Pep Guardiola has been one of the vital talked-about figures in latest soccer historical past ever since he first began out his teaching profession with Barcelona in 2008.
The Spaniard had prompt success with the Catalans, spending 4 fruitful years at Nou Camp and successful a number of coveted trophies.
That’s the reason it was no shock that Bayern Munich followers have been elated after they heard the information that Guardiola goes to educate the group and regardless of his keep in Germany proved to be a bit controversial on the finish, the identical utilized to the Manchester Metropolis devoted after they heard the information again in 2016.
It might be silly to outright dismiss Guardiola’s success as he’s gained the home title in three of the largest European leagues a number of occasions.
His groups have been identified to play one of the vital dynamic and enticing types ever to be seen on a soccer pitch and there have been quite a few gamers which have praised him for his ingenious tactical and man-management strategy.
Nonetheless, beneath all this, there’s a larger context and on this submit, I attempt to discover all angles earlier than giving my verdict on how effectively Pep Guardiola has finished since changing into a supervisor again in 2008.
Pep Guardiola’s Managerial Profession in Numbers
Indubitably, Pep’s most profitable years in administration have been those spent as Barcelona head coach.
He gained three La Liga titles, clinched the Champions League trophy on two events, and likewise gained the Spanish Cup, UEFA Tremendous Cup, and the FIFA Membership World Cup twice.
We’ll in all probability by no means know all the small print that made him go away the Catalans however a variety of respected sources have cited bodily and psychological exhaustion as the principle motive.
Guardiola is claimed to have felt drained by the depth of the 4 years spent on the membership and after a short hiatus selected to switch his abilities to the German Bundesliga as he accepted Bayern Munich’s proposal.
Once more, Guardiola proved to be an intuition hit on the brand new scene as he romped to 3 straight league titles and likewise added two DFB Pokal trophies.
Nonetheless, his failure to ship the Champions League was what prompted the Bayern board to finish his contract in 2016 and change him with Carlo Ancelotti.
This opened the door for a transfer to Manchester Metropolis the place he had the personnel and assets to shortly switch his tactical imaginative and prescient and begin constructing a brand new mission in England.
He missed out on the Premier League trophy in his first yr with the membership however then claimed back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019.
Pep additionally gained the FA Cup final yr and has been profitable within the League Cup a minimum of 3 times.
However once more, his makes an attempt at successful the Champions League have proved inadequate.
The membership had a number of irritating exits from the event throughout his tenure with probably the most recent defeat by Lyon being the largest hit that Guardiola has needed to take to date.
My Verdict and Last Phrases
As I stated earlier, Guardiola’s variety of trophies gained can’t be disputed by anybody.
Nonetheless, my private opinion is that he ought to have finished loads higher with the assets he was given in any respect three of his golf equipment.
In spite of everything, when beginning out at Barcelona he had the posh of taking up a group that boasted gamers like Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, and Xavi Hernandez of their prime.
And it’s not like he didn’t spend cash regardless of all of the world-class expertise he had at his disposal.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, David Villa, Cesc Fabregas, and Alexis Sanchez have been purchased for large sums on the time and Villa apart, the supervisor wasn’t capable of efficiently combine any of them.
The excessive spending continued with Bayern Munich the place the Spaniard was allowed to herald top-quality internationals resembling Arturo Vidal, Mario Goetze, Douglas Costa, and Thiago Alcantara.
So, failing to win the Champions League there’s a stain that can be laborious to wash.
Now approaching his fourth season with Manchester Metropolis, Guardiola is going through an analogous downside.
With the spending he’s finished since taking up, his total tally now exceeds 1 billion kilos and it doesn’t look good particularly after conceding the title to a a lot inexpensive Liverpool group and going out of the Champions League by shedding to the French aspect Lyon.
In a latest interview, Yaya Toure criticized his former supervisor saying that Guardiola has it simple in Manchester and would’ve already been sacked if he have been main one other membership.
It could sound harsh and everyone knows Toure has a private agenda in opposition to Guardiola however I really feel he’s proper right here.
Pep has undoubtedly constructed a cushty setting for him at Metropolis. He can purchase any participant he needs and has full management over all the choices regarding the membership’s enjoying personnel.
Some would say he deserves to have that a lot energy but it surely’s additionally true that it comes with larger accountability and successful two Premier League titles alone after such an enormous funding falls quick in my e book.
To high all of it off, I’m not satisfied that he has the capability to be a long-serving supervisor in the identical method that Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger have been.
Plainly the stress of excessive expectations does get to him extra typically as evidenced by a number of incidents he has had along with his personal gamers and the media.
I’m sure that Guardiola will proceed to win trophies in his profession however for my part, he has to enhance on much more facets of his administration to essentially earn a spot alongside the greats.
