Pep’s still a genius... despite THAT defeat
WHEN Cristiano Ronaldo slid that free kick beneath Bayern Munich’s defensive wall the other evening, the effect was dramatic. Not only had he completed a stunning 4-0 victory for Real Madrid, he had also declared open season on Bayern’s celebrated coach.
Pep Guardiola won two Champions’ League victories and three La Liga titles within four years at Barcelona. He has also achieved a Bundesliga success in his first year with Bayern. Suddenly, it seemed, they all counted for nothing in critical estimation.
And it wasn’t simply the denigration of his record. No, it was the mindless trashing of his coaching canon. In his time with Barcelona, Guardiola had evolved the method known as ‘tiki-taka’, a way of playing which cherished possession and encouraged urgent ‘pressing’ when that possession was lost. As practised by such talents as Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas and the incomparable Messi, it made Barcelona quite possibly the finest, most attractive club side the game has ever known.
Bayern have yet to respond to Guardiola’s prompting in quite the same fashion. For one thing, they lack the services of Messi and Co. For another, opposing teams have started to counter the frantic whirligig of tiki-taka. None of which should detract from the essential purity of the system, or the genius of the man who devised it.
For Pep Guardiola will be recognised and revered as one of the most significant figures in the history of football. The rush to belittle his achievements and philosophy is not only cruelly misplaced; it is also thoroughly ludicrous.