Skoorb
Alert Team
Having attempted to consolidate these profile threads and failed miserably I will have to revert to posting them independently.
The time is near. Pep Guardiola will soon be making his first team selection for Manchester City F.C. and so here, posted earlier in the close season, are the series of threads on the background of our new manager.
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Pep Guardiola - a profile
Part Two - Barcelona - 2008-12
Guardiola’s time at Barcelona as a coach saw them develop into a dominant force in European football. Not one to allow the grass to grow under his feet he immediately set about making changed to the squad and was unafraid of tackling big name stars such as Ronaldinho & Zambrotta both of whom moved on to Milan. Reunited with Tiki Bergiristrain he brought in Alves & Keita, recalled Pique from Manchester U*d and promoted Busquets and Pedro to the first team squad. He secured the domestic league & cup titles and in defeating Man U*d in the Champions League final became the first manager of a Spanish club to win the treble as well as becoming the youngest man to coach a Champions League winning team. Not a bad start to your coaching career.
Guardiola’s second season in charge of the Catalonian club essentially continued where the first had finished - with a series of triumphs as his side won The Spanish Super Cup, the UEFA Super Cup and they were crowned FIFA World Club Cup Champions just before Christmas. By the close of the season he had added six more trophies including the Spanish League, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League and in doing so he became the first ever manager in world football to do so. Even though he was blessed with a most talented squad of players this remains a remarkable achievement for a coach so young both in years and experience.
By February 2010 he he had reached his 100th game in charge of Barcelona his record stood as 71 wins, 19 draws & 10 losses with the side scoring 242 goals & conceding only 76. His standing in Spain was enhanced when he became the first ever manager in the club’s history to secure four successive defeats of their rivals Real Madrid in El Clasico. Barcelona failed to reach the Champion’s League final that season losing in the semi-final to Internazionale show ere being managed temporarily by the nomad of European football……Jose Mourinho.
As his third season opened in La Liga Guardiola once again showed that he was not one to shy from the need to freshen his squad. The previous season had seen the exchange of Eto’o for Ibrahimovic and the departure of Eider Gudjohnsen and the 2010-11 campaign saw the departures of Thiery Henry, Marquez and Yaya Toure. Acquisitions included Adriano, David Villa and Mascherano. Barcelona’s faith in his abilities were shown by their decision to extend his contract building on his achievement of having become the club’s longest serving coach in January 2010. The Spanish Super Cup was again secured followed swiftly by the fifth successive defeat of Real Madrid in EL Clasico, a factor which in no small part would lead the club to offer him another year’s extension to his contract just after Christmas. Mourinho was to snatch the Copa del Rey from Guardiola when Ronaldo scored in extra time but the favour was returned when Barcelona defeated Real Madrid in the Champions League semi final on their way to winning the trophy when they beat Manchester U*d in the final at Wembley. The league title was secured for the third season in a row.
Guardiola’s continuing cycle of refreshing his squad continued as he entered what was to be his final season at Barcelona. Militia, Jeffren & Bojan all departed with Alexis Sanchez & Fabregas arriving and Thiago being promoted from the youth system. Trophies continued to flow with the Spanish Super Cup and UEFA Super Cup victories ensuring that he became the all time record holder of the most titles won as coach of Barcelona. 12 trophies in three years. By November in his 200th game in charge his record stood at 144 wins, 39 draws and 17 losses - a win ratio of 72% - with 500 goals scored and 143 against. After securing the FOFA World Club Cup Guardiola was subsequently named FIFA World Coach of the Year. He was 40 years of age.
The season was not to end with a fairy tale though. Barcelona’s defeat at home to Real Madrid led Guardiola to concede the title to their rivals despite being only 7 points behind with 4 matches remaining. Despite winning there remaining games they were unable to catch their rivals. Losing on aggregate to Chelsea in the Champions League semi final left the club with only the Copa del Rey to play for (which they duly secured).
Four days after the defeat to Chelsea Guardiola announced that he would be stepping down as Barcelona’s coach at the end of the season citing tiredness as the main reason and commenting that four years at a club like Barca felt like an eternity.
His record of 14 trophies in four seasons had made him the most successful club in Barcelona’s history. He had overseen the delivery of those trophies with a squad that was one of the most talented in the history of world football. Players such as Messi, Xavi & Iniesta who were blessed with sublime footballing gifts and playing a brand of football which was at times intoxicating. This has led some to question Guardiola’s abilities as a coach citing arguments which amount to claiming that their mother’s could have won things with the player that he had available. But as we all know and have witnessed the quality of player is not always a guarantor of success. Guardiola delivered an era of unprecedented achievement and his ability as a coach surely lay not only in the quality of player available to him but enabling these players to maximise their abilities for the benefit of the WHOLE team.
VMC will look at Guardiola’s approach to how the game is played in a subsequent instalment of this series but before that stay tuned for the next instalment where we consider his time in charge of Bayern Munich.
The time is near. Pep Guardiola will soon be making his first team selection for Manchester City F.C. and so here, posted earlier in the close season, are the series of threads on the background of our new manager.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pep Guardiola - a profile
Part Two - Barcelona - 2008-12
Guardiola’s time at Barcelona as a coach saw them develop into a dominant force in European football. Not one to allow the grass to grow under his feet he immediately set about making changed to the squad and was unafraid of tackling big name stars such as Ronaldinho & Zambrotta both of whom moved on to Milan. Reunited with Tiki Bergiristrain he brought in Alves & Keita, recalled Pique from Manchester U*d and promoted Busquets and Pedro to the first team squad. He secured the domestic league & cup titles and in defeating Man U*d in the Champions League final became the first manager of a Spanish club to win the treble as well as becoming the youngest man to coach a Champions League winning team. Not a bad start to your coaching career.
Guardiola’s second season in charge of the Catalonian club essentially continued where the first had finished - with a series of triumphs as his side won The Spanish Super Cup, the UEFA Super Cup and they were crowned FIFA World Club Cup Champions just before Christmas. By the close of the season he had added six more trophies including the Spanish League, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League and in doing so he became the first ever manager in world football to do so. Even though he was blessed with a most talented squad of players this remains a remarkable achievement for a coach so young both in years and experience.
By February 2010 he he had reached his 100th game in charge of Barcelona his record stood as 71 wins, 19 draws & 10 losses with the side scoring 242 goals & conceding only 76. His standing in Spain was enhanced when he became the first ever manager in the club’s history to secure four successive defeats of their rivals Real Madrid in El Clasico. Barcelona failed to reach the Champion’s League final that season losing in the semi-final to Internazionale show ere being managed temporarily by the nomad of European football……Jose Mourinho.
As his third season opened in La Liga Guardiola once again showed that he was not one to shy from the need to freshen his squad. The previous season had seen the exchange of Eto’o for Ibrahimovic and the departure of Eider Gudjohnsen and the 2010-11 campaign saw the departures of Thiery Henry, Marquez and Yaya Toure. Acquisitions included Adriano, David Villa and Mascherano. Barcelona’s faith in his abilities were shown by their decision to extend his contract building on his achievement of having become the club’s longest serving coach in January 2010. The Spanish Super Cup was again secured followed swiftly by the fifth successive defeat of Real Madrid in EL Clasico, a factor which in no small part would lead the club to offer him another year’s extension to his contract just after Christmas. Mourinho was to snatch the Copa del Rey from Guardiola when Ronaldo scored in extra time but the favour was returned when Barcelona defeated Real Madrid in the Champions League semi final on their way to winning the trophy when they beat Manchester U*d in the final at Wembley. The league title was secured for the third season in a row.
Guardiola’s continuing cycle of refreshing his squad continued as he entered what was to be his final season at Barcelona. Militia, Jeffren & Bojan all departed with Alexis Sanchez & Fabregas arriving and Thiago being promoted from the youth system. Trophies continued to flow with the Spanish Super Cup and UEFA Super Cup victories ensuring that he became the all time record holder of the most titles won as coach of Barcelona. 12 trophies in three years. By November in his 200th game in charge his record stood at 144 wins, 39 draws and 17 losses - a win ratio of 72% - with 500 goals scored and 143 against. After securing the FOFA World Club Cup Guardiola was subsequently named FIFA World Coach of the Year. He was 40 years of age.
The season was not to end with a fairy tale though. Barcelona’s defeat at home to Real Madrid led Guardiola to concede the title to their rivals despite being only 7 points behind with 4 matches remaining. Despite winning there remaining games they were unable to catch their rivals. Losing on aggregate to Chelsea in the Champions League semi final left the club with only the Copa del Rey to play for (which they duly secured).
Four days after the defeat to Chelsea Guardiola announced that he would be stepping down as Barcelona’s coach at the end of the season citing tiredness as the main reason and commenting that four years at a club like Barca felt like an eternity.
His record of 14 trophies in four seasons had made him the most successful club in Barcelona’s history. He had overseen the delivery of those trophies with a squad that was one of the most talented in the history of world football. Players such as Messi, Xavi & Iniesta who were blessed with sublime footballing gifts and playing a brand of football which was at times intoxicating. This has led some to question Guardiola’s abilities as a coach citing arguments which amount to claiming that their mother’s could have won things with the player that he had available. But as we all know and have witnessed the quality of player is not always a guarantor of success. Guardiola delivered an era of unprecedented achievement and his ability as a coach surely lay not only in the quality of player available to him but enabling these players to maximise their abilities for the benefit of the WHOLE team.
VMC will look at Guardiola’s approach to how the game is played in a subsequent instalment of this series but before that stay tuned for the next instalment where we consider his time in charge of Bayern Munich.
