After a year of speculation and rumours, Pep Guardiola
decided to join Bavarian beer kings, Bayern Munich. Most experts, and sources
close to the Catalan, predicted that he would take the helm for one of the
English Premier League’s powerhouses – mainly Machester City or Chelsea. It’s a
shame he didn’t do so.
I was really looking forward to how Pep would fare in the
world’s most competitive league. His trophy haul while with Barca is very
impressive, but a coach with his pedigree and track record needs to place
himself against the best in order to substantiate his ability and managerial
proficiency.
He collected a staggering 14 trophies during his four years
in charge with Barcelona. That’s quite an accomplishment, but winning with the
team he had, the resources he possessed to acquire players, and a strong
football philosophy that had been in place for decades, wasn’t the most
challenging feat in the football world.
Guardiola’s predecessor, Frank Rijkaard, managed 8 tropies
in five years with the club after inheriting a weak team rife with internal
conflict. Although Rijkaard’s CV is not as striking as Guardiola’s (even though
his hair certainly is), Pep walked onto an established team that had
experienced success with notable superstars that already included Messi, Eto’o,
Xavi, Iniesta, and Puyols, to name a few. Not to take anything away from what
Pep accomplished, but he didn’t exactly take Barcelona from the B Division to
become the global force that they are today – they were pretty good when he got
there. He did however turn Barcelona into arguably one of the best club teams
ever in the 2010-2011 season. He did this with a great core of players that
were already present upon his arrival, but with his keen acquisition of other footballers
and astute tactics, they received the boost needed to become extraordinary. Essentially,
my disappointment in his decision is rooted in the belief that the ingredients
to create a dynasty with Barcelona were well in place before his arrival to the
senior team. Would he be able to do the same at another club that plays in a
more competitive league?
While at Barcelona, Guardiola won the league Championship
three times, but in its present state, La Liga has been a two horse race
between Barcelona and Real Madrid for some time now. Outside the two Spanish
giants, Valencia is the most recent team to accomplish the feat back in 2004.
Winning the championship is still very difficult, but not as challenging when
you only have to worry about beating one team to the top.
The disparity in Germany’s Bundesliga, and Guardiola’s
future surroundings are not so imbalanced. The Germans have a little more opposition
in their competition, however, Bayern have just invested 70 million euros on new
players awaiting Pep’s arrival. They also finished in second last year and
already have quite an imposing team with a strong contingent of young German
talent, which they displayed this year in the Champions League with the
walloping they gave to my beloved Arsenal. So really, Pep Guardiola is walking
into another great set-up, rich with resources and talent, ready to start
adding more trophies to his dossier right after the first kick-off of the
season, and it’s disappointing; disappointing because a manager of his supposed
brilliance belongs in England.
The English Premier League is currently the fastest, most
entertaining, most glamorous, most popular, and most competitive league in the
world – disregarding UEFA and FIFA’s illogical rankings and irrational classification
system. Like any other professional league, there are always favourites, but it
is the only football league in the world where five or six teams have a
legitimate chance of winning it all by the end of season. Moreover, when you
must play ten to twelve games a year against opponents of equal caliber, a
title or competition is just that much harder to win - that’s not taking into
account the quality of the other English clubs who when fared against their mid
to low table counterparts around Europe, have much more quality and are simply
better.
I wanted to see how Guardiola would have performed in that
type of fierce competition and parity. I wanted to see if he could achieve the
levels of greatness he did with his cherished Barcelona. I wanted to see if his
managerial ingenuity could work outside the confines of possession based
football that his team and tactics were geared towards. Could he adapt? Could
he bring ‘his’ football to England and succeed? Unfortunately we won’t know
until he actually gathers the courage and goes to England. Sure he might win
the treble with Bayern – a Champion’s League, the Bundesliga, and the German
Cup, but will it mean much? Not to me.
Throughout his time as a manager in Spain, Guardiola was
always compared to Jose Mourinho and, more times than not, was dubbed the
better coach. Mourinho however, has won everything there is to win in Portugal,
Italy, England, and Spain. The jewels missing from his crowns are absent
Champions League trophies with Chelsea, and currently with Real Madrid - a
jewel which may very well come this season. Mourinho has moved from country to
country, each with a unique style of play and differing football philosophies.
He has won in every country; he has accepted a significant challenge in every
country. Can Guardiola say the same?
He is a great manager, there is no question. But how great
he is will only be measured if he can win the Premiership and Champions League
with an English club. Until then, his
ability, his legacy, will be marred with skepticism and doubt.
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