Josep "Pep" Guardiola i Sala (Catalan pronunciation: [ʒuˈzɛb ɡwəɾðiˈɔɫə]; born 18 January 1971 in Santpedor, Barcelona, Catalonia), is a Spanish football manager and former player. Guardiola played as a defensive midfielder and spent the majority of his playing career with FC Barcelona, whom he currently manages. He was part of Johan Cruyff's dream team that won Barcelona's first European Cup. Guardiola also played for Brescia Calcio and A.S. Roma in Italy; Al-Ahli in Qatar; and for Dorados de Sinaloa in Mexico while attending managing school. While playing in Italy, he served a four-month ban for a positive drug test although he was cleared of wrongdoing on appeal by Michel Platini as President of UEFA.[1] As an international, he played for Spain and Catalonia.

After retiring as a player, Guardiola became coach of FC Barcelona B. On 8 May 2008, Barcelona president Joan Laporta announced that Guardiola would succeed Frank Rijkaard as the first team manager. He signed his contract on 5 June 2008.[2] In his first season as manager, Barcelona won the treble of La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League. In doing so, Guardiola became the youngest UEFA Champions League winning manager ever. The following season, Guardiola and Barcelona won the Supercopa de España against Athletic Club Bilbao, the UEFA Super Cup against Shakhtar Donetsk, and the FIFA Club World Cup against Estudiantes, bringing the manager's tally to the maximum of six trophies in six competitions in one year, thus completing the first ever sextuple. He is considered to be one of the world's best football managers.[3]                                                                                                           Guardiola joined La Masia at the age of 13 and rose through the ranks at the youth academy of Barcelona for six years, making his début in 1990 against Cádiz. As Phil Ball writes in Morbo,
"In his first week at the club, Cruyff turned up unannounced at the 'Mini' stadium, a venue just down the road from Camp Nou used by the youth and B teams. Just before half-time he wandered into the dug-out and asked Charly Rexach, the youth team manager at the time, the name of the young lad playing on the right side of midfield. 'Guardiola – good lad' came the reply. Cruyff ignored the comment and told Rexach to move him into the middle for the second half, to play as pivote, a difficult position to adapt to and one not used by many teams in Spain at the time. 'Pep' Guardiola adjusted immediately, as Cruyff had suspected he would, and when he moved up into the first-team in 1990 he became the pivot of the Dream Team."[4]

Johan Cruyff utilised the young defensive midfielder in the absence of the suspended Guillermo Amor. He became a first team regular in the 1991–92 season and at only 20 years old was a key component of a side that won La Liga, the European Cup and the Spain national side that triumphed at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. The prestigious Italian magazine Guerin Sportivo heralded Guardiola as the finest player in the world under the age of 21.

Cruyff's Dream Team went on to retain the La Liga title in the 92–93 and 93–94 seasons. The side was strengthened by the recent signing of Romário, again reached the UEFA Champions League Final, but were humbled by Capello's Milan in Athens, and lost the match 0–4.

Cruyff left in 1996, with Barcelona finishing 4th in the 1994–95 season and 3rd in the 1995–96 season, but Guardiola retained his position at the center of Barcelona's midfield. In the 1996–97 season, Barcelona, this time led by Bobby Robson, won three cups – the Copa del Rey, the UEFA Super Cup and the Cup Winners' Cup. Much of the Dream Team had by this time left, with new signings such as Luís Figo and Ronaldo taking over from Hristo Stoichkov and Michael Laudrup. At the end of the 1997–98 season, Barcelona rejected offers from Roma and Parma (of around 300 million pesetas)[citation needed] for Guardiola. After prolonged and complicated contract talks, Guardiola signed a new contract with the Catalan club which extended his stay until 2001. His buyout clause was fixed at 15.000 million pesetas, the second highest in the Spanish league.

A calf muscle injury ruled Guardiola out of most of the 1997–98 season, in which Barcelona won a league and cup double under new manager Louis van Gaal. He returned to action the following season and Barcelona once again won the league thanks largely to the performances of Rivaldo and Figo.[original research?] On 8 June 1998, Guardiola underwent surgery to try to solve once and for all the problems that he was experiencing with his calf which had led to him missing the 1998 FIFA World Cup for Spain. A largely disappointing 1999–00 season ended once again in surgery as Guardiola missed the last three months of the season due to a serious ankle injury.

Barcelona didn't win any silverware during the 2001 season and finished fourth place in the league, but qualifying for the Champions League. On 11 April 2001, Barcelona's captain announced his intention to leave the club after 17 years of service. He stated that it was a personal decision and, in part, a response to what he perceived as football heading in a new, more physical, direction.[cite this quote] On 24 June 2001, Guardiola played his last match with Barça in the last game of the season against Celtic.

Guardiola played 479 games for the club, in 12 seasons in the Barcelona first team, winning 16 trophies. At the press conference after the Celtic game, he said: "It's been a long journey. I'm happy, proud, happy with the way people treated me and I have made many friends. I cannot ask for more. I have had many years in the elite. I did not come to make history but to make my own history."[cite this quote] Guardiola was slow, but intelligently gifted with skill and foresight, rarely scored goals but set up from difficult positions on the field,[original research?] he won six league titles, a European Cup and Olympic gold, amongst other numerous trophies. Born in the Catalan town of Santpedor, schooled barely 100 metres from Camp Nou and resident at La Masia, the traditional farmhouse that stands incongruously in its shadow, he was a part of a gifted side Barcelona produced, ordering, constructing, constantly moving the ball. He has been called the hero of a number of Spain's current midfielders, as Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta and Cesc Fàbregas have all stated that Guardiola was their role model and hero.[5]

Barcelona

2008–2009 Season

Guardiola in 2009

Upon being appointed Guardiola revealed that Ronaldinho, Deco, Samuel Eto'o and others were not part of his plans for the coming season. By the time of the announcement, Guardiola had already offloaded full back Gianluca Zambrotta to Milan, attacking midfielder Giovani dos Santos to Tottenham Hotspur, and midfielder Edmílson to Villarreal.[15] Deco went to Chelsea, while the iconic Ronaldinho joined Gianluca Zambrotta in Milan. Lilian Thuram was initially going to join Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer but the discovery of a heart condition put a stop to the move, and the veteran retired to tend to his health. Oleguer Presas signed with Ajax, Santiago Ezquerro was released by Barça and Marc Crosas was sold to Celtic. The fate of Samuel Eto'o took much of the summer to unravel, with the Cameroonian linked with several clubs, but Guardiola finally declared that he would stay after his dedication in training and participation in the pre-season.

In association with Barça's director of sport, Txiki Begiristain, several new signings were made by Guardiola: Daniel Alves and Seydou Keita arrived from Sevilla, Martín Cáceres from Villarreal by way of Recreativo, Gerard Piqué returned from Manchester United, and Alexander Hleb was signed from Arsenal. Henrique was also signed from Palmeiras, but was immediately loaned out to Bayer Leverkusen.[16] In interviews with the press, Guardiola stressed a harder work ethic than before, but also a more personal approach during training and a closer relationship with his players. Along with the new signings, Guardiola promoted canteranos Sergio Busquets, Pedro Rodríguez and Jeffrén Suárez, to the first team squad. His influences as a coach include mostly Johan Cruyff, but also Louis van Gaal and Juan Manuel Lillo.

Guardiola's first competitive game as coach was in the third qualifying round of the Champions League, in which Barça comfortably beat Polish club Wisła Kraków 4–0 at home. They then lost 1–0 in Kraków, but progressed with a 4–1 aggregate victory. Promoted Numancia also defeated Barcelona in the opening match-day of the La Liga, but the team then went on an undefeated streak for over 20 matches to move to the top of the league. Barça maintained their spot atop La Liga's table, securing their first league title since 2006 when rivals Real Madrid lost at Villareal on 16 May 2009. The most important match however was on 2 May when they defeated Real Madrid 2–6 at the Santiago Bernabéu.

Guardiola celebrating Barcelona's 2009 UEFA Champions League Final with Manuel Estiarte

The league title was the second piece of silverware in Guardiola's first season at the Camp Nou. On 13 May 2009, Barcelona won the Copa del Rey, defeating Athletic Bilbao 4–1.

Guardiola finished the season by leading Barça to the final of the Champions League, where they beat Manchester United 2–0. In doing so, they became the first Spanish club to win the domestic cup, league, and European club titles (the treble) in the same season. Furthermore, Guardiola became the youngest coach ever to coach a Champions League winning team.

2009–2010 Season

During his second season as manager Barcelona traded Samuel Eto'o and €49M for Zlatan Ibrahimović. The club also signed Maxwell from Internazionale and Dmytro Chygrynskiy from Shakhtar Donetsk. Many players left the club on the same transfer window; Eiður Guðjohnsen was sold to Monaco, Sylvinho and Albert Jorquera's contracts ended and other players were loaned out, including Alexander Hleb to Stuttgart, Martín Cáceres to Juventus, Alberto Botía to Sporting de Gijón and Víctor Sánchez to Xerez.

Barcelona started the season defeating Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish Super Cup and Shakhtar Donetsk in the European Super Cup. On 25 September 2009, Barcelona gave Guardiola his 50th professional victory, away against Málaga and on 19 December they were crowned Club World Cup champions for the first time in their history. Guardiola finished the calendar year 2009 with a record 6 trophies – the Spanish League, Copa del Rey, Champions League, Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup, and Club World Cup – becoming the first manager in history to do so.

After winning every trophy they competed for in 2009, Barcelona suffered their first elimination under Guardiola in January 2010 against Sevilla in the Copa del Rey. January 2010 also saw Guardiola become Barcelona's longest serving Spanish coach, overtaking the record previously held by Josep Samitier. That same month, on the twentieth, he agreed to a one-year contract extension to keep him with Barcelona until the end of the 2010–11 season.[17] February of the same year saw Guardiola coach his one hundredth match for Barcelona's first team. His record stood at 71 wins, 19 draws and 10 losses with 242 goals for and 76 against.[18] On 10 April 2010, he became the first manager in Barcelona's history to beat Real Madrid four times in a row in El Clásico.

Barcelona reached the semi-finals of the 2009–10 Champions League, but lost 3–2 on aggregate to Internazionale. Despite this they managed to win their 20th La Liga title with a European record of 99 points by beating Real Valladolid 4–0 at home. The La Liga title was Guardiola's 7th trophy as manager of the club, tying Ferdinand Daučík for second behind Johan Cruyff and his 11 trophies.

On 8 June 2010, the Royal Spanish Football Federation fined Guardiola €15,000, following a formal inquiry opened by the Competition Committee regarding his actions and comments during and after a match against Almeria on 6 March 2010.[19] Guardiola approached the fourth official with, according to the official report, malicious intent, berating the official and speaking into his microphone with phrases such as, "You are calling everything wrong." Following the match, Guardiola accused Carlos Clos Gomez and his assistant Jose Luis Gallego Galdino of "lying" in their match report. Barcelona were given 10 days to appeal the sanction. TV replays supported Guardiola's assertions. The game ended 2–2.

2010–2011 Season

His third season in charge saw the departure of two players who had arrived last season, Dmytro Chygrynskiy returned to Shakhtar Donetsk and Zlatan Ibrahimović moved to Milan. Rafael Márquez and Thierry Henry were released from their contracts and moved to New York Red Bulls, Yaya Touré also left the team and moved to Manchester City. The club signed Adriano from Sevilla, David Villa from Valencia and Javier Mascherano from Liverpool.

On 14 July 2010, Guardiola signed a new contract to stay with Barcelona until June 2011.[20] On 21 August, Barcelona beat Sevilla 5–3 on aggregate to win the 2010 Spanish Supercup, his second in a row. On 29 November 2010, Barcelona beat Real Madrid 5–0, giving Guardiola five straight wins in as many matches in El Clásico. On 8 February 2011, Guardiola accepted the club's offer for a one-year deal extension, signing a contract until June 2012.[21] On 16 February, in the first leg of the Champions League First Knockout Round, Barcelona were defeated by Arsenal 1–2 at the Emirates Stadium. The defeat prolonged Guardiola's record of never having won the away leg of a Champions League knockout tie. On 8 March, in the second leg of the Champions League First Knockout Round, Barcelona defeated Arsenal 3–1 thus defeating Arsenal 4–3 on aggregate, moving them into the quarter-finals.

Early April saw Barcelona move eight points clear of second placed Real Madrid in their domestic league, after a key away win against Villareal, making the most of Real Madrid's home loss against Sporting Gijon earlier on the same day. Barcelona managed to advance to the semi-finals of the Champions League for the fourth year (three last under Guardiola) in a row after thrashing Shakhtar Donetsk 6–1 on aggregate.

Following after the Champions League campaign, Barcelona continued their La Liga crusades for the second El Clásico in Santiago Bernabéu which ended 1–1. Messi scored for his team from penalty spot after Albiol was sent off. It was later replied by Real Madrid's Ronaldo from a penalty kick in the 80th minute of the match.

Guardiola suffered his first final defeat during Copa del Rey final against Real Madrid. Ronaldo scored the only goal for Real Madrid in the 103rd minute of the match during extra time, giving the club the first title since 2008, as well as Mourinho's first title in his new club.

In the Champions League, however, Barcelona beat Real Madrid 2–0 at the Bernabeu in the semi-final first leg, and after a 1–1 draw at Camp Nou they proceeded to Guardiola's second Champions League final in three years as coach for Barcelona.[22] On 11 May 2011, Barcelona won the title and third in a row after a 1–1 draw with Levante.[23][24] On 28 May, Barcelona beat Manchester United 3–1 to win the Champion's League.[25]
[edit]
Tactics
See also: Tiki-taka

Under Rijkaard, Barcelona were known for a 4–3–3 with plenty of flair with Ronaldinho being the centre point of Rijkaard's time there. Under Guardiola they have become more disciplined with a greater focus on possession and a far more disciplined and aggressive pressing style. He often plays a high defensive line with the full backs (particularly Dani Alves) pushing high up down the their respective sides while relying on the metronomic passing of Xavi and Andres Iniesta to retain possession whilst employing an extraordinarily aggressive pressing style without the ball.[26]

During Samuel Eto'o's time Lionel Messi was deployed on the right hand side, however, since his departure Messi has largely played in the centre forward role fulfilling a false nine capacity.[27]
[edit]
Coaching stats

As of 28 May 2011.Club Season League Cup Europe Other[nb 1] Total
W D L W D L W D L W D L GP W D L Win % Gf Ga Gd
Barcelona 2008–09 27 6 5 7 2 0 7 5 1 1 0 1 62 42 13 7 67.74% 158 55 +103
2009–10 31 6 1 3 0 1 6 4 2 5 0 0 59 45 10 4 76.27% 138 39 +99
2010–11 30 6 2 5 2 2 9 3 1 1 0 1 62 45 11 6 72.58% 152 39 +113
Career totals 88 18 8 15 4 3 22 12 4 7 0 2 183 132 34 17 72.13% 448 133 +315