Pep Confidential (3 page)

But Pep Guardiola is a stubborn man and Kasparov had, after all, allowed him to open this particular can of worms. He was not going to let the matter rest. The Catalan stood his ground and repeated his question for the third time.

This time Kasparov seemed to visibly retreat into the protective shell he had developed in his chess playing days. Eyes fixed on his plate, as if defending a particularly tenuous position on the chessboard, he snapped: ‘Impossible.’

A change of tactic was in order and Guardiola decided to wait for another opportunity to explore the reasons for Kasparov’s stubbornness – not out of idle curiosity but because he sensed that, somewhere within, lay the answer to a key question for Guardiola: Why had he been so worn out by Barça? And, above all, how could he avoid repeating the same mistake in the future?

If I had to define Pep Guardiola I would describe him as a man who questions everything, not through insecurity or fear of the unknown, but in the search for perfection. Although he recognises it as an impossible goal, it is nonetheless the force that drives him. As a result, he is often left with a pervading sense of unfinished work.

Guardiola can be obsessional in this respect and believes that the ideal solution can be found only after examining all the available options. Rather like a master chess player who analyses all the possibilities before moving his next piece.

When he sits down to prepare his game plan he does not spend time thinking about his team’s general approach. His players will be going out to get the ball, play attacking football and win the match.

The basic strategy never changes but there is still room for nuance, for the application of a range of different options all of which he examines in the week before a match. He goes over and over the line-up in his mind, analysing the contribution of one player with respect to another and examining how their opponents will affect what his players can do. He wants to be sure of the level of synergy between playing partners as well as how the different lines in his team will work together when under attack.

No matter the opponent, his preparation never changes and he will not rest for a second until all the variants have been dissected and assessed. Then, when he has finished, he goes over it all again. This is what Manel Estiarte, his right-hand man at Barça and Bayern, calls ‘the law of 32 minutes’. The term refers to his often-fruitless attempts to persuade Pep to disconnect from football. From time to time Estiarte will use all the resources at his disposal to curb the coach’s obsessional behaviour. Experience, however, has taught him that Pep cannot be distracted for much longer than 30 minutes at a time.

‘You invite him for a meal in a restaurant, hoping that he’ll forget about football, but 32 minutes later you can see his mind is already wandering,’ Estiarte explains. ‘He starts staring at the ceiling and, although he’s nodding as if he’s listening to you, he’s not looking at you. In actual fact he’s probably thinking about the opposition left-back, the marking scheme for the midfielders, how much the wingers can support the inside-forwards… the guy can only manage half an hour and then he goes straight back to his mental contemplation.’

The stress caused by this constant need to analyse will be much easier to cope with at Bayern, as long as the players and management are behind him.

In fact, Estiarte now insists on him leaving Säbener Strasse, Bayern’s training ground, from time to time and going home to disconnect. On these occasions Pep does indeed go home. He plays with his kids and then, at about the half-hour mark, goes off to a little alcove at the far end of the hall and returns to his analysis. His 32 minutes are up and, for the fourth time that day, he sets about exploring all the options from every angle.

This is why Kasparov’s response had become so important to him. This is why Pep had to decipher the enigma.

Why would a legend like Kasparov, himself an amazing talent, consider it impossible to beat an opponent?

In the end, it was the female members of this New York gathering who provided the answer. Bringing the conversation back to the concept of passion, Cristina and Daria began to discuss the pressures and emotional exhaustion involved.

‘Perhaps it is an issue of concentration,’ suggested Cristina.

‘That’s it!’ Daria agreed. ‘If it were just one two-hour game Garry could beat Carlsen, but in reality the match would go on for five or six hours and Garry just doesn’t want to go through the pain of so many hours with his brain on overload, calculating possibilities. Carlsen is young and isn’t aware yet of what that does to you. Garry understands the impact only too well and wouldn’t want to go through that for days on end. You would end up with one player who can concentrate for five hours and another who can manage only two. It would be impossible for him to win.’

That night Guardiola managed very little sleep. He was too busy reflecting on everything he had heard.

2

‘I NEED TO KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT THE CLUB, AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.’

Munich, June 24, 2013

IT’S THE FESTIVAL of San Juan, Pep’s first day at Bayern, and it is raining. It does not seem to bother him. He is radiant, almost to the point that he has to contain the feeling of pure joy that threatens to overflow at any moment.

There are no nerves. What he feels is pure elation and he has no intention of hiding it. He is delighted to have returned to football; he feels like he is standing in the starting gate, confident in the knowledge that his ride is fast, spirited and eager to be off. Everyone at Bayern shares the same excited anticipation. This is the day of Pep’s presentation and emotions are running high. It is as if they have just added yet another title to the treble won in the season just ended – or else made the first conquest of the new season.

This is a day that will go down in the club’s history books. The celebrations are, however, low key.

Two hundred and forty seven journalists have been invited to the press conference – the biggest number ever to have been given accreditation for an event like this at the club. The atmosphere in the Allianz Arena is extraordinary, as if Pep’s arrival represents not a simple presentation, more an accession. Enthusiastic noise fills the Munich stadium and there is tension in the air as a solid mass of journalists cram themselves into the press room.

Pep is delighted to be back in the saddle. No longer the exhausted figure we watched walking away from Barça; today there is a gleam in his eye, and he looks rejuvenated. He is doing what he loves once again. Working with a ball at his feet.

‘I love football,’ he declares. ‘I liked it even before I started to play it. I still like to play it, I like to watch it, I like to talk about it. I’m going to shut myself up in Säbener Strasse so that I learn everything I need to know about the club as quickly as possible, right down to the youngsters in the youth system.’

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, president of the executive committee, starts off by announcing the club’s objectives: ‘For us, the most important title is the Bundesliga because it represents 34 matches. The highest prize as always is the Champions League, but it is a competition where there are no guarantees and the things you take for granted in domestic football don’t always work.

‘I am really looking forward to finding out what Pep will change in the team.’ The coach waves his hands as if to say he intends to change very little, although I have the feeling that this is his natural diplomacy rather than anything else. His technical team, standing just a few metres away from him, seem to agree.

Manel Estiarte, who prefers to work quietly behind the scenes, will be his right-hand man, the person who will tell it like it is, regardless of whether the news is good or bad. Domènec Torrent shares the post of assistant coach with Hermann Gerland. Gerland is a Bayern man through and through, and has worked with players such as Thomas Müller, David Alaba and Philipp Lahm.

Lorenzo Buenaventura is sitting amongst the journalists. Buenaventura is the physical trainer whose dedication to Guardiola is such that he dropped everything to follow him to Barça, and has now joined him in Munich.

Carles Planchart is next to Buenaventura. Planchart will be responsible for scouting, as well as the tactical analysis of rivals and, still more importantly, their movements on the pitch.

Cristina, Pep’s wife, and Maria, his eldest daughter, are in the sixth row of the hall. His brother, Pere, has also come along today, accompanied by both Evarist Murtra, the director who initially suggested that Pep become Barça coach, and Jaume Roures, the impresario who controls Spanish football’s broadcast rights.

The coach’s agent, Josep Maria Orobitg, is the last of the small group of family and friends who have made the trip to be here today.

Bayern welcomes Guardiola as if they have just found the final piece of their puzzle. Pep represents everything they need to make that final leap to the highest echelons of the sport.

Rummenigge puts it into words for us: ‘We have made up a massive amount of ground on FC Barcelona but remain in second place despite the great successes of this last season. I am delighted to have signed someone like Guardiola. It is a privilege for Bayern.’

Guardiola tries to quieten the crowd and temper their growing enthusiasm: ‘It would be presumptuous to say that Bayern is about to embark on a new era. We have to take it step by step. Expectations are very high and it isn’t going to be easy. I’m actually a little nervous.’

To everyone’s surprise, he speaks in very accurate German. He has a go at complex grammatical constructions and correctly uses the demonstrative pronoun ‘diese’ as well as the difficult word ‘herausforderung’ when he talks about the challenges he faces.

In his first few weeks in charge the German press will make a fuss of his mastery of their language but, as the months go by, it will become a normal part of their interactions, even if he has to ask them to slow down from time to time.

Everyone wants to know what he intends to change. Should they expect the kind of revolution he initiated at Barça in 2008 when he showed Ronaldinho and Deco, the supremely talented but wayward Brazilians, the door?

Pep shakes his head: ‘There is very little in the team that has to change. Every coach has his own ideas but, in my opinion, any team that has won four titles [including the 2012 German Super Cup] doesn’t need much of an overhaul. Bayern are doing brilliantly and you have an excellent team. I hope to maintain the same level of success as Jupp Heynckes. He is a first-class coach and I admire him enormously not only because of his most recent triumphs, but for the work he has done throughout his whole career. I hope to meet him again soon because I value his opinion. It’s a great honour to be his successor and I have the greatest respect for him.’

It is as if the club and its new coach are starting afresh. Pep won 14 titles in four years at Barcelona, the Munich club gathered seven titles in the same period; but for today they have forgotten their past successes and are thinking only of this new beginning.

Uli Hoeness, the club’s president, confesses that he had to pinch himself when Guardiola indicated an interest in joining them: ‘Initially, when Pep said that he could imagine himself coaching here one day, we couldn’t believe it!’

With almost childlike enthusiasm, big hopes and high expectations, they are embarking on this new journey together. But there is also an element of fear. In football everyone starts from zero with every new season. You are only as good as your last game.

Pep: ‘When a club like Bayern calls you have to respond and I am ready to face the challenge. My time at Barcelona was fantastic, but I needed something new and Bayern has given me this opportunity.

‘There is going to be lots of pressure but I’ll just have to put up with it. As Bayern coach you are expected to play well and keep winning.

‘I want to reiterate that a team as successful as this one won’t need too many changes.’

The speech is very different to the one he delivered back in 2008, when he took over at Barça. Back then Pep promised to struggle, to run and to fight until the last whistle of the last minute of the last game. Here, the effort is taken for granted and the huge pressure that Guardiola will impose on himself and others will be considered much like the rain or the beer in Munich, just another normal part of everyday life.

Right now he is anxious to explain his football philosophy: ‘My football is simple: I like to attack, attack and attack.’

Then everyone makes their way down to the Allianz Arena pitch so that Guardiola can sit on the coach’s bench for the first time. One of the Catalans present quotes Cavafy’s famous poem ‘Íthaca’ – a favourite of Pep’s. ‘May the journey be long,’ he wishes Pep on this fresh Munich morning. Guardiola turns to him and adds: ‘Let’s hope it’s a good journey, too!’

Pep has spent as much time as he could endure away from football.

Some weeks previously, Manel Estiarte was taken aback when the Catalan asked him to have his office in Säbener Strasse ready from June 10.

‘What on earth are you going to do there at that time of the summer?’ he demanded. ‘There won’t be anyone about! Enjoy your holidays, because very soon you won’t have any free time at all.’

Pep is back where he wants to be. Pursuing his passion.

But what about Bayern? Why the change? Why would a treble-winning horse decide to change its rider?

Por qué?

Warum
?

Why?

To understand the reason for Bayern’s decision to appoint a new coach just as they were enjoying such success requires an understanding of the realities of a modern football club, and the role of the directors in an industry which combines the tangible with the intangible – mixing goals and roars in equal measure.

Bayern could boast a proud history, financial clout, innate self-confidence and a strong fan base. After a glorious run of successes, the future looked bright. They had built their excellence on the virtues that best represent the German character: endurance, unshakeable belief and an iron will. What they lacked was a playing philosophy.