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translation: Maria Inez for totalbarca.com
[Guardiola: The journey from the pitch to the bench]
How does a footballer become in a world successful coach?
Today, it seems natural to see Pep Guardiola sitting here,
but it is necessary to look back and find his way home
2008: A new coach is presented in FC Barcelona
This is the story of a journey
“Fasten your seat belts because we are going to have a good time”
A journey that began some time ago...
[The goodbye]
In this same stadium, one night in 2001,after more than a decade of playing for FC Barcelona,
Pep Guardiola plays his last game for the team.
"The game is over. Barcelona gets eliminated from Copa del Rey”.
A sour goodbye for Barça’s captain, Pep Guardiola, who retires as Barça player with no titles that year
A sad night in the Camp Nou
(Carles Rexach, FCB Coach 2001-2002):
His last game was something people say, like, a little bit for the back door.
Pep should have ended his Barça career with an homage, a proper goodbye...
I think his last game and his departure wasn’t nice, not for him or for any barcelonista..
(Manel Estiarte, Pep’s friend, FCB director): I’m sure that Pep, some years ago, would have wanted a different goodbye.
(David Trueba, Director-Writer. Guardiola’s friend)
In his head, I think he realises he has to go before he gets kicked out.
There were a lot of rumours of him goint to Italy or England.. bbut he always said he didn’t have anything signed with any other team
And at the end it happened.. he kind of went.. left out
[The other football]
Pep’s first flight doesn’t land in a place he desired.
Welcome at Brescia, 2001
Pep Guardiola ends up signing with Brescia, a team more used to the second division than the group of the best italian teams.
He goes to Italy, to Brescia, he gets there all thrilled to start a new story that might not be as he thought it would...
(Antonio Filippini, Brescia footballer) For Brescia, Pep Guardiola was a dream player. He was the kind of player we watched on the TV.
Back then, it was like if Messi would arrived to Brescia
And the Pep arrives to a very different football, in which the midfield is often ignored. The ball was always high up in the air
(Andres Yllana, Brescia footballer 1999-2002)
We had this coach, Carlo Masone, who is very known in Italy, that asked us to play the ball high.
We, in the midfield, felt kind of left out since we saw the ball pass over us all the time.
From completing 100 passes to get only 20, well, it’s a very different style...
[The Hell]
I remember when I received his call and.. I pick up and tease him a bit, but notice in his voice a serious tone..and then he says: “I need a lawyer”
Thank you for being here. I'm Pep Guardiola Sala
(Franco Bassini, Chief of Sports Section, Giornale di Brescia) He started saying “My name is Pep Guardiola”
I am a football player. A machine says that.
I have taken nandrolone..
Next to this machine there is a man that says that has not taken nandrolone
There is no worse accusation for an athlete. Then an idea starts to come to his mind
He didn’t want a story that wasn’t true to become true. He was depressed and wanted to leave football
but Pep does not quit, and takes a step in the only direction he knows: forward
He told me "No, Manel, I.. until the last day, if I have an euro
I will spend it on proving my innocence, I have to prove my truth
And he was right at the end. But that came after seven years
The same judge at Brescia called him innocent from all the charges he had received.
How important was being close to loose everything
Now, after two seasons in Italy, it is time to leave.
[A friend, a reference]
In that moment, Pep thought that his final time still had to arrive. He still felt he was a football player.
This is a time when he and Lillo talked a lot about football.
(Juanma Lillo, coach, Dorados de Sinalda, 2005-2006) He and I shared everything about football. We had to.
It was curious that, in Mexico, he learnt about everyone. He learnt plays that were Lavolpe trademarks.. he was always thinking about the future.
I think this, the learning process, was something Pep was looking for.
(Evarist Murtra, ex-board memeber FCB): That season he assumed he wasn’t the same football player he was once. He was no longer physically strong.
He had a lot of injuries while playing at Dorados, he was dissapointed by that.. and I think that the coachin
Pep needs to think things real hard to feel safe
And then, he started listening people, expanding his mind
In Spain, we always say that if you want to learn to dance flamenco you have to spend one year in Jerez.
I think that if you want to know about football, you have to go to Argentina and listen to the experts there
[Football talks]
Pep was very curious and was very excited to meet some argentinian coaches.
I know he met (Marcelo) Bielsa and (Cesar Luis) Menotti in Buenos Aires. That visit was very important for him
(Cesar Luis Menotti, Coach) We talked about football.. I saw an idea on him....
and I got excited of seeing such a young guy embracing the challenge of doing some kind of conceptual football..
I told him at some point "You will be Barcelona coach, you are the ideal coach for them "
Argentina, Italy and Mexico had helped to shape Pep Guardiola’s character. He is ready. Now, he is just waiting for a chance.
[The come back]
Evarist Murtra proposes his name as new coach in a board meeting
Pep Guardiola as a “product” was incredibly popular in Barcelona. Because of his history.
As soon as he gets offered to coach Barça B, and I remember he asked me about it, I told him he should accept right away.
But the B-team is living a hell in the third division.
A lot of people told him “don´t do it, the third division is dangerous” It is very hard, players are too rough...
The test was on...
Those were moments of change.
And there is also a player that was about to leave the club: Pedro Rodriguez, known as Pedrito.
(Pedro Rodriguez, Barça football player): When I talked with Pep he said to me he wanted to see me play,
and at that moment, I decide that I have to take that last chance I have left.
He taught us a lot, especially tactics, how to be placed in the field..
from that time we started to learn game by game, we started to win and then we got to the superior division..
But while the B-team is starting to reborn,
the reality of the first team is quite different.
That was not the best time for Frank Rijkaard.
We had dinner, Mr. Laporta, Pep and I, and Pep was told that,
if Rijkaard didn’t win anything that year, that he would be the next Barça coach
Pep, in what world are you getting to?!
But he said: "Manel, I’ll do it just fine "
[Guardiola’s Presentation, 2008]
I understand that the only way of make this work is having a strong dressing room, a strong group.
I understand that the only way (of succeeding) is making everyone feel important.
[The big challenge]
(Tito Vilanova, Assistant Coach, FC Barcelona) At the end, he came back home
“Fasten your seat belts because we are going to have a good time”.
But sometimes, when the journey seems to get to its end.. it is actually starting.
[2008/09 Season, 1st game: Numancia vs. FC Barcelona[
And there it is, the bad surprise at Numancia
The world of football is very short term.. how much you win, how much you are worth.
We were on the bus, he was in front and I was just behind, and about one hour later he starts to talk..
and talk.. and the idea was “Manel, we are not wrong”
The idea was clear. The biggest mistake would have been to have doubts
In the second game of Pep as coach, the team only draws against Racing
All the alarms got activated fast
People has doubts. People that doesn’t understand football..
the Barça fans think Pep does not have enough experience to coach the team
We were convinced that our we were doing our job well
When the team get a little used to.. and starts working, then people thought “well, this is working!”
Pep Guardiola has recovered his place. After a long journey, he is back home
He gives you everyting. Trust, demands, discipline. Pep’s figure.. he captivates you without even talking.
He knows very well that he will keep learning his entire life. And he doesn’t stop. He doesn’t stop learning.
It’s not about winning eight trophies. It is the way of achieving them
We have done it (winning 8 titles) playing 7, 8 or 9 homegrown players. I am convinced that nobody will achieve that today.
Pep: “Citizens of Catalunya: we have it here again. Visca el Barça y Visca Catalunya”.
translation: Maria Ines subtitles: doris86pl totalbarca.com