Pep Guardiola

[Tooj]

Am I the only one who thinks that Pep Guardiola is like that moustched bloke in the movie Contact, the one who sidelined Jodie Foster (Frank Riijkaard) and took all the glory after someone else did all the groundwork and laid the foundations?

 

Yes you are.

[Guest Howaythetoon]

Laudrup imo is the ideal coach for us. Attack minded, creative, confident and one hell of a good looking boy.

 

I said that when Keegan left. 

 

Imagine Ben Arfa under KK? "Just play son, do your thing", that's what he basically used to say to Ginola.

 

None of this defending shit or playing so fucking deep he spends most of his time in his own side's half rather than the opposition's.

[STM]

Guardiola will find it difficult IMO.

 

Its a massive test because if things don't go well, people will claim Barca was a fluke, due to the quality of players.

[Village Idiot]

Rijkaard finished 3rd in his last season at Barca, a long way adrift of Madrid and Villarreal. Pep's team was built fresh from the ashes of Rijkaard's, not on his foundations.

 

Rijkaard was the one that gave Messi his chance though, so you could say in that sense he never got to see his prodigy through.

 

It's all evolutionary, really. Rijkaard did do a lot, but Guardiola refined and took it to a new level. I credit Rijkaard with updating the classic Cruyff/Van Gaal system that had been found out by then and building our platform for success.  It was Rijkaard, for example, who finally axed the "Guardiola role", and started playing with a proper DM and moved Xavi to CM - saving his career and letting him become what he did become. But it was Guardiola, on the other hand, who played Xavi and Iniesta together in midfield, while it had always been claimed that it had to be one or the other alongside a more box to box player like Deco. Rijkaard was fond of more classical wingers, he played Messi on the left so he could put crosses in FFS, while Guardiola did away with them and relied on fullbacks for width (Alves was a key signing of his), and thus overloaded the final third...

 

Also, contrary to popular belief, Rijkaard's side did press all over the pitch, but we lost that quality as the seasons went by. In general, Pep was more radical than Rijkaard in creating an uniform possession-based strategy, while the Dutch was more direct.

[NG32]

Great test for him, it will be interested to see how he does outside the Barca bubble, see if he can put those ideas over to the germans.

[Parky]

Laudrup imo is the ideal coach for us. Attack minded, creative, confident and one hell of a good looking boy.

 

I said that when Keegan left. 

 

Imagine Ben Arfa under KK? "Just play son, do your thing", that's what he basically used to say to Ginola.

 

None of this defending shit or playing so fucking deep he spends most of his time in his own side's half rather than the opposition's.

 

I know mate. Mouth watering. Our time will come again.

[Parky]

Guardiola will find it difficult IMO.

 

Its a massive test because if things don't go well, people will claim Barca was a fluke, due to the quality of players.

 

He won't be given that much time and Bayern is full of ego's - very unlike Barca.

[Parky]

Rijkaard finished 3rd in his last season at Barca, a long way adrift of Madrid and Villarreal. Pep's team was built fresh from the ashes of Rijkaard's, not on his foundations.

 

Rijkaard was the one that gave Messi his chance though, so you could say in that sense he never got to see his prodigy through.

 

It's all evolutionary, really. Rijkaard did do a lot, but Guardiola refined and took it to a new level. I credit Rijkaard with updating the classic Cruyff/Van Gaal system that had been found out by then and building our platform for success.  It was Rijkaard, for example, who finally axed the "Guardiola role", and started playing with a proper DM and moved Xavi to CM - saving his career and letting him become what he did become. But it was Guardiola, on the other hand, who played Xavi and Iniesta together in midfield, while it had always been claimed that it had to be one or the other alongside a more box to box player like Deco. Rijkaard was fond of more classical wingers, he played Messi on the left so he could put crosses in FFS, while Guardiola did away with them and relied on fullbacks for width (Alves was a key signing of his), and thus overloaded the final third...

 

Also, contrary to popular belief, Rijkaard's side did press all over the pitch, but we lost that quality as the seasons went by. In general, Pep was more radical than Rijkaard in creating an uniform possession-based strategy, while the Dutch was more direct.

 

Nice post.

[sugoinufc]

killing time until fergie retires....hope not!

[ponsaelius]

Rijkaard finished 3rd in his last season at Barca, a long way adrift of Madrid and Villarreal. Pep's team was built fresh from the ashes of Rijkaard's, not on his foundations.

 

Rijkaard was the one that gave Messi his chance though, so you could say in that sense he never got to see his prodigy through.

 

It's all evolutionary, really. Rijkaard did do a lot, but Guardiola refined and took it to a new level. I credit Rijkaard with updating the classic Cruyff/Van Gaal system that had been found out by then and building our platform for success.  It was Rijkaard, for example, who finally axed the "Guardiola role", and started playing with a proper DM and moved Xavi to CM - saving his career and letting him become what he did become. But it was Guardiola, on the other hand, who played Xavi and Iniesta together in midfield, while it had always been claimed that it had to be one or the other alongside a more box to box player like Deco. Rijkaard was fond of more classical wingers, he played Messi on the left so he could put crosses in FFS, while Guardiola did away with them and relied on fullbacks for width (Alves was a key signing of his), and thus overloaded the final third...

 

Also, contrary to popular belief, Rijkaard's side did press all over the pitch, but we lost that quality as the seasons went by. In general, Pep was more radical than Rijkaard in creating an uniform possession-based strategy, while the Dutch was more direct.

 

[Mole_Toonfan]

Sid Lowe:

 

When the draw was made for the quarter-finals of the 2008-09 Champions League, Pep Guardiola could not have been happier: "Bayern Munich!" he told friends. "The business!" Not so much because he thought his Barcelona team would go through, although they won 5-1 on aggregate, but because he was excited. A big, historic club in a huge stadium, one of the great names of European football? An adventure. Guardiola was seduced. Three years later, he has been seduced again.

 

Barcelona played Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League three years after that. On the day before the match, Guardiola welcomed a visitor to the team hotel. The former Real Madrid striker Raúl, a close friend, was playing for Schalke at the time and had found a new lease of life in Germany. To speak to Raúl in Gelsenkirchen, 30 kilometres away, was to witness an almost childish enthusiasm,his enjoyment of football renewed; it is easy to imagine Guardiola, growing weary himself, detecting much the same. It is not too much of a leap to see the parallels. And as Guardiola made up his mind, they spoke again.

 

Guardiola's decision has surprised and yet somehow you always felt like this story may not have a formulaic ending. The former Barcelona coach is different, from the spell in Italy and Qatar to the sabbatical in New York, from Barcelona B to the first team, on rolling one-year deals, to the sense of defending a cause, a kind of moral tone to his discourse. The only other Spanish team he would like to coach, he once said, is Athletic Bilbao, the side made up only of Basque players. Perhaps it was too easy to fall for the romanticism, too naive, but he never seemed to fit at Chelsea.

 

Besides, there is logic in the decision he has taken in going to Germany: the seduction of a big name, in rude financial health, playing in a packed stadium. Bayern are arguably as strong right now as any team in England. They finished runners-up in last year's Champions League and carry a kind of moral quality too: despite the FC Hollywood tag, this is a well-run club, half-owned by its fans. One with a sense of tradition and history, where former players play a role: Uli Hoeness is the president, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge the chairman of the executive board.

 

All of that in a league that is growing stronger, where identity matters. The Spanish, certainly, see in Germany a kind of purity lacking in their own league, confronted by serious structural problems and economic crisis. This is an opportunity for Guardiola's family too – persuading his children to speak German will be somewhat easier now. And, no, that is not a flippant remark; it matters.

 

Jupp Heynckes had already admitted that he was leaving at the end of the season. He will facilitate the Catalan's first steps. "I would not talk to a club with a manager; that would be a lack of respect," Guardiola said last week. An empty platitude? It looks less like one now. Rafa Benítez is only the interim manager at Chelsea but Roberto Mancini has a contract at Manchester City, Arsène Wenger is still in charge at Arsenal and Sir Alex Ferguson keeps on going. Guardiola leaves the path free for José Mourinho. It may not be entirely coincidental that this way he avoids him, too.

 

Bayern Munich made their first approach to Guardiola immediately after his Barcelona career came to an end; more conversations took place with his agent during Christmas. Guardiola was hugely impressed with what he was told, the way the project and the club was explained to him. Promises were made about authority and money. Of which there will be lots. Including, of course, for his salary.

 

It is striking that Guardiola has signed a three–year deal – longer than he ever signed at Barcelona. The structure and playing style is largely that put in place by Louis van Gaal, the former Barcelona coach and a man that Guardiola has publicly praised. He has a young and talented team, with players he can mould: those he cannot, he will release and he will be supported in doing so. With hindsight, it is tempting to ask whether Guardiola was consulted on the signing of Athletic Bilbao's Javi Martínez. The idea of taking a German club and adapting them to his own philosophy is an attractive one.

 

Guardiola is convinced that with Bayern Munich he has a team that can win things; it should never be forgotten that he is a competitor. Just as importantly, he believes he has a team that can improve, one upon which he can leave his mark.

[Cronky]

I don't think anyone saw this coming.

 

I can't recall many managers from the Latin countries managing in the Bundesliga. There's a few cultural differences between Spain and Germany that he'll have to cross. Not to say differences in styles of football.

 

I daresay he wanted a) a well-run club with b) chances of winning the Champions League. The available positions in the Premiership (Man City and Chelsea) fail on point a).

 

 

[Mole_Toonfan]

He's been favorites with the bookies to join Bayern for a while tbf, although i agree i thought he would go to Italy or England.

[Neil]

I don't think anyone saw this coming.

 

I can't recall many managers from the Latin countries managing in the Bundesliga. There's a few cultural differences between Spain and Germany that he'll have to cross. Not to say differences in styles of football.

 

I daresay he wanted a) a well-run club with b) chances of winning the Champions League. The available positions in the Premiership (Man City and Chelsea) fail on point a).

 

They don't score much better on point b) either.

[Nobody]

Dortmund vs Bayern next season

 

[captainhaircut]

Dortmund vs Bayern next season

 

I keep seeing this. 'Klopp v Pep next year'. Totally overlooking the fact that Bayern are 9 points clear currently.

[Nobody]

And Man U are 7 points clear of City, Barca are how many points ahead of Real? The point is that those two games next year could be fantastic.

[captainhaircut]

And they are fantastic anyway.

[Pandamninator]

Dortmund vs Bayern next season

 

I keep seeing this. 'Klopp v Pep next year'. Totally overlooking the fact that Bayern are 9 points clear currently.

 

And there have been times when Dortmund were clear that much clear of Bayern over the past two seasons when they won the Bundesliga... twice.

[David28]

Guardiola will find it difficult IMO.

 

Its a massive test because if things don't go well, people will claim Barca was a fluke, due to the quality of players.

 

He won't be given that much time and Bayern is full of ego's - very unlike Barca.

 

Parky's very realistic about the Germans and Bayern.

[Deuce]

One of my mates, the biggest ManU bandwagon homer imaginable, is whining on Twitter about Pep going to Germany. Trying to rationalize it, "Oh it's just temporary, Pep really wants to manage ManU. He'll be here as soon as SAF retires. Best club in the world needs the best manager in the world." The sense of fucking entitlement, goddamn son.

[Segun Oluwaniyi]

Rijkaard finished 3rd in his last season at Barca, a long way adrift of Madrid and Villarreal. Pep's team was built fresh from the ashes of Rijkaard's, not on his foundations.

 

Rijkaard was the one that gave Messi his chance though, so you could say in that sense he never got to see his prodigy through.

 

It's all evolutionary, really. Rijkaard did do a lot, but Guardiola refined and took it to a new level. I credit Rijkaard with updating the classic Cruyff/Van Gaal system that had been found out by then and building our platform for success.  It was Rijkaard, for example, who finally axed the "Guardiola role", and started playing with a proper DM and moved Xavi to CM - saving his career and letting him become what he did become. But it was Guardiola, on the other hand, who played Xavi and Iniesta together in midfield, while it had always been claimed that it had to be one or the other alongside a more box to box player like Deco. Rijkaard was fond of more classical wingers, he played Messi on the left so he could put crosses in FFS, while Guardiola did away with them and relied on fullbacks for width (Alves was a key signing of his), and thus overloaded the final third...

 

Also, contrary to popular belief, Rijkaard's side did press all over the pitch, but we lost that quality as the seasons went by. In general, Pep was more radical than Rijkaard in creating an uniform possession-based strategy, while the Dutch was more direct.

I'm not a heavy watcher of Barca, but I definitely agree with this. Only because I remember the sides under the Dutchman to be significantly more entertaining and less methodical than the current version.

[David28]

One of my mates, the biggest ManU bandwagon homer imaginable, is whining on Twitter about Pep going to Germany. Trying to rationalize it, "Oh it's just temporary, Pep really wants to manage ManU. He'll be here as soon as SAF retires. Best club in the world needs the best manager in the world." The sense of fucking entitlement, goddamn son.

 

Best manager in the world?

[ponsaelius]

Rijkaard finished 3rd in his last season at Barca, a long way adrift of Madrid and Villarreal. Pep's team was built fresh from the ashes of Rijkaard's, not on his foundations.

 

Rijkaard was the one that gave Messi his chance though, so you could say in that sense he never got to see his prodigy through.

 

It's all evolutionary, really. Rijkaard did do a lot, but Guardiola refined and took it to a new level. I credit Rijkaard with updating the classic Cruyff/Van Gaal system that had been found out by then and building our platform for success.  It was Rijkaard, for example, who finally axed the "Guardiola role", and started playing with a proper DM and moved Xavi to CM - saving his career and letting him become what he did become. But it was Guardiola, on the other hand, who played Xavi and Iniesta together in midfield, while it had always been claimed that it had to be one or the other alongside a more box to box player like Deco. Rijkaard was fond of more classical wingers, he played Messi on the left so he could put crosses in FFS, while Guardiola did away with them and relied on fullbacks for width (Alves was a key signing of his), and thus overloaded the final third...

 

Also, contrary to popular belief, Rijkaard's side did press all over the pitch, but we lost that quality as the seasons went by. In general, Pep was more radical than Rijkaard in creating an uniform possession-based strategy, while the Dutch was more direct.

I'm not a heavy watcher of Barca, but I definitely agree with this. Only because I remember the sides under the Dutchman to be significantly more entertaining and less methodical than the current version.

 

Barca's 06 CL winning team were much duller than the 09 and 11 versions IMO.

[Village Idiot]

Personally I think 2004-2005 was better than 2005-2006. But I do enjoy current Barça more than Rijkaard's. The flow of it when we are on song is just . But it's all about taste.

 

I wish Rijkaard went to manage a proper team now.