Pep Guardiola: The Evolution E-Book

Martí Perarnau

• Herausgeber: Arena Sport
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Seitenzahl: 610

Beschreibung

For three extraordinary seasons at Bayern Munich, Martin Perarnau was given total access around the German super club – to its players, its backroom staff, its board members and, above all, to its manager, Pep Guardiola. In the follow-up to his critically acclaimed account of Guardiola's first full season at Bayern, Pep Confidential, Perarnau now lifts the lid on the Catalan's whole tenure in Bavaria. Pep Guardiola: The Evolution takes the reader on a journey through three action packed seasons as Bayern smashed domestic records yet struggled to emulate that dominance in Europe, analysing Guardiola's management style through key moments on and off the field. Perarnau reveals how Guardiola improved as a manager at Bayern despite failing to land the ultimate prize in European football, examines his decision to leave Germany to take up the challenge at Manchester City and how his managerial style will continue to evolve in the Premier League. This is more than the story of three seasons with one of the biggest clubs in the game. It is a portrait and analysis of a manager and the footballing philosophies that have beguiled the world.

Leseprobe

First published in Great Britain in 2016 byARENA SPORTAn imprint of Birlinn LimitedWest Newington House10 Newington RoadEdinburghEH9 1QS

www.arenasportbooks.co.uk

Copyright © Martí Perarnau, 2016Translation © Louise Hunter, 2016

ISBN: 9781909715493eBook ISBN: 9780857909220

First published in Spain in 2016 byRoca Editorial as Pep Guardiola: La Metamorfosis

The right of Martí Perarnau to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form, or by any means electronic, mechanical or photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the express written permission of the publisher.

Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and obtain their permission for the use of copyright material. The publisher apologises for any errors or omissions and would be grateful if notified of any corrections that should be incorporated in future reprints or editions of this book.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available on request from the British Library.

Designed and typeset by Polaris Publishing, Edinburgh

Printed and bound by Clays St Ives

Put your work twenty times upon the anvil,polish it ceaselessly, and polish it again.Nicolas Boileau

CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PREFACE

1THE CHAMELEON

2WHY CITY?

- THE INFLUENCE OF TXIKI AND SORIANO

3HOW GERMANY CHANGED PEP

- RE-PRIORITISING

- PREPARATION AND A PASSION FOR DETAIL

- IDEOLOGICAL ECLECTICISM

- DOUBT AND DECISION MAKING

- INNOVATION

- BARRIERS TO INNOVATION

4WHAT MAKES HIM THE BEST?

- NO MORE DOGMA

- SWISS ARMY KNIVES

- ADAPTING AND LEARNING

- KIMMICH AS CENTRE HALF – LUCK, INTUITION AND GUTS

- TACTICS

- PEP’S RULES

- TAKING THE INITIATIVE (BY KASPÁROV)

- POSITIONAL PLAY, ‘DISPOSITIONAL’ PLAY

- COMPLEMENTARY PLAYERS

- SPEED AND ‘PAUSA’

- PINNING THE OPPOSITION AND THEN OPENING THEM UP

5PEP’S INFLUENCE ON GERMAN FOOTBALL

- WHAT PEP GAVE TO THE BUNDESLIGA

- TUCHEL, PEP’S POSSIBLE HEIR

- HIS IMPACT ON THE NATIONAL TEAM

- HIS PLAYERS’ PROGRESS

6STRATEGIC PLANNING

- THE PLAYING MODEL

- GAME PLANS

- TEAM CULTURE

- SKY BLUE SPIRIT

- HIS ALLIES, THE PLAYERS

7FACING ADVERSITY

- MEDICAL MATTERS

- PEP’S PERSONALITY

8NURTURING TALENT

- CULTIVATING TALENT THROUGH GOOD HABITS

- THE IMPORTANCE OF RECALL

- LANGUAGE AS A WEAPON OF CONFUSION

- FOOTBALL AS A METALANGUAGE

- SHARING KNOWLEDGE

9IF I MUST LOSE, I WANT TO CHOOSE HOW

- A SACCHI TEAM

- A MAJOR HEADACHE

- KEEPING THEM FRESH

- THE LAST DEFEAT

- LOOKING FOR A GAP

- BEFORE THE BATTLE

- DOWN AND OUT

- NOBODY ALWAYS WINS, NOT EVEN PELÉ . . .

10ARTISTIC SOUL, RATIONAL MIND

- IDEAS THIEVES

- AN OBJECTIVE, DRIVEN ROMANTIC

11A FEROCIOUS COMPETITOR

- AFTER EVEREST

- RUN LIKE BASTARDS

- NEVER RELAX, LEDECKY

- DRESS FOR CEREMONY, PREPARE FOR BATTLE

12BINGEING ON VICTORY

- ON THE SAME WAVELENGTH

- THOSE WHO WISH TO UNDERSTAND HIM WILL UNDERSTAND HIM

13THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE YET

- HOW WILL GUARDIOLA’S CITY PLAY?

- PLAYING WITH PATIENCE . . . AND WINGERS

- WHAT AWAITS HIM IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE

14IT TAKES TIME

- FOOTBALL IN CONSTANT FLUX

- TEMPUS FUGIT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ILLUSTRATIONS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Sitting on a ball, Pep watches Thiago and Müller practising free kicks. The training session finished a while ago but a few players have stayed back for some extra practice. They play Juventus in a few days and are keen to practise shooting. As always Guardiola will be the last one to leave the training pitch. Loles Vives

Guardiola talks the author through his game plan for Bayern’s game against Juventus. It will be a sensational Champions League match, full of drama, emotion and superb football. Isaac Lluch

Thursday, 19 May 2016: Guardiola’s last training session at Bayern. It’s raining, as it was on his first day here and Pep decides to clear away the balls himself. This is his adiós to Säbener Strasse. Loles Vives

Bayern have just beaten Juventus in the Champions League after an agonising extra time. Estiarte, Guardiola, Planchart and Torrent show their delight as they go up in the coach’s private lift in the Allianz Arena. This is where Pep has shared many of his most private thoughts over the last three years. Martí Perarnau

When the players returned from holiday in July 2015, they were met with the season’s objective painted on the dressing room walls: the conquest of their fourth consecutive Bundesliga trophy. Martí Perarnau

All the walls at Säbener Strasse were adorned with motifs relating to the main objective of 2015-2016: to win the league for a fourth time, making Bayern the first champions to achieve this in the history of German football. ‘Jeder Für’s Team’ (Every Man for the Team) was the dressing room’s motto that season. Martí Perarnau

Guardiola wrote this good luck message for his successor at Säbener Strasse: ‘The very best of luck Carlo, with all good wishes!’ Ancelotti was delighted when he read it. Martí Perarnau

Pep is doused in beer by David Alaba as Bayern celebrate their 2016 Bundesliga title. Getty Images

Pep receives his Manchester City training kit from Director of Football, Txiki Begiristain, 3 July 2016, shortly after his unveiling to the fans. During this first appearance as City’s new manager, he made his priorities clear: ‘The first objective is to play well. After that we need to win the next game and then the next and then the one after that . . .’ Getty Images

Pep, draped in a City scarf, is pictured at the club’s training complex after his first press conference. Getty Images

Coming back to Munich: on 21 July 2016 Pep was back training his men in Säbener Strasse, although this time it was with Manchester City, not Bayern. He was given a warm, affectionate welcome by his former players (pictured, Xabi Alonso and Thiago with Domènec Torrent and Carles Planchart) and the fans. Martí Perarnau

Pep focused on the fundamental parts of his game from his first training session at Manchester City: bringing out the ball, sticking to positions, looking for free men . . . The midfielders (Fernandinho and Fernando pictured) are a key part of his playing style. Getty Images

Nolito is one of the five new players Guardiola brought to City in summer 2016. Wingers are essential to Pep’s game. Getty Images

Guardiola has expanded the technical team who will help him achieve his objectives at Manchester City. Pictured, Pep with Domènec Torrent, assistant coach; Mikel Arteta, co-assistant coach; and Lorenzo Buenaventura, fitness coach. Getty Images

PREFACE

Pep Guardiola didn’t read Pep Confidential: Pep Guardiola’s First Season at Bayern Munich, which was published in 2014. Nor has he read this book. He chose not to review what had been said about him before Pep Guardiola: The Evolution was published nor was he tempted to read it afterwards. Not even out of sheer curiosity. Back in Munich one of his friends asked him why. ‘I don’t want to read it,’ Guardiola explained. ‘At least not yet. Maybe in fifteen, twenty years I’ll sit down with it and enjoy reliving my days at Bayern. But not now.’

He is an unusual man. A man who allows a writer into the intimacy of the dressing room and gives him no-holds barred access around one of the world’s biggest football clubs and to the inner workings of his mind, yet shows no interest in what is being written about him.

This attitude surely explains more about his character than a thousand words ever could.

Like a teenager leaving home for the first time, Pep’s experiences in Germany changed him and this book is a detailed description of that metamorphosis. It is a new, improved Pep Guardiola who takes over in Manchester, the toughest challenge of his managerial career and his third phase as a coach.

His first job as coach, his ‘Azulgrana Period’, was marked by Guardiola’s unique philosophy and unrelenting pursuit of excellence at Barcelona. His ‘Red Period’ in Munich showed us his ability to adapt to a different football culture, a process to which he brought his own challenging and, for some, disturbingly creative ideas. Now at the start of Guardiola’s ‘Blue Period’, a blank canvas lies before City’s new coach. This is a very different man from the one we watched in Barcelona and then in Munich, although he has lost nothing of his essence in the process.

I first mentioned this book to Pep in June 2016 when he had said his farewells to Bayern and had started his summer holidays immediately prior to his presentation in Manchester. As usual, he wasn’t sure about my proposition.

‘When I move on I like to make a clean break of it,’ he said. ‘I’ve been very happy in Munich, I’ve had great relationships with everyone at the club but that’s all in the past now. I don’t think it’s worth your while to write about the last two years.’

At that point I had to tell him the truth: ‘Actually Pep . . . I’ve already written it. I’ve being working on it, on and off, for the last two years.’

‘Oh well, in that case, maybe all that work shouldn’t go to waste . . .’

And that’s how this book came to be published. I had no particular plan, the protagonist has had no interest in reading it and I wrote it without really knowing if it would ever be published.

Pep Guardiola: The Evolution is presented in fourteen chapters including fifty anecdotes and notes from my personal experience which develop and explain the themes I discuss.

All the chapters (except the last one) end with coverage of particular matches as well as details of tactics and other related topics. I have called these the Backstages. Readers can choose to read these as they go along or dip in to them as they see fit.

1

THE CHAMELEON

It is ideas, not machines, which drive the world.Victor Hugo

WOODY ALLEN SMILED his iconic dry grin as he greeted Guardiola. ‘Great to meet you, Pep, but you may find us boring company tonight. None of us are particularly interested in football . . .’

‘No problem, Woody, I love cinema. And aren’t you a basketball fan? Maybe we could talk about the Knicks instead.’

The next couple of hours flew by as the conversation and wine flowed and the New York Knicks’ uphill struggles were debated back and forth. Pep, a devoted fan of Gregg Popovich, was in his element. The Catalan has a reputation for being intense, dogmatic and stubborn. In fact he’s quite the reverse. A natural chameleon, Pep knows instinctively how to adapt to every situation. And this natural ability proved vital to his success in Germany where he quickly realised that, in order to impose his vision and ideas, he would have to adapt. To the club, to the players, to their opponents . . . After all, it is not the strongest or the smartest who triumph in the end but those who are willing to adapt.

In Barcelona we admired Pep’s passion, ambition, talent and tenacious self-belief. Then in Germany we saw a new side to the obdurate, inflexible, relentless Spaniard as Pep’s innate eclecticism and natural adaptability came to the fore.

In hindsight it’s clear that only by going through this evolution could Pep remain true to himself.

‘When I first arrived in Munich I thought I could more or less transfer Barça’s game to Bayern but what I actually did was marry the two,’ reflected Guardiola when conversation at last turned to football. ‘I brought the Barça philosophy and adapted it to Bayern and the players there. And the result was fucking brilliant! It was a learning curve, though. I had to learn to adapt and there’s no doubt I’m a better coach for it. It’s something I am taking to my next club.’

Arguably, this versatility makes Pep more of a disciple to the principles of the late, great Johan Cruyff than ever before given that such adaptability is one of the central tenets of Dutch ‘total football’. He came to Germany to play Cruyff’s football at Beckenbauer’s club and in the end produced a potent mix of both philosophies.

After Cruyff’s death in March 2016 Pep was asked what tribute the world should make to the great man. ‘Pay attention to what he taught us,’ he replied. Bayern captain, Philipp Lahm, his own loyal disciple and Pep’s direct representative on the pitch confirmed this. ‘Cruyff’s philosophy was to play football. Nothing more, nothing less. His game was not about controlling the opposition but controlling the ball and your own game. And that’s what we did under Pep.’ Domènec Torrent, Pep’s assistant, added, ‘The Pep we see today has synthesised all that he was taught by Cruyff at Barça with everything he learned at Beckenbauer’s club.’

And this potent mix of football ideas has produced a unique kind of powerful, fluid, total football. West Ham coach Slaven Bilić predicts that ‘the next revolution will be the death of the system’, and Guardiola certainly appears to be in the vanguard of this revolution. ‘Systems don’t matter, it’s ideas that count.’

Guardiola today is undoubtedly a better coach despite the fact that he was unable to lead Bayern to another treble or victory in the Champions League. Indeed, under Guardiola Bayern failed even to make it to a Champions League final. He did however win seven trophies with the Munich club, smashing all German records by conquering three successive league competitions and doing so by playing dominant, stylish and multifaceted football. He may not have left Germany the all-conquering hero fans may have wished for and, if your measure of success is limited to trophies alone, then he certainly fell short of the expectations of many. Guardiola didn’t win everything in Germany. But, boy, did he transform their game. German broadcaster Uli Köhler puts it like this, ‘He left us something very special – the memory of a unique brand of football. A football that Bayern will never play again and the fans will never see again.’

‘I’VE BEEN VERY HAPPY HERE’Doha, 5 January 2016

Guardiola has just announced that he’s leaving and Bayern receives this message from fan, Marco Thielsch.

‘It’s desperately sad news that you’re leaving although I accept that you made no promises and always said that you would only ever be a small part of the history of our club. I’ve been a Bayern fan for more than thirty years and can tell you that I have never enjoyed my team’s football as much as I have in the last two and a half years. Stylish and entertaining. I couldn’t even begin to recount all the amazing moments you and the players have given us. It’s been a joy to watch my team play such exceptional football and I’ve been moved to tears on numerous occasions. You’ve said that many will consider your job half done because you didn’t win the Champions League, but I can tell you that many of us see things very differently. I want to win everything. Of course I do. But I want to win playing your way. Enthralling, beautiful football. I can’t really express how much I love your football. And no matter what we win, your legacy will live on in our hearts and in the memories of the wonderful times you have brought us.

‘You are an absolute inspiration and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Let’s all make the most of the last six months.’

Pep was visibly moved by the message.

‘This is what it’s all about. If my work here has affected even one fan as much as this, then it’s definitely all been worth it.’

Pep’s ‘unfinished symphony’ in Munich has echoes in one of the biggest disappointments of Cruyff’s career – his defeat at the hands of Beckenbauer’s Germany in the 1974 World Cup Final. Holland lost the game that day in Munich but, in one of the strange ironies of football, emerged the victors in terms of the universal admiration they received for the way they played. Germany got the trophy but in the eyes of the world the ‘Clockwork Orange’ won the day.

Only time will tell whether Guardiola, Cruyff’s natural heir, will see his ‘unfinished symphony’ become a permanent legacy, his failures transformed into lasting triumphs. Nobody can say with certainty just how far Pep’s influence will impact the future evolution of German football but one thing is for sure, he has already become a significant part of Bundesliga history.

Domènec Torrent is certain that Pep has had a permanent impact on German football. ‘Pep’s legacy is a combination of his unique ideas about football, his talent and his versatility. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was right when he said that as time goes on, we’ll come to appreciate just how much of an impact he’s made. I’ve lost count of the number of German coaches who’ve contacted us over the last few months to say just that. Pep has left a wealth of football knowledge and ideas in Germany.’

For German analyst Tobias Escher it’s mostly about positional play. ‘Before Guardiola arrived nobody in Germany knew anything about positional play.’

He may have won less silverware in Munich than he did in Barcelona (fourteen out of a possible nineteen at Barça, seven out of a possible fourteen at Bayern) but Guardiola believes himself to be a better coach than he was in 2012 when he left Barça for Bayern.

‘I’m a better coach now because at Barça it was all about the team getting the ball to Messi so that he could score. At Bayern I had to come up with a variety of options; this player had to move into that zone, that one needed to move up behind him . . . I really had to roll up my sleeves and work out lots of alternatives and I learned a huge amount in the process.’

At Bayern, Pep had to adapt to complex and at times hostile situations. He faced endless setbacks and the kinds of difficulties he had never encountered before. Fortunately, his innate talent and natural versatility allowed him to develop and flourish and the Bundesliga wrought permanent changes in him. Fitness coach Lorenzo Buenaventura spotted it early on, just a few months into Pep’s reign, ‘Pep’s changing Bayern but Germany’s changing Pep too.’

The man who arrived in England in July 2016 was different from the guy who went to Germany in 2013. His enthusiasm and ambition remain as strong as ever but he appears more human, more flesh and blood. Manchester receives not the idealised quasi-deity of three years ago but a real human being with flaws and imperfections. His time in Germany may have exposed those flaws to the world but he is all the better for it.

You only have to compare the press photos of his arrival at Bayern in June 2013 with those taken in July 2016 in Manchester. In Munich he’s wearing an impeccable grey suit, a grey tie, Italian shirt and a smart waistcoat. His shoes are shined to perfection and he’s sporting a brilliant white handkerchief in his top pocket. This is style-conscious Pep, surrounded by the Bayern management team and looking for all the world like the new CEO of some massive multinational corporation. He has dressed for a photo shoot and the look is elegance, refinement, glamour, perfection.

Fast forward three years and it’s a very different image Pep offers the cameras. He’s dressed casually. A short-sleeved grey shirt, jeans, trainers and a sports jacket which he quickly strips off. This is a man of action. A modern man who’s relaxed and comfortable in his own skin. Ready for hard work. This image is all about energy, decisiveness and focus but it also says, ‘I’m a normal guy, just like you.’ The fans can be reassured that he’s one of them. A new era has begun.

THANKS PEPMunich, 22 May 2016

Bayern’s players are gathered on the balcony of the Munich town hall, celebrating another double. Not only have they won their fourth Bundesliga title in a row but yesterday they won the Cup in Berlin. It was Guardiola’s last match in charge. Nobody’s got much sleep. Pep’s wearing a white t-shirt and tracksuit trousers. The word ‘Double’ is emblazoned on the t-shirt. He’s obviously not shaved this morning and, in the land famed for the quality of its beer, is clutching a celebratory glass of white wine. He’s surrounded by staff and players, just one of the lads. This is a truly united team. He’s clearly emotional, full of gratitude to and affection for the people around him. Just a normal guy. In Marienplatz, where they’re celebrating the double, a senior member of a Bayern supporters’ club (Club Nr. 12) has taken his shirt off so that everyone can see what’s written on his chest. ‘Danke Pep’ (Thanks, Pep).

Guardiola showed enormous ingenuity and resilience in his three-year tenure at Bayern. Having to cope with seemingly interminable setbacks and problems gave him a toughness that he perhaps lacked on his arrival. Managing the stress effectively was crucial and by treating each new obstacle as a learning opportunity he avoided the mental and physical exhaustion he had experienced in the past. Obviously adored by the players, club staff, the directors and fans, Guardiola left Munich relaxed and happy. As Benjamin Zander says, if you judge success by the number of tears shed at your departure then Bayern’s players clearly believed their departing coach had been a major triumph and there were many, long, emotional goodbyes in the privacy of the Säbener Strasse dressing room.

On a personal level, Pep learned a great deal from his time at Munich. His new approach – learn from your mistakes and move on – prevented the burn-out of his fourth and final year at Barcelona as did his decision to leave Bayern after three seasons. Saying ‘no’ has always been difficult for Pep but this time he knew he should trust his instincts. He was then able to take on the City job without any need for a sabbatical year. A quick visit to New York with his family to see the NBA final and then straight to Manchester, refreshed and ready to go. If Pep still had much to learn when he arrived in Germany, then his time there certainly taught him some tough lessons about the realities of life at the top and helped him mature and grow as a coach.

Bayern’s announcement of Pep’s departure was immediately met by an outpouring of vitriol against the coach. One day the press were furious that Lewandowski wasn’t playing, the next it was Müller’s absence that riled them, then Götze’s. Suddenly Guardiola could do nothing right and his decision to leave had turned him into the German media’s whipping boy. If he would just give one media outlet a personal exclusive Pep was told, he would be protected and the critics would be silenced . . .

Of course towards the end of his time at Bayern Pep was most harshly criticised for his failure to win the Champions League. The sensationalist press were the most vociferous as was anyone who had watched Bayern’s football for three years without truly ‘seeing’ it. To be fair, it isn’t easy to grasp the complexities of the modern game. It requires a sharp, open mind and a certain amount of humility to understand exactly what’s happening on the pitch whether it’s the aggressive, high-tempo football of Ranieri at Leicester or Guardiola at Bayern. Otherwise, you end up with superficial impressions and sloppy analysis.

Creativity is a vital part of football. And I’m not talking just about what happens on the pitch. A modern coach has to be just as innovative and creative as any player. British educationalist Ken Robinson says, ‘Creativity isn’t about producing one extravagant work of art after another. Creativity is the highest form of intellectual expression.’

Some would say that football has nothing to do with the intellectual. It’s about athletic prowess and technical know-how. I beg to differ. Football is all this and more. It’s about ideas. New ideas from players and coaches have always been the motor that drives football and ensures its evolution.

Several months ago I read an interesting quote from Dutch fitness coach Raymond Verheijen, a man I rarely agree with but who on this occasion seemed to be talking sense. ‘In football, most people prefer the status quo because they fear making a mistake. It’s like a primitive sub-culture where criticism is not tolerated and people protect and defend established ideas. People in the game dislike anyone who questions them because it makes them uncomfortable and nobody enjoys being uncomfortable. In football there are many, many things we could do much better, more intelligently.’

Football can only move forward if we are prepared to embrace new ideas. As Ken Robinson says, ‘Every scientific development starts with an idea. An original, creative idea born of critical understanding.’

Sadly, however, creativity remains a dirty word for many in football. People cling to obsolete ideas and attitudes, determined to stay anchored to the comfort and security of the past. The world of football has an atavistic aversion to concepts like innovation and change.

And now, with his ‘unfinished symphony’ behind him, Guardiola takes on the greatest challenge of his career. He has come to the birthplace of football to impose his own ideas on English football. Perhaps some see him as a kind of preaching evangelist. His right-hand man, Domènec Torrent, insists that nothing could be further from the truth. ‘Let’s be clear. Pep hasn’t come to Manchester to revolutionise English football, nor to teach people how the game should be played. He brings his own ideas, his own approach to the game but these will develop and enhance what’s already here. It’s not about changing everything or teaching people how things should be done. There are a thousand different ways to play football. Pep’s approach is just one way. Some people like it, some don’t. It has been successful of course but nobody is claiming that this is the only way to play football. Let me say it again so that no-one’s left in any doubt. Pep’s not the Messiah or some kind of evangelist on a mission to change football. He’s here to offer his vision of the game, learn from those who have other ideas and then create effective, entertaining football.’

It’s going to be a tough job. Pep has inherited a team without any well-defined style, which seems to lack the ambition and drive he could count on at Barcelona and Bayern. He understands that he has been hired to improve how the team plays and performs, at a time when the squad needs a huge regeneration in terms of new players (half of the previous season’s players were over thirty) knowing that he must compete with outstanding coaches like Antonio Conte, José Mourinho and Jürgen Klopp as well as world-class players like Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Granit Xhaka and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

And all of this in an idiosyncratic football environment radically different to the ones Guardiola is familiar with. It will be a greater challenge than at Barcelona in 2008, when he lacked experience but had returned to his boyhood club. Different too from Bayern in 2013 when, with an impressive track record behind him, he had expectations of a second treble to contend with. Manchester City will be a totally new experience. A club without its own developed football philosophy or brand of football. Quality of preparation and planning will be absolutely vital. As he himself puts it, ‘This is the most difficult job I have ever faced.’



BACKSTAGE 1

TOOTH AND NAILMunich, 10 September 2014

Last night Spain played France in the quarter-final of the Basketball World Cup in Madrid. The major shock is that France won 65-52. Just a week previously, the Spanish team had trounced France 88-64 as well as seeing off Senegal, Brazil and Serbia (who ended as defeated World Cup finalists). Spain reached the quarter final with six straight wins so being hammered by France was shattering. Having reflected long and hard on the defeat, Manel Estiarte, the most successful athlete in water polo history (an Olympic and world champion) and now Pep Guardiola’s personal assistant at Bayern Munich, concludes, ‘For a long time a worrying theme has been gnawing away at me when I analyse the patterns of elite sport. When you look at the top teams, it seems to me that their own greatness can actually become an Achilles heel. Not everyone will agree but I reckon that, having achieved so much, they can no longer even conceive of being beaten. I’m not saying it applies to every single great team, nor will it happen all the time, but if you look at any sport – basketball, football, handball – elite teams can become so unused to defeat that if the opposition goes ahead unexpectedly, they can be so taken aback that they fail to react. As if the idea of losing is a completely alien concept. Whether it happens because they are a little short of sharpness, because the rival’s bang on their game or because the referee has had a bad night – whatever.

‘Let’s take football as an example. There was the Bernabéu Clásico in 2009 which Pep’s team won 6-2 and then Barça beat Madrid 5-0 at the Camp Nou a year later. José Mourinho was in charge of Madrid by then and he had an outstanding team. Remember Jürgen Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund beating Jupp Heynckes’ Bayern in the German Cup? They won 5-2 and made Bayern look absolutely helpless. Then Heynckes’ lads thrashed Barça 7-0. Messi, Xavi, Iniesta & co were completely overwhelmed. Or last year when Carlo Ancelotti’s Madrid hammered us in Munich (4-0), or Germany stuffing Brazil 7-1 in their own backyard during the World Cup . . . You see it more and more often. Two elite teams go head to head, one of them scores and the other one inexplicably starts to fall apart until they lose it altogether.’ In the weeks following Estiarte’s comments, there were a couple of new examples when Bayern beat Roma 7-1 in Rome and Spurs whipped Mourinho’s Chelsea 5-3 at White Hart Lane.

‘This is my theory,’ continued Estiarte. ‘Successful teams are so used to winning that it becomes a habit. They go out expecting a victory and don’t even consider the prospect of defeat. They don’t necessarily expect an easy game – no way. But normally, if their opponent goes 1-0 up, they’re confident they can turn the game around quickly. Then one day you’re in the middle of a game against another strong rival and the other side takes the lead. It feels particularly bad if an apparently tight game is suddenly altered by a fluke goal or because you’ve screwed up or perhaps because the referee’s having a bad day and influences things unfairly. All you know is they’ve caught you unawares and are now ahead. Subconsciously the team which has taken a “hit” finds that they’re suddenly suffering from a glass jaw. Then the opposition put a second goal away and suddenly you’re 2-0 down. This is a game you “should be winning”. You’re a “better team”, results state that you’re on much better form than them and you’ve planned this contest to the last detail.

‘But here you are, on the back foot and struggling to impose yourselves. Perhaps you even deserve to be leading! But they’ve produced a one-two pair of blows and you’re on the canvas with no idea how to get off it.

‘Smaller teams are used to losing matches. They go into games mentally prepared to be battered and are used to trying to cope with that. Elite players on the other hand, never, ever expect to lose. They respect big rivals but never consider the idea that they might be dealt a knockout blow by them.

‘As Joe Louis said, “Everyone’s got a plan until you get punched in the mouth.”*

‘Suddenly you’re one- or two-nil down, unexpectedly, possibly unjustly, and on the canvas without knowing why or how.

‘So, instead of just hanging on to the rival, grabbing them round the neck and not letting go until you can breathe again and regain your composure, like boxers do, you carry on playing as you’d do normally and that’s when they really hammer you.

‘I know it’s a generalisation and there are thousands of exceptions, but I believe that we’ve lost some of the warrior spirit of the past. I’m thinking here of the great Balkan teams, from the old Yugoslavia and around that region, I played against who, despite being technically weaker, would fight tooth and nail until the final whistle, and sometimes beyond.

‘You’re superior and you’re leading but they cling on and won’t let go – not while they’ve got a breath left in their lungs. Or in football, the Italian teams who, once they’re a goal ahead, close down the match so that it’s impossible to get past them. Or the great German sides who’d know that so long as there were two or three minutes left in a game they could draw or win no matter what the scoreboard told them. In athletics the English middle-distance runners have always shown that kind of grit and determination too. A metre or two left in the race and they could still grind their way home ahead of the leader.

‘Football has to do something about this. The great teams need to work on this, to regain their toughness. Look what happened to us last season against Madrid in the Champions League. A lot was going wrong for us at the time and we were struggling with injuries and 1-0 in the first leg at the Bernabéu was not a disaster by any means. We’d played well and deserved a draw at least. We left Madrid with the feeling of having passed up a golden opportunity.

‘Let me tell you, if I’m in the seventieth minute of a Champions League semi-final second leg and my team only needs to score once to force extra time I’d not be thinking that this was a terrible situation to be in.

‘But, being Bayern, that wasn’t good enough. We’re an elite team. We demand nothing less than glory and we wanted to get after Madrid in the second leg. Which is when they sucker-punched us from a corner which we shouldn’t have conceded. Madrid score.

‘Now at 2-0 things look a little more complicated. Then they win a free kick which, again, we shouldn’t have conceded. They score again. Another huge sucker punch. And we fall apart. A team like ours isn’t accustomed to taking hits like we were suddenly receiving. In fact a side like Bayern is more used to dealing out those sucker punches. Suddenly it feels like a disaster of unheard of proportions and we’re powerless to respond. So the blows become a knockout.

‘I think there’s a pattern through all the previous football examples and the France–Spain basketball shock. Spain came into the quarter final quite reasonably thinking that they could and would win but they were suddenly flat out on the canvas and couldn’t claw their way back.

‘I’m not saying that any of this is the fault of players, or coaches, or their tactics. It’s just that teams nowadays have reached such an elite level that they cannot countenance failure. Great football teams these days are probably the best of all time, that’s why there have been so many league records set in Europe in recent years. Records of unbeaten matches, points at the end of a season, goals scored, and fewest goals conceded . . . But the “greater” our football teams get, the less able to imagine or deal with a shock setback they become. So that when things do go wrong, they don’t always have the resources to claw and fight their way back into a contest.

‘Maybe I’m wrong but I really believe that we need to recuperate some of that Balkan fighting spirit. We need to plan for those times when everything seems to have gone horribly wrong and you’re completely overwhelmed. You take a punch to the mouth, but you hold on. You swallow the blood, clear your head, stop thinking about how things “should be” or the pre-match plans, about whether there’s been an injustice or whether the deficit is merited or not. No thinking “but we’re the favorites here!” You hold on, you buy time, you keep it to 1-0 instead of letting go. Then, just maybe, you reach the last fifteen minutes and you’re still in the match – and anything can happen then. If you don’t get overwhelmed then just maybe you’ll get a break – a bit of luck. Or perhaps they’ll switch off. So then if you suddenly put one away, it’s the rival who’s shocked and thrown off course – and then you can go on and win a contest where you felt either on the ropes or actually on the canvas.

‘Some will recognise these themes, some won’t. But I think there’s a central truth in all of this and that “great” coaches and players need to review differently and prepare more effectively. So that one day when a rival has us on the ropes and all the pre-match plans are in tatters we’ll be able to dig deep and bring out “inner Balkan”.’

* the quote is often mistakenly attributed to Mike Tyson

2

WHY CITY?

I would rather my mind was moved by curiosityThan closed by convictionGerry Spence

WHY DID PEP Guardiola leave Bayern for Manchester City? Why give up a wonderful life in Munich, a legendary European club and a group of extraordinary players whom you have worked so hard to mould and develop? For a man who has spent his life in clubs steeped in history, Manchester City might indeed seem an unusual choice.

Perhaps the question answers itself. He has come from a giant of European football history and feels attracted by a club less bound by tradition and custom. In City he will hear far less of the ‘but this is the way we’ve always done it . . .’

And we should remember: Pep’s a pretty unconventional guy. Unlike most successful coaches, having completed his three-year contract at Bayern, he opted to reject the club’s extremely generous contract renewal offer. His task complete, he needed something new: fresh challenges – the opportunity to grow and change.

Pep keeps his word. He’ll always see his commitments through but don’t expect him to stay a day longer than promised. He sees things differently from the rest of us. Why else would he leave Messi at the height of his talent and bid adios to the mesmerising talent of Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta and then, three years later, do the same with Neuer, Lahm and Alaba?

It’s just the way he is. Having built the best team in the world at Barcelona, possibly the best ever, it was time to go. Once his players at Bayern had absorbed and perfected his brand of football, he was off.

Pep has always embraced change. For him life is about learning and growth. Catalan architect Miquel del Pozo puts it like this, ‘Pep is like an artist who completes his masterpiece and then moves on. He has that same creative drive. The important thing for a true artist is the process of creating, not the finished product. He immerses himself in his work but when it’s complete and ready to be presented to the world, he loses interest.’

Which may explain why he signed for just three seasons at Bayern and why he has now done the same at Manchester City. His approach calls to mind Hungarian coach Bela Guttmann who had a similarly unconventional view of life: ‘Staying on for a third consecutive season at the same club usually ends in disaster.’ Guttmann, who had a degree in psychology, was an outstanding coach who managed the great Honved team of Puskas and Bozsik, helped develop the spread of Brazil’s 4-2-4 formation using the Hungarian tactic of the ‘false 9’ and who also won Benfica two consecutive European Cups (as well as then infamously cursing them, when they sacked him, and bearing a grudge which has lasted until today: ‘Never again, not in a hundred years, will Benfica win another European Cup.’) He was probably the first to understand that short-term contracts were preferable to the burn-out caused by years of intense, high-pressure work at the same club. Like Guardiola, the Hungarian was passionate about acquiring knowledge, getting under the skin of his players and drawing the best out of them. He adored travelling and loved discovering new ideas, new ways of doing things. For him too, football was his passion and his life.

Pep consistently flouts conventional attitudes and follows his own instincts. He has never wanted to become a permanent fixture at any club nor put down roots in one location. He craves new experiences and loves to travel and learn. Ultimately, he needs that sense of freedom.

A gruelling fourth term at Barcelona taught Guardiola that three seasons are sufficient for a group of players to learn, apply and perfect any model of play. By the end of that fourth year he also experienced the fatigue that can creep in after a sustained period of such intense and demanding work. Guardiola’s brand of man management does not have a low gear and he demands the same level of hard graft and intense focus from his players as he does of himself. Xabi Alonso speaks from first-hand experience: ‘Pep and his team basically put me through a fast-track Master’s degree in football. Obviously the workload was incredibly tough and Pep would have us all repeating the same moves again and again until they were completely automatic. He’s so pedantic about everything that he picks up on every tiny detail, when you get it right as well as when you get it wrong. It’s not just about tactics either. It’s much more to do with his whole philosophy. You have to be paying attention at all times and be pretty quick on the uptake. Under Pep all of us at Bayern had to develop the ability to grasp new concepts and apply them immediately.’

There’s no question that this work ethic produces extraordinary results or that Guardiola’s techniques create better, more skilled and accomplished footballers. But all of this comes at a cost and history shows us that the consequence of such a relentlessly demanding approach can often be exhaustion and burn-out for both the coach and his players.

THE INFLUENCE OF TXIKI AND SORIANO

If an idea isn’t absurd to begin with it’s not worth anything.Albert Einstein

The presence of Txiki Begiristain and Ferran Soriano at Manchester City was another crucial factor in Pep’s decision. The three men made an effective team at Barcelona and have complete confidence in each other.

Begiristain and Soriano welcomed their new coach to a club which could offer a rich history without either the restrictions of unyielding dogma and tradition or the pressures of past triumphs. Pep took on the job at City because he knew that he would be able to work without feeling that he was shattering long established customs and practices. City was a blank canvas and he would be free to create as he saw fit. In practical terms he’d be able to sign players of his choosing and hire the best technical and coaching talent available. City’s generous budget also means that he can make crucial changes to the club’s youth training programme.

In May 2016 City achieved the historic feat of reaching the Champions League semi-finals where they lost to Real Madrid, but few would claim that earning a place in the top four was a true reflection of their quality. There’s no doubt that at least three Spanish teams (Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid), two Bundesliga clubs (Bayern and Borussia Dortmund) and the champions of Italy (Juventus) were far superior. Club president Khaldoon Al Mubarak spoke to Manchester City TV about what he saw as a disappointing season: ‘We owe a debt of gratitude to Manuel [Pellegrini] and his team for everything they have achieved [over the last three years]. At the same time, however, I can’t deny that we are disappointed, particularly with the results of this last year. We had high hopes at the start of the season and although there’s no shame in losing to Real Madrid, I expected the team to give a hundred per cent and in the end, that’s not what we got.’

So let’s sum up exactly why Pep left Bayern for City.

• To have new experiences and learn from another footballing culture.

• Because there would be fewer constraints and limitations at City and he would have greater freedom to create.

• Because the club had the financial clout to make the kind of changes he envisaged.

• Because he knew that Txiki and Soriano were on his wave length and would back him all the way.

• Because, by creating a new brand of City football and the language that goes with it, he could begin to build his own unique legacy.

No matter what anyone thinks about Guardiola’s motives for choosing City, his decision has brought him to a critical point in his career. Although the rewards may be great, the risk he takes is equally high. This is a man who seeks change for change’s sake, who chooses to leave his comfort zone in order to learn and discover. A man of courage and determination who has never craved an easy life. And for this, surely, he deserves all of our respect and admiration.



BACKSTAGE 2

THE PERFECT PLANRome, 21 October 2014

While Philipp Lahm and the rest of Bayern’s German players returned to full fitness after enjoying a break following their triumph at the World Cup in Brazil, Pep began to think about the league games in September and October plus the matches against Manchester City, CSKA Moscow and Roma in the Champions League. He was considering using a four man defence and then adapting the shape of the rest of the team to the characteristics of their opponents. In principal he would employ a 4-2-1-3 and a 4-2-3-1, but when necessary he would switch to his much loved 4-3-3 or even 3-3-4. He knew that the key component which would allow a lightning fast change in the playing matrix was David Alaba, who would be used as what the Spaniards call a ‘comodin’ (what we might call a ‘joker card’ – a player who can be deployed wherever necessary), and could play as a central defender, left back, organising midfielder or attacking left midfielder depending on the demands of each game.

Before the game against Roma, Bayern racked up five consecutive wins, playing better each time. They had also dispatched City 1-0 in Munich on 17 September, and CSKA 1-0 in Moscow on 30 September.

The team’s fluidity flowed from the centre of midfield which worked just as effectively whether the player who accompanied the duo of Xabi–Lahm (established as the axis of the team) was Götze, Højbjerg or Alaba. Pep routinely modified the attacking positions, putting Bernat, Götze or Müller on the left wing, and occasionally asking Müller to take Lewandowski’s centre forward position (where even Pizarro got his chances). Robben was always a guaranteed starter when fit, unquestionably the key man, whose every action could turn a game. The Dutchman was gradually returning to the peak he had reached the previous spring when he had been one of the most dangerous attacking players in Europe, and with each match was increasingly demonstrating how vital he was to Bayern.

Pep didn’t want to treat the Roma match as if it were ‘just another game’. For that reason on 5 October, not long after beating Hannover 4-0 in the league, Pep, Estiarte and Michael Reschke left Bayern’s partying at Munich’s famous Oktoberfest and flew to Turín, where Juventus and Roma were playing a top of the table Serie A match. It was an ill-tempered game with three penalties, three red cards and a narrow win for Juventus thanks to Bonucci’s shot in the final seconds. Roma played well and in patches were superior to Juve but losing damaged their morale badly. For Guardiola it was fascinating: he saw close up precisely how Rudi García’s team liked to play and immediately began to plan ways to beat them. Although the pressures of the job prevent Pep from attending a lot of matches, he is a firm believer in taking any opportunity he can to see future opponents in action.

During training on Monday 20 October in Säbener Strasse, Pep explained to his players how they were going to beat Roma in the Stadio Olímpico the next day. Over and over again he made them work on how to bring the ball out from a back line of three defenders, using Xabi Alonso to drop in from central midfield to help them. It was a classic Pep training session: a keeper, Neuer or Reina, would feed the ball to one of the three central defenders who would be pressed by teammates replicating Roma’s style. The man on the ball needed to find one of his three options, the other two central defenders or Alonso to escape the pressure. Guardiola asked Pizarro to cover and press Alonso as a ‘virtual Totti’ imagining that the legendary Roma player would fulfil that role in the match. Pep was completely clear about how Roma would attack and was equally sure about what he wanted his team to do in reply. The match day team talk was interesting.

It was at six o’clock in Rome that Pep backed up his training ground work by showing Totti’s likely position in a video prepared by Carles Planchart:

‘Look lads – Totti will be covering Xabi, but he won’t be able to do it for very long so Xabi, don’t be too worried about it to begin with. Totti will press tight for the first ten minutes and I guarantee that he’ll then stop it and leave you completely free. That’s why we’re able to play with a back line of three; Benatia on the right, Boateng in the middle and Alaba on the left. But David, I only want you to be a defender when they’re attacking us. At that stage you’ll have to cope with Gervinho’s speed. But the rest of the time you must become an extra midfielder. In other words, we’ll go out looking like a three man defence but the third defender will actually be Xabi even though it seems like it’s Alaba. In the initial scheme Xabi and Lahm will line up like a ‘doble pivote’ (twin organising midfielders). Philipp, if they manage to close down Xabi then you take charge of centre midfield, you organise things, make sure the ball gets played out from the back. Robben and Bernat, you open the space by hugging the touchline. Right up and down the line. In other words, you must perform both as wing backs and wingers. Arjen, give me exactly what you gave me against Manchester United last year – you remember, don’t you? Be shrewd in how you use your energy, don’t burn yourselves out too soon. I want you to attack but keep an eye behind you so you can help the back three out when we’re under pressure. Up top Götze will play between midfield and attack but dropping to the left to link with Lahm and Bernat. Müller and Lewandowski, I want you constantly moving because Roma’s defenders hate that. Be on the go all the time, sometimes leave the centre forward position empty so they don’t know who they’re marking. Their central defenders are very static and traditional in their positions and they love to know exactly who their man is and where he should be. So for that reason don’t help them, give them nothing to work with by switching and moving constantly. Pressurise them! Their back four absolutely hate it if they’re pressed. They find it horribly difficult to bring the ball out from the back if you snap at and hassle them. So press the life out of them, don’t let them draw breath! You will rob the ball from them and I promise you that will mean we score lots of goals today.’

The plan was crystal clear by now but Pep wanted to leave his men in no doubt, ‘Listen up all of you. This is what’s going to happen. They’ll think that Totti can close down Xabi but after ten minutes he’ll give up and Xabi will be bringing the ball out without a problem. Lahm will be left on his own and Alaba will be giving us superiority of numbers down the left exactly where they won’t be expecting him because they’ll think that the left-sided centre back in a three-man defence will never push up the pitch. But David’s going to do that and help us completely overwhelm them down the left. Xabi will bring the ball out right to the centre of the pitch without any problem and we’re going to create an unbelievable superiority of numbers down the left half of the pitch with Bernat, Alaba, Götze and Lewandowski at least. Müller, get away from the central defenders and link with these guys. We all know what will happen next, don’t we? We’ll overload them with passes down the left, their central defenders won’t know what they’re doing but they’ll go left so we’ll only have Lahm and Robben on the right – it will look as if we present no danger there. But it’s exactly down the right that we’ll do the damage. Overload them on the left, draw them there, then switch the ball quickly to the right. They’ll be completely exposed and won’t be able to cope.’

Bayern battered Roma. In less than half an hour they had ripped the home side to pieces and by the thirty-fifth minute they were 5-0 up. In their nine previous matches Roma had only conceded four goals. Now it was five in just over half an hour. As Pep had predicted, Bayern’s high pressing shredded the Italians. Müller and Lewandowski tied up the entire Roma back four and Rudi García’s team barely got out of their own half.

The combination of Robben’s pace on the right and Totti abandoning his marking of Xabi were equally vital. Everything Pep had predicted came to pass. Bayern lined up 3-1-4-2. Alaba constantly burst into the midfield, Alonso brought the ball out from the back untroubled and Götze’s movement between the lines was exceptional. Bernat consistently offered himself as the spare man down the left but the most dangerous actions flowed from the right wing where Robben waited in open space to finish Roma off. The fourth goal, scored by the Dutchman in the twenty-ninth minute, seemed straight from Pep’s script at the team talk and the coach put his hands on his head in delight as Lewandowski dragged the Italian defenders away and Robben arrived on the run to put the ball away.

If a year earlier Bayern had laid down a masterpiece in Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium with the apotheosis of ‘rondo football’ and that legendary passing sequence which lasted three and a half minutes, this was a different work of art in the historic Italian capital. Pep’s team had supplied more magic for the on-line generation around the world.

Thomas Müller summed up what had taken place, ‘The fact is that Guardiola showed us precisely where Roma’s weaknesses were and we exploited them.’

The following day Pep was eating alone at home because his family had taken advantage of the autumn holiday in Munich to visit Barcelona and his technical staff were spending time with their families. Although he was watching the Bayer Leverkusen–Zénit game (2-0), he didn’t get too involved in it because he was still mentally evaluating the 7-1 win in Rome which had stunned European football.

‘I’m really happy about yesterday’s game,’ he said. ‘We’re playing much better than last season. You saw our positional play, the guys were like machines “top, top”. The lads are playing brilliantly at the minute. They no longer need to think about their movements, it’s all so automatic and the man on the ball always has free men to pass to. Xabi has given us new life. He’s completely changed the team’s outlook and it’s thanks to him that we can do things like pressing so high and so ferociously up the pitch against Roma. It meant that we could exploit their weaknesses.’

Pep sips his white wine and continues, ‘I love it when we can play 3-4-3. It was magic using that formation in Rome yesterday. Benatia swallowed up his winger, Alaba dealt with the other one and Boateng commanded everything at the back. Totti, as the false 9, couldn’t do us any damage because Alonso was always blocking him. Lahm and Götze perpetually found free space between the Roma lines. It was such a joy to see them play like that.’

Recalling his decision to play three at the back he said, ‘When we changed to play four at the back they actually made three dangerous chances against us and we lost control in the middle of the pitch. We had more security defending with three than we did with four!’

Another performance still buzzing round Guardiola’s head is Alaba’s: ‘He’s so fucking impressive. He lines up as a central defender and then, an instant later, he’s brilliant as a left winger. There was a moment when his movement and pace actually made him a centre forward! But I thought to myself, ‘Leave him, let him go. You never trim the wings of a player like that . . .’

3

HOW GERMANY CHANGED PEP

Find what you love and let it kill you.Charles Bukowski

GUARDIOLA’S TIME IN Germany helped him mature and grow both professionally and personally. Already a consummately talented man, he set about fine-tuning and extending his natural skill set. He made a quantum leap forward in terms of his professional abilities, a transformation which partly helps explain why he accepted the huge challenge offered by Manchester City.