Son tradition and modernity

He was an apprentice, player, captain and coach in Barcelona.Why is Pep Guardiola calculated from there went to Bayern Munich - and not to Chelsea? Who wants to know, just look at his career.

A guest post from Santiago Segurola

Pep Guardiola is twice the product of the deep Catalonia and the cosmopolitan Barcelona. He was born in a farming village and trained in one of the most powerful clubs in the world. So he is a son of tradition and modernity. And so is the football, he preaches a combination of long-standing ideas that Guardiola has transformed into new, the existing culture refuted thoughts.

But in its essence it is a man that the old codes of football respected. The shape of a club as it is of fundamental importance. That is the reason why he has chosen for Bayern.

Some months Guardiola was the most sought-after coaches in the world.Roman Abramovich, owner of Chelsea FC, offered him a fortune. Guardiola refused. In his mental universe, a club is a cultural expression that is rooted in the will of the public, not the whims of an owner.Pep Guardiola in front of beginning

doubters from Santpedor

Probably the football world has never been more excited about a gig waited as the Pep Guardiola. On Monday he will start as Bayern Munich coach. It is an expatriate with a lot of luggage.

It is obvious that he has undergone training, which is characterized by traditions, and not of the present. He came on as a teenager at Barça and stayed there for more than 25 years in which he went through all the stages and responsibilities: He was an apprentice, player, captain and coach of a club, the "more than a club" is by its self. This is not the kind of experience that invites you to take a Chelsea.

In a world full of Russian oligarchs, American entrepreneur and Arab sheiks Guardiola took place in Bayern, several aspects that he considers fundamental: a strong grounding in the people, club leaders who are closely connected with football, strong player and a strong cohesion . Bayern has a universal orientation, but is deeply rooted in Germany. In fact, he is the backbone of the German national team. Guardiola's Barça had the same meaning for the famous Spanish Selección.

After his impressive career as Barça coach - apart from the brilliant football that you've ever seen, he won three league titles, twice won the Champions League, two Spanish Cups and two World Cups - Guardiola was very little leeway. He left Barca exhausted. There were four years with maximum dedication. His mother did not hide their concern. She saw him getting thinner, consumed by tension. "Nourish you feel good?" She asked him for the Cup final of 2009. That night rolled Barcelona Athletic Bilbao down and took one of six tracks in a magical season - the first of Pep Guardiola as coach.

Golf for Distraction

Guardiola is still skinny. If he has time, he plays golf, the only thing he allows himself to distraction. But he is a man of exceptional amount of energy consumed. He is very emotional by nature, driven by an exuberant curiosity tirelessly in defense of his football - and always vigilant. He went to New York for a year to get from Barcelona to remove and to approach his family.

He says he has finally María, Marius and Valentina, his three children can enjoy.It was a special sabbatical. Even at his arrival in the U.S. he suspected that he would train with Bayern. When the agreement was actually his perfectionist nature led him to delve into German. "It is a difficult language., The more I try, the more I have the impression to achieve less progress," he told his friends.

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Preparation for the season of FC Bayern chasing the summer Quintuple (Photo: Getty Images )

No club has more points of contact with Barça as Bavaria, measured at the idea of ​​what has to be a club in the eyes of Guardiola. Several years ago, during his first season as a coach in Spain, he visited the club system of Bayern. He was impressed by what he saw and of the atmosphere that exuded the club: It took a sense of professionalism, but also popularity, nearby. He never had doubts about his choice.

There is speculation as to what will probably be the effect of the triple-season at Bayern. But not a pressure intimidates Guardiola. He has the football go through in all its versions. As a player, he triumphed at Barça and the national team, but he also ventured to Brescia, a small team in the Italian league, as well as to Qatar or Sinaloa, a Mexican state, in which the balls more often whip through the air, as gates fall.

People often forget that Guardiola started his coaching career with the second team of FC Barcelona. The team played in the fourth division. Under Guardiola, the team rose to. Not in any way, but because they took the essentials of their coach. Also remember that his first decision as a coach was to dispense with Ronaldinho, Deco and Eto'o , although he pardoned the Cameroon striker again.A year later he was transferred to Inter Milan.

Conscientious preparation

Those who fear that Guardiola does not get along with pressure may also remember the two years he has spent in the Spanish league with Jose Mourinho, the former coach of Real Madrid. That was about what comes next on the everyday nuclear war. Nevertheless, Guardiola's Barça did not stop to win championships. Take care of him, no expectations. What interests him is the game that football in its purest form.

For a whole year he has been preparing diligently. He has been in New Yorklived, but the Bayern studied precisely. Matthias Sammer, the Bayern sporting director, knows that He often speaks on the phone with Guardiola. In German."A little bit slower," Guardiola tells him that in learning his new language invested as much time as in-depth analysis of his future players.

Although he likes this Bayern, but he will add new ideas. Because it has never failed him. It will be interesting to see the team with a single defensive midfielder. You will need to discover the new meaning of possession - and see to what occasions he plays without a pure Centre Forward, and when seals with a quasi false nines.

"We are playing well," Guardiola says to those who are close to him. That is what defines him as a coach: the game, the ability to provide people with the best and most courageous football. And he believes that there is currently no better club to achieve this than Bayern.

Credits: sueddeutsche