Guardiola - A man to admire

This piece is based upon Oriol Domenech’s editorial, Detallista Guardiola, published in El Mundo Deportivo.

In his article, Domènech talks about some of the unexpected gestures and attention to details that Pep Guardiola has made since he became head coach of Barcelona’s first team. The author talks about how Guardiola’s “gestures that are not common at the elite levels of football have greatly surprised people” and how “with a naturalness, humility, respect, and simplicity, Pep has won the admiration of his own team and of his rivals, and he has humanized a locker room that is historically capricious.”

Here are the examples that he gives, to illustrate how Pep Guardiola is a “great professional and even better person.” After reading these, I completely agree — the more I learn about Pep Guardiola, the more I admire him. In his article, this is what Oriol Domènech describes:

1. In May of 2008, when Guardiola had not even been officially signed as the coach of the first team, he found time to visit Gabi Milito in the hospital after his knee surgery. Pep was busy not only with the end of the season with the reserve team, but also with his new daughter, who had just been born. Yet, he surprised the defender with a long visit of more than three hours. The coach also stated at the beginning of this season that he “would rather see Gabi playing than win a title.”

2. Guardiola inherited Rijkaard’s office and because he spent so many hours there, he installed a plasma screen to analyze the team’s games and those of the rivals. What is notable here is that he paid for the screen from his own pocket. It is an example of how he has tried to minimize indulgences not only with the players but with the staff, too.

3. One of the first decisions that Guardiola made was to designate that the fines collected throughout the season go to a charity, to the Sant Joan de Déu Foundation, which researches “Rett’s Syndrome.” Previously, the fines had gone towards paying for dinners.

4. At the beginning of each season, Audi gives a car to all of the first team players, as well as to the head coach. Pep Guardiola turned his down, arguing that if there weren’t a car for all of the technical staff, then there should not be one for him, either.

5. When the father of goalkeeper coach Juan Carlos Unzué passed away after a long illness, Guardiola and the entire team attended the funeral, even though they had a game the next day. According to Guardiola: “In a moment like this, it is normal to be at the side of someone with whom you spend so much time with day in and day out.”

6. When Thierry Henry struggled during the first six months, in his most critical moment, Guardiola took him to dinner to encourage him and to express his confidence in him. In the next game, against Valencia, Henry scored a hat trick in their 4-0 victory.

7. Cristóbal was a likable person who, without studies or work, lived with the assistance of the directors, coaches, and staff of the “cantera” (Barca youth system). The Barcelona coach had known him since he [Guardiola] was 25. When, with the arrival of Pep, the players stayed to eat at Camp Nou, Guardiola invited Cristóbal to eat with them everyday at noon. Many knew him because they had come through the cantera. This way, Cristóbal could eat and the players saw a different reality of life. Cristóbal passed away several hours after celebrating in the locker room with Pep and the team after the 6-2 victory over Real Madrid.

8. A week before the Champions League final, Guardiola learned that former player and coach Ángel Mur had not received a club invitation to the game, so he personally delivered one.

9 Guardiola took care of his assistants to the maximum. The night before the final in Rome, everyone gathered, and after watching the famous video with images from Gladiator, he gave everyone a photo of all the staff. He dedicated it thus: “Thanks for everything. Pep. You all are great, just like the players.”

10. After the final in Rome and after their last league game against Depor in Riazor, Pep surprised the players and staff by taking them out to eat at a seafood restaurant in A Coruña, where they enjoyed lobster, seafood and “all the alcohol in the world.” According to some who was there, it was one of the best moments away from the pitch.

11. Guardiola’s first words at the team presentation at the beginning of this season were to recognize the efforts of players that were no longer with them: Eto’o, Sylvinho, Hleb, Cáceres,Gudjohnsen and Víctor Sánchez. He also remembered them after the victory in the Club World Cup.

12. After the Copa del Rey game in Camp Nou against Cultural ended, Guardiola opened the doors of the locker room to the players of Cultural, some of whom had wanted to exchange jerseys with the Blaugrana players. He welcomed them in “as if it were their home.”