PEP GUARDIOLA
Josep Guardiola i Sala was born in Santpedor on
18 January 1971. After a highly successful career as a Barça player and then
gaining promotion as manager of Barça Atlètic, he won the treble in his debut
season on the first team bench and has, to date, won thirteen out of a possible
sixteen major titles.
Josep Guardiola, one of the most important
players in Barcelona's history, took over as first team manager on 17 June 2008
after a brilliant season as coach of Barça Atlètic with whom he won promotion
to Second Division B. "I can't promise you silverware, but I can say that
we'll keep on battling to the end and you'll be proud of us," he said on
the day of his first Gamper Trophy. And he was right.
The fifteenth Catalan manager in the history of
the club arrived with the mission to end a two-season long trophy drought. To
do that he used the same 4-3-3 system he had experienced as a Barça player and
which had brought him success at Barça Atlètic.
Guardiola only understands one way of playing
football, which is to attack, keep possession and move the ball around so that
the other team has to run after it. That's the way his Barça side plays, as did
his Barça Atlètic, and they have had more possession and more shots on goal
than virtually every team they have played. He appreciates the talent of his
players but he puts hard work and individual sacrifice for the common cause
first. He sees football as a squad sport in which he has ultimate
responsibility for results and is therefore also the leader of the squad.
Guardiola is a meticulous manager who sees to
the tiniest of details. He gets ready for every game with videos of the
opposition and never thinks beyond the next match. He is a brilliant motivator
who brings the best out of each player in his squad. This philosophy brought
him success with the first-team in his first campaign in charge as Barça lifted
the Spanish Cup and League and the Champions League in the best season in the
club's history, the 2008/09 treble season.
That excellent campaign meant that Guardiola
became the third manager after Cruyff and Samitier to pick up the League title
after having also won it as a Barça player. He also become the sixth man to win
the Champions League as a manager having previously done so as a player, and the
first manager to win the treble in the 21st century.
There was no limit to his successes, for the
2009/10 season started with wins in the Spanish and European Supercup, and in
December 2009 he led the club to its first ever Clubs World Cup title. That incredible
2009 went down in history as the year of the Six Cups: Copa del Rey, Liga,
Champions League, Spanish Supercup, European Supercup and Clubs World Cup.
Things didn’t stop there, for in 2009/10 Barcelona retained the Liga, and the
year after won the Spanish Supercup, Liga and yet another Champions league. In
the current 2011/12 season, Barça have already won the Spanish Supercup, the
European Supercup and the second Clubs World Cup. Under Guardiola, Barça have
not only been winning, but have been winning in emphatic fashion. In these few
years, they have managed to smash more than thirty Spanish, European and World
records.
Legendary footballer
Before going into management, Guardiola was a
class footballer who played almost all his career at FC Barcelona before going
on to spells in Italy, Qatar and Mexico. He was at the Catalan club from when
he joined its youth academy in 1984 until he left for Italy in 2001.
Barça honours
Among the trophies he won at Barça are six
leagues (1990-91, 91-92, 92-93, 93-94, 97-98 and 98-99), a European Cup
(91-92), a Cup Winners' Cup (96-97) and two King's Cups (96-97 and 97-98).
During all this time Guardiola was the team's organiser in his traditional
number 4 shirt.
Other teams
In Italy's Serie A he made his debut with
Brescia in the 2001-02 season, followed by a year with Roma before going back
to Lombardy. Later on he went further afield to Al-Ahly in Qatar for two
seasons (2003-04 and 2004-05) and Dorados de Sinaloa (Mexico), where he hung up
his boots for the final time in 2006.
response :
first time come
a lot doubt of him because training a world class team like barcelona. but in
first year all changing because barcelona reach for 6 title. a very difficult
achievement imitating by other team. game of barcelona very atractive and get
best team title in the world. but 2012 becoming his the last year in barcelona
because he wish to rest a moment. sorrowful sure fans, but having to remain to
respect that decision and remain to compliment to him.come back anytime you
want, because door always open everytime for you.
