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| Guardiola when he initially took over at Barcelona in 2008 |
The rumours began Thursday, but it was finally confirmed
Friday morning that Pep Guardiola would be leaving Barcelona at the end of the
season. To put it simply, the Spaniard was a revelation with the Catalan
giants, winning 13 trophies, which could rise to 14 should they overcome
Athletic Bilbao in the Copa Del Rey final, during his four-years with the club.
Of the 239 games that he has been in charge of the Blaugrana, Guardiola has been on the
winning side of a little over 73%, which is a remarkable feat in itself. I
think it’s fair to assume that with the 41-year-old now set to leave the Camp
Nou, he leaves knowing full well that he has assembled one of, if not the,
greatest team to every grace the world of football.
What will his
departure mean to the club?
Let’s set the record right before delving into anything;
Guardiola isn’t responsible for the amazing run of achievements over the past
nine years. Credit must go to Frank Rijkaard, who took over the reins at
Barcelona back in 2003 and transformed the club from perennial underachievers
to the club they are today. Since that the Dutchman took over, and subsequently
Guardiola, the club have won 18 trophies in those nine years.
Rijkaard was the manager who turned the fortunes around with
the club that were desperately underperforming on the pitch. Without him, none
of the recent success would have been possible. Anyway, moving on, the club
have, arguably, been playing some of the most scintillating football fans have
ever witnessed in the history of the game.
When he was initially appointed into the role, six months
after president Joan Laporta wanted the former Barca midfielder to take over
from Rijkaard following a poor show of form during the 2007/08 season, many
were sceptical about his promotion from the B side to the senior team, myself
included.
Granted, he had Barca B playing the tika-take style football
that is very much associated with the club, but it was a major step-up,
especially with the egos of Ronaldinho, Deco and Samuel Eto’o threatening to
derail all the hard work that Rijkaard had done. So Guardiola did which many
would have been too fearful to do; he ridded the poison at the club. Ronaldinho
was sold to AC Milan, Deco to Chelsea and Eto’o was set to be shown the exit
door unless he improved his attitude both in training and on the pitch.
The Cameroonian did just that and scored 36 goals that
season, the second highest season total in his career before being sold to
Inter Milan at the end of that year. However, his moves to sell the trio
instantly instilled respect throughout the squad, and with the team then being
built around Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi, he won over the admiration
of the board.
His belief in the youth system, stemming from his time with
the B team, has proven a cornerstone for football club’s around the world. The
amount of player’s coming through the ranks within the Catalan side has risen
incredibly since 2008, with the likes of Thiago Alcantara, Isaac Cuenca and
Andreu Fontas, to name three, all utilised by Pep this season.
They follow on from Guardiola, who came through the famous
La Masia youth ranks, current trio Xavi, Iniesta and Messi and two players who
recently returned from spells in England; Gerard Pique in 2008, upon Pep’s
appointment as first-team coach, and Cesc Fabregas last summer. These five,
along with Victor Valdes and Carles Puyol, set the very high platform for
success and boosted the credentials of the Catalan favourite.
Either way, his departure has certainly left a platform for
success. Whether it will be next season or in the following years, despite the
likes of Xavi etc. still performing at the top of their respective games, there
is that platform available. However, one is of the opinion that this highly
praised Barcelona side is slowly, but surely, coming to the end of its
beautiful cycle. But, that is the natural order of things in the world of
football. Every club will go through the ‘circle of life’, with apologies to
the Lion King reference, but it is true.
Why did he leave?
Exhaustion, tediousness, pressure, there are numerous reason
why Pep would have left Barcelona. Judging by pictures of the 41-year-old between
2008 and now shows the strain of managing one the world’s biggest teams can
have on a manager. Balding, fatigued and suffering from weight loss, Guardiola
isn’t the man that took over the side four years ago.
The drive and passion is still there for all to see, but it
appears that the stress of leading the team has got the better of him.
Guardiola gave fans of the club the best four years in recent history, yet with
it, a lifetime has passed him by in some ways. A well earned sabbatical is in
order, but with his infatuation for the game still evident for all to see, it
won’t be the longest sabbatical in the history of football. Many believe it
will be similar to the time Jose Mourinho spent away from the game before the
Portuguese returned a better coach with first Inter Milan and then rivals Real
Madrid.
Guillem Balague highlighted the idea of Guardiola travelling
to England to further his coaching techniques and improve his overall knowledge
of the game. Whether that will be to take over a team in the Premier League in
the future, who knows. Nothing but speculation at the present time, but
whichever club convinces Guardiola to lead them will be have with them a great
manager who knows how to read a game to the highest standard, get the best out
of player’s and get his team playing some brilliant football in the process.
His replacement
Athletic Bilbao head coach Marcelo Bielsa was instilled as the instant favourite
following the news breaking on Thursday and Friday, while Luis Enrique and
Arsene Wenger, of AS Roma and Arsenal respectively, were also heavily linked with the role. However, Barcelona have
opted to appoint from within with Pep’s assistant Tito Vilanova set to step up
from next season to manage the first-team. For those unaware of Vilanova, he is
the man Jose Mourinho thumbed in the eye during Augusts El Clasico.
Picture from http://topnews.in
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