These problems I have mentioned are all overshadowed by his winning record. ‘Who cares if he spent millions on flops; he won enough to make up for it!’ Who cares if he was given an easy time, walking in to an already incredible team; he still made sure we won!’ Who cares if we’ve only seen him winning; it show’s he’s too brilliant to fall behind!’ These questions all fall by the wayside as owners, players and fans only want one thing – the silverware – and it’s a fair enough view.
But now that he’s left Barcelona, what has he done? Chelsea were incredibly keen admirers of the Spaniard, and it would’ve provided him with a huge challenge. Trying to keep trigger happy Abramovich satisfied, while replacing the old guard of Drogba & co. with enthusiastic youngsters who would once again challenge for the Premier League title?
Or what about Manchester City; following on from their crowning as champions, he could spend lavishly on new stars in an already bulging squad to once again fend off their rivals in red while beginning to establish a threat in Europe? Equally in Italy, building on from Juventus’ ‘invincible’ season which saw the Old Lady return to the peak of Serie A? Instead, Pep very wisely ignored all other advances, and announced that he would join Bundesliga side Bayern Munich. What a tactical masterstroke.
Why is joining Bayern such a masterstroke then? Well, it’s not difficult to see that joining Bayern would be an attractive proposition. Finalists in the Champions League last season, while they have not exactly won anything in Europe for a while now, they are still one of the fiercest teams in the world, and are regularly among the frontrunners for the European crown each year. And domestically, although an incredibly exciting Bundesliga has many twists and turns, Bayern have been the dominant force.
They may have lost out to Dortmund in recent years, but Pep has timed it perfectly; at the time of his announcement as coach, they were 9 points clear at the top, lost just once and, the scariest stat of all, had conceded just once away from home (and only six times at the Allianz). It looks like he won’t be playing catch up anytime soon.
So, successful in Europe, successful domestically, what other benefits are there? Well, due to such success (and relative riches), Bayern are still able to attract many world class stars, on par with the champions of other European nations; something that their league rivals struggle with.
Therefore, Pep should have no problem in adding recruits to his already envious array of talent at FC Hollywood, be them from across the globe or simply taking his pick from the talent on offer from the remaining Bundesliga clubs.
This means therefore, that Pep will be able to re enact his years at Barcelona. He has the opportunity to take an already world class team, tweak them slightly, and reap rewards. He will undoubtedly win a few domestic leagues and titles, while any victories in Europe (which is a strong possibility) will see his reputation be boosted even further: winning with a German club for the first time since 2001, while joining an elite group of managers to lift the title with two different clubs.
There is something else that will make Pep’s job even ‘easier’, per say, and equally look even more impressive. Spain, arguably the greatest national side ever, are made up of many of Barcelona’s top stars. Yet the only nation who has attempted to rival Spain in recent years is Germany.
Having completely overhauled their youth system, Germany are beginning to reap the rewards of extremely talented youngsters joining their old guard to form a devastating team who play in a similar fashion to the Spanish, whilst maintaining that famed German efficiency.
The quality of Lahm, Schweinsteiger and Gomez combined with top young(ish) talent as Neuer, Muller and Kroos creates a worrying picture for opposition and, with Guardiola’s success of bringing youth through La Masia, it would be ignorant to think that a production line may begin at the Allianz. And as I mentioned earlier, FC Hollywood have the power to pick up the best from elsewhere in the league…
So in short, Pep’s master plan has been this: manage at Barcelona where trophies are almost certainly guaranteed, boost reputation as a brilliant young manager, go to Germany where trophies are almost certainly guaranteed, boost reputation further by proving I can be successful elsewhere. Maybe that’s not very fair, but who knows? After all, he is a master tactician…
And one last thing. It’s often said that the Bundesliga is the most similar league to the English Premier League. Landing the job at the greatest side in the league means that, barring something spectacular, he cannot really envisage anything other than success. Give it a few years to boost his reputation further while gaining some experience in a league with a different style to Spain but similar to England sets him up perfectly for the manager’s seat at Old Trafford…
Thank you for reading this article and I hope you enjoyed reading it. Please don’t take it too seriously; these aren’t necessarily my opinions (it’s meant to be light hearted) but you can’t help but wonder…
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