Pep Guardiola Thread

[Pat Murphy]

From captain to manager

Josep Guardiola i Sala knows all the secrets of the Camp Nou, La Masia and now the Ciutat Esportiva too. He captained Barça as a player, and will now be managing the team from the start of next season.

Aged 37 years, Josep Guardiola i Sala has lived and breathed FC Barcelona since 1984, when he joined one of the club’s youth squads. He rose up through the ranks and made his first team debut in 1991/92. He would later captain FC Barcelona for many seasons, and was also the central playmaker in the side, wearing the number four shirt and personifying the way Barcelona have always liked to play the ball around.

Used to leadership

Although he has always treated all team mates equally, Josep Guardiola has captained such renowned footballing greats in the past as Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Luis Enrique. And now he will be doing the same thing in the manager’s role, and there can be no doubting that his years as Barça captain were the ideal preparation for the job.

Under Cruyff, Robson, Van Gaal and Capello

In the summer of 2001 Josep Guardiola got a taste of a different world when he moved to Serie A and played for Brescia and Roma, at the latter under Fabio Capello. But the current England manager was not the first big name to coach “the boy from Santpedor”.

In his Barça days, Guardiola worked for Johan Cruyff, Bobby Robson, Louis Van Gaal and Llorenç Serra Ferrer. All were very different coaches, from very different backgrounds and had very different ways of working. But what they all had in common was they put every faith in midfielder Guardiola and the player always responded with the football and leadership skills they required.

Success with Barça B

Italy was not Guardiola’s only foreign destination, he also spent time in Qatar and Mexico. A year after he retired from active duty in 2006, on June 21, 2007 Josep Guardiola went into management at Barça B, a side that is currently having a great season in the Third Division. Having learned the managerial ropes, Guardiola has guided the side to the top of their division, where they will now be tackling the promotion play-offs, hoping to get back into Second Division B.

Barça B have done brilliantly under Pep, winning 24 games, drawing 7 and losing just 5 matches, gathering 76 points in 36 games, and scoring an average 1.9 goals a game. Now the hope is that he can achieve something similar in charge of the first team.

fcbarcelona.com

FCBarcelona.cat

[Mighty T.A.L.]

I wonder if the club have the fans support on this choice...

[Pat Murphy]

Well 82% were against his appointment on EMD, mainly due to his inexperience and us not knowing what he's like tactically.

Most of us seem to have gone, what the hell he can't be worse than Rijkaard tactically so we've decided to support him as we can't do anything about it and he's a Barca legend.

One problem is that unless he does fantastic like winning the CL and a Liga, he will probably be fired in 2 years time. Laporta's final term ends at the end of 2010 and the new President will probably want to bring in his own man so this seems like a transitional time for Barca.

[skeeta]

I would have thought that Laudrup and Del Neri would be better candidates, but am fine with Guardiola. At least Laporta made the change at a reasonable point in time, giving Guardiola a chance to shape what may well be a rather active close season.

[Pat Murphy]

I think the main positive for Guardiola is that he knows Barca inside out and knows all the problems that went on this season. A different new coach might not have been able to realise where the problems were or at least not realised to the extent that Guardiola already knows.

Just the experience and tactical knowledge now, he might have a good tactical knowldege tho, we won't know until the season starts.

[Pat Murphy]

Guardiola Agrees Two-Season Barca Deal

Although it has been on the cards for weeks now, Josep Guardiola has finally become the new coach of Barcelona after agreeing a deal that will keep him at the club for two seasons.

Pep Guardiola officially became Barcelona's new coach on Thursday, after a meeting between his agent, Josep Maria Orobitg, and Anna Xicoy, the general director of the club.

After hours of deep negotiation both parties came to an agreement for Guardiola to join the club for the next two seasons. Although details were not given, it has been said that all issues were resolved and nothing else has to be discussed.

His appointment is likely to bring major changes to Barcelona, who will be seeking a title next season after a disappointing past campaign where they were unable to live up to expectations, despite a squad congested with superstars.

Not only will there be squad changes, but Guardiola's arrival will also bring changes to the coaching and medical staff. It has already been confirmed that Tito Vilanova will be the assistant coach, and that last season's physiotherapists will get the sack.

With his contract already set, Guardiola is free to continue to concentrate on the Barca B side, as they enter a promotion play-off. Guardiola's side have experienced a memorable season where they have gone undefeated, having won all but two matches this season.

On Saturday his side are expected to overcome Castillo, but Guardiola has insisted that it will still be a difficult contest, and that it will be vital to keep a clean-sheet, looking ahead to the return leg. The coach emphasised stability in defense at the Ciutat Esportiva training facility.

Gregory Sica - Goal.com

Goal.com - Barcelona - Guardiola Agrees Two-Season Barca Deal


Officially the new Barcelona manager in that he's signed the contract now.

[Pat Murphy]

Guardiola and Vilanova sign contracts

On Thursday midday, Josep Guardiola put pen to paper as the new first team head coach for the next two seasons. At the same time, Tito Vilanova signed his contract to join the first team coaching staff.

Pep Guardiola and Tito Vilanova (new assistant manager), sign their new contracts.

[Oliver_Kahn]

That last picture is so gay.

Patsy how do you feel about having Pep as your manager next season?

[Pat Murphy]

Most of us are annoyed with appointment because of his inexperience but he knows Barca inside out and the exact problems that we're going through, something that a new coach might not necessarily know.

He plans to overhaul the medical team and player discipline and conduct and bring a more togetherness to the team as they'll spend the whole training day together.

I've been quite pleased with the signings so far and his plans are spot on what we need although we can't be sure that he'll carry them out well. I would have liked an experienced assistant manager next to him, Tito Vilanova is still also young but if they worked well last year then I can't really complain that they'll be working together again.

He knows the problems, if he can both carry his plans through and be a better tactician than Rijkaard (not difficult), then the move to sack Rijkaard and replace him with Guardiola will be a good one because Rijkaard couldn't stop the freefall and was failing tactically. I'm backing Guardiola at the moment because I think he'll be better tactically than Rijakard and he'll be able to sort out most of the problems we have currently.

[Pat Murphy]

Guardiola finally presented in a conference where he made some strong declarations and comments.

He said the 'cracks' (star players) need to work but most importantly said that he doesn't count on Eto'o, Deco or Ronaldinho.

The last 2 we knew for definate but Pep has come out and said he doesn't want Eto'o and needs a "no.9" who will complement Bojan and Henry so he has a solid 3 striker group.

Apart from that he's said he's not worried about his lack of experience and isn't scared of the task etc.

[Oliver_Kahn]

According to Portuguese press, that no.9 is David Trezeguet.

[Pat Murphy]

Goals and an understanding with Henry yes. Age no.

Trez will be 31 in October, same age as Henry. Bojan is the long term solution but by the time Trez is 33 and Henry is 33, Bojan will still only be 20 and probably not old enough to be the starting striker. Even if he was we'd then need to buy another 2 strikers because of the age of the other 2.

Trez for 20m (2 years top football) or Villa for 40m (4-7 years top football) with all the bonuses he comes with would be my choice.

[Oliver_Kahn]

I can't believe a cheapstake like you even thinks of spending 40m € on one player!

Predicting Villa's future is really tough with so many clubs interested in him, you just never know what decision he'll make. Whereas Trez is a safe option.

[Pat Murphy]

Well I'm still complaining about Alves as €32m for a right back is outrageous and I was thinking Villa was too expensive but I thought that we'd probably get €40m for Eto'o and Villa is around the same quality level so I thought it was probably about fair.

6-7 clubs linked with Villa. He could try and go for his buddy Torres partnership at Liverpool or to Madrid like all Spaniards strangely seem to prefer (they're weird) or if he wants to have the best and most successful time possible then he might go to Barca

[Oliver_Kahn]

Originally Posted by Pat Murphy

Well I'm still complaining about Alves as €32m for a right back is outrageous and I was thinking Villa was too expensive but I thought that we'd probably get €40m for Eto'o and Villa is around the same quality level so I thought it was probably about fair.

6-7 clubs linked with Villa. He could try and go for his buddy Torres partnership at Liverpool or to Madrid like all Spaniards strangely seem to prefer (they're weird) or if he wants to have the best and most successful time possible then he might go to Bayern

Corrected it for you

It's not too tough to understand why all Spaniards would rather play for Madrid (more €€ per month). But in this case, I don't think he would like to move to Madrid. Too many strikers there already.

I very much doubt you'll get more than 30m € for Eto'o.