the club?
Omar: I feel confident with Joan Laporta in control, and the club's Board of Directors has shown good signs of what's to come, in my eyes, as have the many illustrious and promising talents at the club.
Q: what's your views on Koeman as a manager after what happened towards the end of the season the way we lost the league and there's a lot of him getting sacked this season?
Omar: I think Koeman gets a lot of slack, personally. This team is still in a rebuild phase, and Koeman came in mid-season and mid-pandemic, and helped turn the team around. Yes, the chance to win the league was there, but sometimes you make choices that turn out not to be the right ones - and you learn from your mistakes. He's helped a lot of youngsters grow into first team roles both last season and this season, and I think he's slowly figuring out how to fit those players, as well as the newcomers in Agüero, Memphis, and returning players such as Ansu and Coutinho, into the same mix. Barcelona, as a whole, is looking like a club going into a very promising few years, but this is a lengthy process, and it requires patience.
Q: If we count on the positives of last season's then we need to talk about likes of Pedri , Ansu fati or Araujo or Mingueza or Dest? How do you see them growing and how far they could go in their respective career?
Omar: As far as Mingueza, Araujo, Fati, Dest and Pedri goes, I think they've shown really good form, really good determination, a professional attitude and humility - the last two being some of the key values for players wanting to succeed in Catalonia while coming through the ranks. I think they can go very far, for sure, and it's about nurturing them as players and people, and ensuring they don't get too much pressure put on their shoulders, but at the same time are challenged when time calls for it.
Q: In context to last season, defence is struggling over and over again likes of Umtiti or Lenglet or even Pique (completely based on 20-21) are not good enough. So, What changes you wanna see in defence?
Omar: Last season showed some defensive instabilities, but I think we've seen some improvements this season with Eric Garcia coming to the fore, and Mingueza as well as Araujo taking on an even bigger role this season. Baldé is also a player I'm really excited to see this season, as he's shown very promising signs already. The defense might not be the best in Europe, but it's making its way back up after some years of struggle - and, after all, you can't always be the top team, and rebuilds do take time. So, for me, it's looking promising despite the, at times, disappointing results for Culés.
Q: What's your views on the last transfer window?
Omar: I'm happy with the club's transfer moves this past window. I know a lot of people frown upon some of the arrivals or departures, but some of the moves are temporary after all and give the club some leeway going into a tough season. It's all part of a longer process.
Q: There are lot of exciting player coming up from la masia, from what you see who would promote to first team this season?
Omar: I think Nico and Gavi have shown really interesting form. While I don't think they should be promoted just yet, simply based on the fact that I don't think they'd start in Koeman's system consistently, and it, thus, would make more sense to pull them up from time to time while helping them retain rhythm in the youth teams, I think we'll see much more of them this season - as well as Baldé.
Q: there's lot of rumours regarding Xavi managing barca, Is he ready to manage a club like barca? Your views on Xavi as manager.
Omar: I think Xavi is a good manager, and given the options on the market, if Barcelona would want to replace Koeman in the future, I could see Xavi being a name that gets pulled out the hat. I think that, with his managerial experience only being in Qatar, an argument could be made that maybe he should coach sides in Europe before taking on the reigns at Barcelona - then again, Guardiola was quite unproven when he took over, and we saw how that ended!
Q:With likes of jordi cruyff, mateu alemany and Rafael yuste at the club, how do you see them making impact on sporting areas?
Omar: I think Mateu Alemany and Rafael Yuste definitely will have a positive impact on the club, as we've already seen - as will Jordi Cruyff.
Q: What's your expectations for 2021-2022 season?
Omar: For the 2021-22 season, my expectations would be that Barcelona will challenge for the league title, potentially win the Copa del Rey and get somewhat far in the Champions League. But again, a lot of the teams that Barcelona will face this year already have their identities and players set in stone - Barcelona are *still* in a rebuild phase, and comparing them to, say, Bayern Munich, is comparing apples to oranges. I think it's integral that the Blaugrana faithful consider the club's situation with all the aspects that includes, and looks at things from a different perspective. This club will return to the heights it once was at, but losing Lionel Messi as suddenly as they did, was always going to be a big blow, and would be for literally any other club in the world. It's a process - and this rebuild takes time, and requires patience. That's my expectation: I think we'll see a lot of things happen with the club with the approach of a rebuild, more so than immediate results, and so, while the results might not be amazing, the games will be part of a larger process that will get the new players (both signings as well as youngsters coming through) well-integrated, while slowly but surely building the future of FC Barcelona.
Thank you for an insight in your career, and I wish you the best of luck going forward. Thank you man! We will always be grateful for this.
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