Guardiola without his weapons…the legend of the best collapses?

Pep Guardiola is considered one of the most prominent coaches of the current century, having achieved many achievements with Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Manchester City.

The Spaniard began his career from the top, after beginning his steps in the world of coaching at the highest level in July 2008, by assuming the position of coach of the giant Barcelona, which was armed with stars such as Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez, Andreas Iniesta, Samuel Eto’o, Thierry Henry, and Carles Puyol.

Then, in July 2013, the Catalan coach received another high-ranking assignment, alongside Germany’s top club and the then-UEFA Champions League title holder, Bayern Munich.

At that time, Bavarian had a compelling squad. Suffice it to say that it crushed Barcelona in the 2013 Champions League semi-final, with scores of 4-0 and 3-0, back and forth, before being crowned champions.

At that time, Bayern was armed with illustrious names, led by legendary goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and captain Philipp Lahm, as well as Thomas Muller and the terrible duo Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery.

In July 2016, Guardiola moved to coach Manchester City, with a squad led by the club’s all-time top scorer, Sergio Aguero, and the Belgian magician, Kevin De Bruyne.

During the training of the three giants, Pep spent more than 1.5 billion euros on bringing in deals that would help him write the lines of his achievements, in a point that was the subject of controversy among football fans.

Wholesale titles…but!

“The Philosopher,” as his fans like to call him, won 36 various championships, 14 with Barcelona, 7 during Bayern’s leadership, and 15 more at Etihad Castle, the stronghold of Manchester City.

With this huge number of titles, Pep occupies second place historically in the list of coaches who won championships, behind Manchester United icon Sir Alex Ferguson, who won 49 titles.

It is certain that the coach plays a major role in achieving championships, but the quality of the elements that often decide titles through their individual creativity cannot also be overlooked.

Looking, for example, at the three Champions League titles that Pep achieved, the coach’s brilliant ideas are certainly clear, but alongside them stand out are several decisive individual shots from high-quality stars.

Returning to the 2011 Champions League semi-final Clasico at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, we find that the match was swinging, and when the result indicated a goalless draw, the ground split as Lionel Messi started from half of the field, dodging everyone he met until he scored against Iker Casillas, in a shot that opened the way for… Title.

Two years earlier, in the same round, the Dutchman Guus Hiddink, along with Chelsea, tightened his tactical grip on Barcelona Pep at Stamford Bridge, and the Blues were on the verge of reaching the final, amid a controversial refereeing performance, before Andreas Iniesta fired a “treacherous” missile that gave Barça a ticket to the final. Then, the historic hexagon season will be completed.

In the final of the last edition of the Champions League, Inter, led by Simone Inzaghi, presented a distinguished technical performance against Manchester City, but defensive midfielder Rodri saved Pep with a goal from a shot that gave the Citizens the title.

If Guardiola did not have these and other names, this large number of championships would certainly have been reduced.

King of periodicals

During Guardiola’s 14 coaching seasons, the Spaniard won the league title 11 times, in Spain, Germany and England.

This distinctive statistic demonstrates Pep’s strength in “long-term” tournaments, but it also cannot be overlooked that he was lucky enough to coach 3 giants.

If we assume that Guardiola started his career with Getafe, for example, instead of Barcelona, and then moved on to coach Leverkusen in Germany and Everton in England, it would certainly have taken many years to prove his coaching abilities and obtain the opportunity to coach a first-class team, and thus this outcome would certainly have been affected.

genius?

Many followers describe Guardiola as a genius, given his distinctive tactical outlook and attractive attacking style.

But here it cannot be overlooked that Babe’s innovations, in many cases, needed unique names in order to prove their success.

For example, the idea of ​​the imaginary striker in Barcelona would not have achieved this amazing success without the presence of a talent the size of Lionel Messi.

Changing Bayern’s playing style from 4-2-3-1 to 4-1-4-1 with only Thiago Alcantara in front of the defence, would not have succeeded unless there were very flexible tactical elements that could carry out dual roles.

With Bayern, the coach often used full-back Philipp Lahm as a midfielder, center Javi Martinez as a central defender, and full-back David Alaba as a winger.

As for Manchester City, Pep needed to spend more than one billion and 200 million euros in order to bring in deals that implemented his ideas and helped him win the Champions League title.

Here the question arises: Would Guardiola have been described as a genius if he had not had the opportunity to train so many stars? We leave the answer to you, dear reader.