One has been a manager for 30 years. The other has been a manager for two years. The one with the 30-year career has won very little. The one with the 2-year career has won everything.
Pep is a class manager, no doubt about it...A throwback to the classy way of conducting himself, both on & off the pitch...A great representative of the club, on top of everything else.
If there are legitimate criticisms it's probably the issue with respect to managing egos on what is an otherwise ego-less squad...His tenure may be marked by great sporting successes but the questions over Ibra & Samu will always be brought up
I can't decide on that part if he is guilty of any wrongdoing here but it's likely important to remember that he remains a very young manager...These are issues that I am sure, even he recognizes need to be worked on...Which, again, is what makes Pep such a class act and the perfect manager for the club
The one who has been managing for 30 years will be forgotten as soon as he retires. The one who has been managing for two years could retire today and his historic acievements would never be forgotten.
This could be the story of the donkey who worked his entire life but never quite became... a horse.
Two seasons ago, a young (37-year-old) Pep Guardiola was appointed as the new Barcelona manager. Barcelona had been trophy-less for two seasons, and the motivation levels were at their lowest.
Guardiola's appointment seemed too risky a bet, and the general opinion was that under such an unexperienced manager, Barcelona's trophy drought would continue and Real Madrid would three-peat easily.
To make Guardiola's job even harder, Ronaldinho and Deco, two of the club's stars, left and no direct replacements were brought.
The doubters seemed to be right as Guardiola's team lost their match of the season to a Numancia side that would end up being relegated.
After a slow start, Barcelona started winning and scoring freely, playing some of the most beautiful football the world has ever seen. By the end of the first half of league play, Barcelona had a record 50 points out of 57, with 59 goals scored in only 19 matches, trouncing such worthy sides as Valencia, Sevilla and Real Madrid on the way.
The blaugrana were widely recognized as the most entertaining side on the planet. Under Guardiola, they were playing better than ever, but was Guardiola just a poser? Was he one of those coaches, who, despite their attractive football philosophy couldn't lead his teams to major silverware?
Quite the contrary.
As the season progressed, Barcelona got better and better as Guardiola steadily perfected his Dream Team. In one of the best days in Barcelona's history, the Guardiola juggernaut won 6-2 at the Santiago Bernabeu and put an end to the title race.
The critics were silenced once again and many were forced to recognize Guardiola's excellence. Some detractors said that "anyone could win with a squad like that", a squad that had actually finished third in the previous league under Frank Rijkaard.
A month later, Barcelona became the first Spanish team ever to win the treble, by winning the Copa Del Rey and the Champions League final against Manchester United.
Still, no big deal—according to the critics. They said anyone could have won the treble with that squad, and it's not like it had never been done before.
Come December 2009, Guardiola made even more history by leading Barcelona to an unprecedented sextuple (six trophies in the same year). Never had it been done before by any club! At this point, only jealous, bitter rivals supporters dared deny Guardiola's brilliance.
In his first year as a manager, Pep won the sextuple. But the most impressive part is that he did it by always sticking to his football philosophy and principles.
Even against teams that just parked the bus, Guardiola didn't change a thing in his approach to the match, and he was rightfully rewarded. When Iniesta scored at the last minute at Stamford Bridge, many neutrals all over the world celebrated as if it were their own team.
Beautiful football! Pep's brand of football had triumphed!
Some managers do the same (always keep faithful to their philosophy and principles), but Pep has the trophies to back it up. In one year, he turned an unmotivated squad into one of the best club teams ever to grace the football pitch.
He took the best out of Xavi, Iniesta and Messi, among others, and launched youngsters like Piqué, Pedro and Sergio Busquets. In one year, the younger three went from total unknowns to the majority of the football world—except Piqué—to undisputed starters for the Spanish team that won the World Cup.
His first season couldn't have been more successful. He won trophies (Champions League) that some pursue for, say, 30 years, and never win.
The world was at Pep's feet.
If one sextuple is a great achievement, two in a row is almost impossible, but Pep accepted the challenge.
In La Liga, Barcelona won again, with a record of 99 points (only 15 points lost), winning both El Classicos once again.
In the Copa Del Rey and the Champions League, however, luck wasn't on Guardiola's side this time. Barcelona was knocked out in both competitions by only one goal. In the Champions League, some very dubious referee calls kept Barcelona from reaching the final again.
Still, it must be considered a very good season. A new treble would just be asking too much and it was not that far away.
Overall, Guardiola has been involved in ten competitions as a manager, winning eight (!) of them, and losing the other two by a single goal! He has always stuck to his principles, but he's constantly been re-inventing the team in order to make it even more difficult for the opponents to stop them.
Saying Pep Guardiola is not a good coach would be a sophomiric thing to say on my path. His achievements during this his relatively short tenure as barcelona coach speak for themselves.
However, it can be argued that the sextuple he won two years ago were only procurable because of some inept refereeing on the path of the officials. As we all know, it was a "FUKCING DESGRACE" according to my Ivorien friend but even without the six trophies he won, I think Barca is lucky to have him as a coach.
I like Pep Guardiola. He doesn't run his mouth like some of his players do, and calling him classy is an understatement. His devout personality is something I don't usually relate to barca.
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