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If you are offered
the possibility of coaching
this huge team that Barça is
and more so, if you are born and raised
in Catalunya and in this team
it is very difficult
to reject that offering
you know that opportunity
won't show up again
I was assigned the mission
of discovering Tito Vilanova
Barça's new coach
the man that has been under
Pep Guardiola's shadow over the last five years
and that now has been assigned
his substitute.
How is Tito Vilanova really like?
What is his history?
I decided to start from
where everything began, at his home town,
Bellcaire d'Empordà,
where he was born 42 years ago.
At the towns social club
his first coach is waiting for me,
Joan Font.
-How are you doing?
-Good afternoon, how are you?
-You know if Tito liked to play cards?
-Of course he did, as any football player
in any of those concentrations before games
-The like 'parchís' these days, and poker as well
-What do you remember about Tito as a kid?
-People called him Tito back then, didn't they?
-Yes, they did. He had a brother who is just 12 -or 15 months older than him
-that couldn't say "Francesc" so he said Tito
-and his brother was Josep, "Pep",
-Pep and Tito
-he used to do a lot of training as a kid
-he would always play with the ball at home
-whenever he had some free time
-he would be kicking the ball
-with the left leg, or the right leg
-the ball against the wall, continuously
-I once read an interview of him
saying that he used to do that at home,
play with the ball all the time
-There is a story of him
once we went to play another team
he was trying to score really hard
despite I was telling him to stay in midfield
and be attentive to the other team
but he would took the ball and go forward
again and again
until I subbed him, then I asked
"Tito, why are you not listening to me?"
as he always listened, so I was surprised he didn't
and he would say "because mom told me
that if I scored, she would buy me
Barça's training kit"
-Did she?
-I don't know, well, I think she did
as I have a photo of him
wearing it
-I have to meet one of Tito's old mates
from school
-Oh, ok
-I'll leave you to it
Josep Listosella was Tito's mate at school
and at the first football team
when they were kids
They shared time between classes and
training sessions, as well as
their thoughts and dreams.
-We are trying to discover Tito
and as you know him since you were kids
is he as "serious" as he seems?
-When we were at school, he was reservated,
never looked for trouble
but when we went to the football field
even when we entered this dressing room
you could tell he had qualities of a footballer
he would transform in the field
-Did he have a bit of agressiveness, that is said
to be necesary in this sport?
He did, yes, he would fight for the ball
and get angry when someone kicked him,
when he loose a game he would demonstrate frustration
I could say he was the leader in our team
and he liked that role, and was good at it
he was the one in charge of taking
the penalties, the free kicks, etc.,
players would always try to find him
as the reference inside the pitch, so yes,
I think he was the leader
-Josep, this field seems to have been here forever, an authentic town field,
made of pure soil.
-Yes, it's also a very hard field
-This is where Tito and yourself
shared years of football, right?
-Yes, it is, we both started playing football
here, where we tryied to show our skills
and have a good time
-It was a big moment when he started playing for Barça,
Barça "B" at that time and, of course you think and want that, if he does a good job
and joins the first team, you think
you will have a friend that plays for Barça!
so I always thought he would be a player there,
never a coach, I would never think about that
I think that, as I want, and the town, for him to succeed so bad, that we suffer and worry
about him more than we should
I worked very close to Pep,
he was in charge of communicating concepts
he was the one who would transmit the message to the players
but most of the decissions
were shared with me, considering my opinion
I guess most of the times he liked that,
otherwise he wouldn't have asked me
sometimes we didn't agree that much
but most of the decissions, a high rate,
we both agreed on what was to be done.
Tito Vilanova is not Pep Guardiola's clone
they are very different
one thing is the idea of football they share
and the other is the dimension, the meaning
of both their figures for the club
so, I know Tito will be able to perform
as Barça coach, and he will probably have the same
role and abilities to prepare games and
make his own decisions to resolve difficult games
but on the other hand, he will probably not have
that role of leader of the club that Guardiola had
A person (Tito) is replacing a concept (Pep),
so I do believe Tito represents an idea,
a football concept, he is an alternative to,
at least, try out this concept
Players need to see Tito as Barça's head coach,
not the second coach, and for that to happen,
Tito has to act as head coach
that change needs to be taken in mind by Tito,
I think he will have the character needed
to take decissions and impose his will at Barça
this decissions will mark the path for him to
make believe people he is the right coach
I think the club also needs to think Tito as
a definitive choice, and not saving anything,
for december or until things start going bad,
or spending money after he leaves..
as far as I know Tito, I can say he has character
and he will take his own decissions,
now it's about to see if those decissions
will be supported by everyone...
When Tito was 15 years old,
he joined Barça's La Masia
there, he had a group of friends who called
themselves "els golafres"
I am meeting one of them, Jaume Torras
one of his good friends, who owns
a car dealing business in Osona
-What do you remember of Tito
when you were both a La Masia?
-I remember he was a bit serious
always with his feet on the ground
and that liked things correctly done
he was methodic, he liked to do things right
I think those are common qualities on Catalans,
you know, being serious, despite liking
to have a laugh sometimes, but treating people
with a certain distance at the beginning,
to win their respect
-People called him "El Marqués" (The Duke), was the group
of friends who invented that name for him?
-Yes, we did, but I don't really know who did it
but yes, we called him "El Marqués", because we saw
he liked things correctly done or said
he was always like "no, that is not done that way"
or "this is the way to set a table, or pour wine"
and if we were playing "rondos" with a ball
outside La Masia, he will be worried
the ball was in good conditions, with good pressure
he was always thinking
"if we are going to do something,
it has to be done correctly
otherwise. it's better not to do anything"
-Why were you called "Els Golafres" (the glotons)?
-Because we liked to eat a lot,
we used to bring some specialities from our home towns
and share with the others
we used dinners as an excuse to talk about football
we also used to talk about managers we liked,
managers that were brave or not so much
-So, even as a young player,
Tito liked managers that were brave
to come out there to win games
and to keep possession of the ball
and so, he has became a coach with courage, right?
-of course, I have no doubts of that
time will tell, but I don't have doubts on this
-listen, I have brought you a little present
but I would like you to watch it
and we comment on it afterwards
We can start by indentifying you in this picture
you are this one, right?
not too down but not too high either
-yes, I didn't fit among those who were down
and neither those who were up,
so I stayed in the middle
-so here we have Pep, Pep Guardiola
Tito Vilanova
Aureli Altimira
Sánchez Jara
another face I can recognise
here it's Luis Carreras, Sabadell's coach
but the swimsuit Tito is wearing
it doesn't seem suitable for a "Marqués", right?
but I understand it was old times fashion
you were heading to a swimming pool, right?
no, we weren`t,
seems Tito was just comfortable
wearing those pants, and we were among friends
at the end, that was our home
it's like when you get home and
wear something more comfortable
if that house could talk..my God!!
how many memories!