Pep Guardiola: Another Way of Winning: The Biography
Page 37
2008–9 was the greatest season in Barcelona’s history. Guardiola’s team won the Copa, Liga and Champions League in an impeccable year full of celebrations and memorable moments. It was the first treble of the twenty-first century in Europe. Highlights included the 2-6 scoreline against Real Madrid at the Bernabéu, the 5,000th goal thanks to Leo Messi and the unforgettable ‘Iniestazo’ goal at Stamford Bridge.
Squad: Valdés, Cáceres, Piqué, Rafa Márquez, Puyol, Xavi, Gudjohnsen, Iniesta, Eto’o, Messi, Bojan, Pinto, Gabi Milito, Keita, Henry, Silvinho, Dani Alvés, Hleb, Abidal, Touré, Jorquera, Pedro, Busquets and Víctor Sánchez.
Total games played: 54 (Pre-season 5, Gamper 1, Copa Catalunya 1, Liga 38, Copa 9, Champions League 15)
Total games won: 48 (Pre-season 5, Gamper 1, Copa Catalunya 0, Liga 27, Copa 7, Champions League 8)
Total games drawn: 13 (Pre-season 0, Gamper 0, Copa Catalunya 0, Liga 6, Copa 2, Champions League 5)
Total games lost: 8 (Pre-season 0, Gamper 0. Copa Catalunya 1, Liga 5, Copa 0, Champions League 2)
Total goals scored: 186 (Pre-season 25, Gamper 2, Copa Catalunya 1, Liga 105, Copa 17, Champions League 36)
Total goals conceded: 67 (Pre-season 8, Gamper 1, Copa Catalunya 3, Liga 35, Copa 6, Champions League 14)
Titles: 3 (Liga, Copa del Rey and UEFA Champions League)
Individual awards: Zamora Trophy (for least goals conceded) Víctor Valdés.
2009–10 Season: Liga, Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup, World Club Champions
The treble-winning season continued into the 2009–10 season, in which FC Barcelona lifted four more trophies: the Liga title, the Spanish and European Super Cups and the first World Club Championship in history. The highlight was the team achieving ninety-nine points in the league.
Squad: Valdés, Piqué, Rafa Márquez, Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Bojan, Pinto, Gabi Milito, Keita, Henry, Dani Alvés, Abidal, Touré, Pedro, Busquets, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Maxwell, Jeffren and Chygrynskiy.
Total games played: 65 (Pre-season 5, Gamper 1, Spanish Super Cup 2, European Super Cup 1, Liga 38, Copa 4, Champions League 12 and World Club Championship 2)
Total games won: 48 (Pre-season 3, Gamper 0, Spanish Super Cup 2, European Super Cup 1, Liga 31, Copa 3, Champions League 6 and World Club Championship 2)
Total games drawn: 12 (Pre-season 2, Gamper 0, Spanish Super Cup 0, European Super Cup 0, Liga 6, Copa 0, Champions League 4, World Club Championship 0)
Total games lost: 5 (Pre-season 0, Gamper 1, Spanish Super Cup 0, European Super Cup 0, Liga 1, Copa 1, Champions League 2 and World Club Championship 0)
Total goals scored: 150 (Pre-season 12, Gamper 0, Spanish Super Cup 5, European Super Cup 1, Liga 98, Copa 9, Champions League 20 and World Club Championship 5)
Total goals conceded: 44 (Pre-season 4, Gamper 1, Spanish Super Cup 1, European Super Cup 0, Liga 24, Copa 2, Champions League 10, World Club Championship 2)
Titles: 4 (Liga, Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup, World Club Championship)
Individual awards: Zamora Trophy,Víctor Valdés; Ballon d’Or, FIFA World Player, Golden Boot and Pichichi (for most goals scored), Leo Messi.
2010–11 Season: Liga, Champions League and Spanish Super Cup
Barça overcame the adversities encountered that season and ended up lifting three trophies, earned through hard work and good play. The team became European Champions in magnificent style and three-time Liga winners. Highlights were the second Ballon d’Or for Leo Messi and the 5-0 win over Mourinho’s Madrid in the Camp Nou.
2010–11 Squad: Valdés, Piqué, Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Bojan, Pinto, Keita, Dani Alvés, Abidal, Pedro, Busquets, Maxwell, Jeffrén, Milito, Adriano, Mascherano, Fontàs, Afellay and David Villa.
Total games played: 65 (Pre-season 3, Gamper 1, Spanish Super Cup 2, Liga 38, Copa 9, Champions League 13)
Total games won: 48 (Pre-season 3, Gamper 0, Spanish Super Cup 1, Liga 30, Copa 5, Champions League 9)
Total games drawn: 12 (Pre-season 0, Gamper 1, Spanish Super Cup 0, Liga 6, Copa 2, Champions League 3)
Total games lost: 5 (Pre-season 0, Gamper 0, Spanish Super Cup 1, Liga 2, Copa 2, Champions League 1)
Total goals scored: 185 (Pre-season 12, Gamper 1, Spanish Super Cup 5, League 95, Copa 22, Champions League 30)
Total goals conceded: 44 (Pre-season 4, Gamper 1, Spanish Super Cup 3, Liga 21, Copa 6, Champions League 9)
Titles: 3 (Liga, Champions League and Spanish Super Cup)
Individual awards: Zamora Trophy, Víctor Valdés; Ballon d’Or, Leo Messi
2011–12 Season: Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup, World Club Championship, Copa del Rey
Guardiola’s last season at the helm of Barcelona was full of incidents. President Sandro Rosell and Pep himself talked of it having been a ‘very strange season’ suggesting dubious referee decisions. The team was handicapped by the serious injuries to David Villa, Abidal and Fontàs. Even so, Barça won the Spanish and European Super Cups, their second World Club Championship, and the Copa del Rey, and they made it to the semi-finals of the Champions League. Highlights included Messi’s third Ballon d’Or together with the greatest Pichichi ever with 50 Liga goals and 73 in all competitions, as well as the Golden Boot and a fifth Zamora Trophy for Víctor Valdés.
Total games played: 70 (Pre-season 6, Gamper 1, Spanish Super Cup 2, European Super Cup 1, World Club Championship 2, Liga 38, Copa 9, Champions League 12)
Total games won: 49 (Pre-season 2, Gamper 1, Spanish Super Cup 1, European Super Cup 1, World Club Championship 2, Liga 28, Copa 6, Champions League 8)
Total games drawn: 15 (Pre-season 2, Gamper 0, Spanish Super Cup 1, European Super Cup 0, World Club Championship 0, Liga 7, Copa 2, Champions League 3)
Total games lost: 6 (Pre-season 2, Gamper 0, Spanish Super Cup 0, European Super Cup 0, World Club Championship 0, Liga 3, Copa 0, Champions League 1)
Total goals scored: 202 (Pre-season 8, Gamper 5, Spanish Super Cup 5, European Super Cup 2, World Club Championship 8, Liga 114, Copa 25, Champions League 35)
Total goals conceded: 57 (Pre-season 8, Gamper 0, Spanish Super Cup 4, European Super Cup 0, World Club Championship 0, Liga 29, Copa 6, Champions League 10)
Titles: 4 (Liga, Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup, Copa del Rey)
Individual awards: Zamora Trophy, Víctor Valdés; Ballon d’Or, Pichichi and Golden Boot, Leo Messi
2008–12
Total games played: 255
Total games won: 194
Total games drawn: 52
Total games lost: 24
Total goals scored: 723
Total goals conceded: 212
Titles: 14 (3 Liga, 2 Champions League, 2 Copa del Rey, 3 Spanish Super Cup, 2 European Super Cup, 2 World Club Championships)
Individual awards: 3 Ballon d’Or (Messi), 1 FIFA World Player (Messi), 2 Pichichis (Messi), 2 Golden Boot (Messi), 4 Zamora Trophies (Víctor Valdés)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book comes on the back of conversations held in the last four years with Pep Guardiola, Johan Cruyff, Joan Laporta, Sandro Rosell, Andoni Zubizarreta, Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta, Víctor Valdés, Javier Mascherano, Lionel Messi, David Villa, Cesc Fàbregas, Pedro, Carles Puyol, Gerard Piqué, Manel Estiarte, Emili Ricart, Oscar García, Michael Laudrup, Joan Patsy, Txiki Beguiristain, Albert Ferrer, José Mourinho, and Louis Van Gaal, among others, who are or have been at FC Barcelona.
I have to thank Pep Guardiola for his time but also for having sent an email to Sir Alex Ferguson, which then became a trip to Manchester to talk to him. Apologies to Màrius for taking time from your dad.
If it wasn’t for the trust of my agent David Luxton and Alan Sampson at Orion, this would have never seen the light of day. Sorry for the delay again! Thanks to Lucinda McNeile for her patience, too.
During the years, I have chatted about Pep (and much more) with good football friends that I want to send a paper hug from here: Vicente del Bosque, Rafa Benítez, Mauricio Pochettino,
Ramón Planes, Pep Segura, Pako Ayestarán, Paco Herrera, José Manuel Ochotorena, Arrigo Sacchi, Brendan Rodgers, Fabio Capello, Graham Hunter, Juan Ignacio Martínez, Unai Emery, André Villas-Boas, Gary Neville, Wayne Rooney, Michael Robinson, Alfredo Relaño, Santi Giménez, Michel Salgado, Marcos López, Joan Domenech, David Torras, Johanna Gará, Paul Jewell, David Trueba, Sique Rodríguez, Johan Cruyff, Alex Castells, Juan Carlos Garrido, Borja Valero, Mikel Arteta …
The extraordinary hard work of Lee Watson and Elizabeth Duffy in editing this book is clearly reflected in it. Isabel Díaz was always at hand for help, so thank you! Brent Wilks looked after everybody while we rushed to get it all finished. And Jacquie Feeley injected enough confidence and energy into everybody to get to the end. Thanks to Kevin for looking after her while she sorted out so many worlds. William Glasswell offered new eyes to the project and now he is a mad football fan.
There are some good friends who deserve much more than a word, but at least a word they will get for sure. Luis Miguel García who always opens my eyes, Gabriele Marcotti and our arguments, Raphael Honigstein and Carlos Bianchi, Sergio Alegre who will always wear a six with Barcelona and an eight with the national team, Mark Wright who is not always right, Chus Llorente and vodka Chopin, Gustavo Balagué and culé, Yolanda Balagué and new-born culé, Chris Parle and shopping, Stevie Rowe who heard so many Pep stories, Scott Minto who hasn’t got bored of them yet, Mark Payne who doesn’t believe all of them, Damian O’Brian and DVDS, the Revista de la Liga team for their love and passion about Spanish football, Andy Melvin, Barney Francis and Vic Wakeling for allowing me to blossom in Sky Sports, Peter Bennett and a window on the proper world, Edu Abascal for looking after AS while I finished this, Eduardo Rubio the coach, Gerard Nus and his lessons, Encarna Martínez and Sonia Moreno, who shared wines and stories, and I owe a beer or two to Sam Delaney and Jason Cundy.
Thank you, also, to Miguel Ruiz, whose fantastic photographs add a new dimension to the book.
And final thanks to my parents, who will always read every book I write in English even though they don’t speak the language.
INDEX
Abbiati, Christian, ref 1
Abelardo, ref 1, ref 2
Abidal, Eric, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6, ref 7, ref 8, ref 9
health problems, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6
v Manchester United, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3
Abramovich, Roman, ref 1, ref 2
AC Milan, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6
approach to Guardiola, ref 1, ref 2
Adrià, Ferran, ref 1, ref 2
Adriano, ref 1
Afellay, Ibrahim, ref 1, ref 2
Agnelli, Umberto, ref 1
AIDS, ref 1
Ajax, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5
al-Ahli, ref 1, ref 2
Alcantara, Thiago, ref 1
Alexanko, José Ramón, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4
Alexis (Alexis Sánchez), ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6
Alfonso, ref 1
Alonso, Xabi, ref 1, ref 2
Altimira, Aureli, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3
Alvés, Dani, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6, ref 7, ref 8
Clásicos, ref 1
joins Barcelona, ref 1, ref 2
v Manchester United, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3
marital problems, ref 1
Alvés, Diego, ref 1
Amor, Guillermo, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5
Ancelotti, Carlo, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4
Anderson, ref 1
Andes Tragedy, ref 1
Anelka, Nicolas, ref 1
Aragonés, Luis, ref 1, ref 2
Arbeloa, Alvaro, ref 1, ref 2
Argentina, ref 1, ref 2
Argentinian football, ref 1
Arsenal FC, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5
Fàbregas transfer, ref 1
London Colney ground, ref 1, ref 2
Arteta, Mikel, ref 1
AS newspaper, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3
AS Roma, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4
Assulin, Gai, ref 1
Athletic de Bilbao, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3
Atlético de Madrid, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3
Audi cars, ref 1
Baggio, Roberto, ref 1
Bakero, José Mari, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3
Ballon d’Or, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5
Barcelona Olympic Games, ref 1
Barclay, Patrick, ref 1
Barjuan, Sergi, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3
Bartomeu, Josep Maria, ref 1, ref 2
basketball, ref 1, ref 2
Bassat, Lluis, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3
Batistuta, Gabriel, ref 1, ref 2
Beckham, David, ref 1
Beguiristain, Txiki, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5
and Chelsea approach to Guardiola, ref 1
and Fàbregas transfer, ref 1
and Guardiola’s appointment, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5
and Guardiola’s first matches, ref 1
and Ronaldhino departure, ref 1
Beijing Olympic Games, ref 1
Belletti, Juliano, ref 1
Benítez, Rafa, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3
Berbatov, Dimitar, ref 1, ref 2
Berlusconi, Silvio, ref 1
Besa, Ramón, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6, ref 7
Bielsa, Marcelo, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6, ref 7
Blackpool FC, ref 1
Blanc, Laurent, ref 1, ref 2
Bogarde, Winston, ref 1
Bojan (Bojan Krkić), ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5
Borrell, Rodolf, ref 1
Bozsik, József, ref 1
Brau, Juanjo, ref 1
Brazil, ref 1, ref 2
Brescia, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5
Bridges of Madison County, The, ref 1
Buckingham, Vic, ref 1
Budapest Honved, ref 1
Buenaventura, Loren, ref 1, ref 2
Buffon, Gianluigi, ref 1
Bullard, Jimmy, ref 1
Busquets, Carles, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6, ref 7
Clásicos, ref 1, ref 2
and Guardiola’s departure, ref 1
and Guardiola’s first matches, ref 1, ref 2
v Manchester United, ref 1, ref 2
Messi’s appreication of, ref 1
Cáceres, Martín, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3
Cagigao, Francis, ref 1
Cahill, Gary, ref 1
Camacho, José Antonio, ref 1
Caniggia, Claudio, ref 1
Cannavaro, Fabio, ref 1
Capello, Fabio, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4
Carrick, Michael, ref 1, ref 2
Casillas, Iker, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3
Catalan character, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6, ref 7, ref 8
Catalan flag, ref 1, ref 2
Catalan identity, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4
Catalan language, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5
Catalan media, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6
Čech, Petr, ref 1
Celades, Albert, ref 1
Celtic FC, ref 1
Champions League final (2009), ref 1
Champions League final (2011), ref 1
Chelsea FC, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6, ref 7, ref 8
approach to Guardiola, ref 1, ref 2
v Barcelona (2009), ref 1
v Barcelona (2012), ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4
under Mourinho, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3
Chicharito (Javier Hernández Balcázar), ref 1
Chico (José Manuel Flores), ref 1
Chygrynskiy, Dmytro, ref 1
Chivu, Cristian, ref 1
Clásicos (2009), ref 1
Clásicos (2011–12), ref 1, ref 2
Club Gimnàstic de Manresa, ref 1
Coldplay, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3
Collell, Jaume, ref 1, ref 2
C�
�rdoba, Iván, ref 1
Croatia, ref 1
Crosas, Marc, ref 1
Cruyff, Johan, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5
Barcelona coach, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6, ref 7
and Barcelona elections, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3
and Barcelona philosophy, ref 1, ref 2
calls up Guardiola, ref 1
coaching style, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4
departure, ref 1, ref 2
distanced from Guardiola, ref 1
and Guardiola’s appointment, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4
and Guardiola’s departure, ref 1, ref 2
and Guardiola’s tenure, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4
influence on Guardiola, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6, ref 7, ref 8, ref 9, ref 10
meeting with Guardiola, ref 1
returns medal, ref 1
team talks, ref 1, ref 2
and Total Football, ref 1
Cruyff, Jordi, ref 1
Cuenca, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4
culés, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4
Cultural Leonesa, ref 1
Czibor, Zoltán, ref 1, ref 2
da Silva, Fábio, ref 1
da Silva, Rafael, ref 1
de la Peña, Ivan, ref 1
Deco, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6
departure, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4
del Bosque, Vicente, ref 1
Deportivo La Coruña, ref 1, ref 2
Deschamps, Didier, ref 1
Di María, Angel, ref 1
di Matteo, Roberto, ref 1, ref 2
Di Stéfano, Alfredo, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3
diet, players’, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3
Djorkaeff, Youri, ref 1
Doradas de Sinaloa, ref 1
Drenthe, Royston, ref 1
Drogba, Didier, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3
Dyer, Nathan, ref 1
Dynamo Bucharest, ref 1
Einstein, Albert, ref 1
El Mundo Deportivo, ref 1, ref 2
El País, ref 1
El Periódico, ref 1
el Bulli restaurant, ref 1
Emenalo, Michael, ref 1
Emerson, ref 1
Enrique, Luis, ref 1, ref 2, ref 3, ref 4, ref 5, ref 6, ref 7, ref 8