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Posted: May 24th 2009
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This instalment was being planned whether or not Barcelona defeated Chelsea in the Champions League semi final. The fact that they did just bought me a little more time, something which Guus Hiddink believes is running out for the off the shelf stars of the Bridge. The nearest Chelsea have to a Josep Guardiola is John Terry, though every time JT saunters into a nightclub the resemblance seems to fade.
‘Pep’ Guardiola is Barcelona and Barcelona is Guardiola. His appointment as manager, succeeding Frank Rijkaard isn’t the first time that the club have turned to a local hero, but no other appointment could’ve displayed a club thinking with its heart so clearly. Barcelona, more that any other club are all about their fans and it could not have given them a better present.
Josep Guardiola Sala was born to a poor Catalan family in 1971. At the age of 13 he joined Barcelona’s youth team and such was his family’s reduced circumstances the club in effect raised him themselves. His adoption of sorts by the club didn’t guarantee him a glittering career but it inspired a fierce devotion from him and was an act that becomes folklore at a club that represents not just a hundred thousand Cules or supporters, but a whole region.
He was a decent enough player as a youngster, but his elevation to the first team and eventual god-like status was partly down to a dispute, one of a series between the president, Josep Luis Nunez and the then manager, the irascible Johann Cryuff. Ronald Koeman was injured and his natural replacement had been sold. Cryuff had identified Jan Molby of Liverpool as a good replacement. Nunez disagreed, he thought Liverpool were messing Barca about and that Molby could never successfully replace Koeman as a libero. Nunez was probably right although had he seen how pedestrian Molby had become at Liverpool he may have considered him as a goalkeeper. What changed Cryuff’s mind for good was Nunez’ suggestion of a wager. Cryuff could sign Molby, but if he flopped then Cryuff’s contract would end without the significant payoff that he would’ve expected.
Belligerent yes, stupid, no, his response was to look inside the club. There a gangly youth, yet to fill out, was turning into a respectable midfielder. While in no way was he the finished article, Josep Guardiola was Catalan, lived and breathed the club and was the perfect response to those who would criticise Cruyff for bringing too many foreign stars to Barca.
He made his first team debut against Cadiz in December of 1990 and would never return to the B team. Cryuff trusted the boy as the defensive lynch pin of his ‘dream team’. During the next eleven years Barcelona enjoyed unparalleled success and at its heart was the fans representative on the pitch, Pep Guardiola.
Injuries curtailed his Barcelona career. He had an unhappy spell in Italy and made himself financially secure with a short contract in Qatar, but football was only played in one place for a Catalan.
He returned to Barcelona in 2007, taking charge of the B team. The first team under Frank Rijkaard had been rich in attacking talent and had landed the requisite trophies, but the lugubrious Dutchman was on his way and 120,000 Cules would not be denied. Spanish football presidents are always keen to swim with the tide and in 2008; Pep Guardiola was named coach of the first team. In effect the People’s club now picked the team, how true this has proved.
Barcelona like to think they are synonymous with attacking football, Guardiola has embraced this and spearheaded by Messi, Henry and Eto’o, driven by Iniesta, Xavi and Alves, they have crafted a sublime season of goals, goals and more goals. Their defeat of Chelsea may have been a tale of ignored penalty claims but I reckon it merely proves that Karma thrives in West London.
So the dream final awaits. Barcelona has been here before. In 1994 Cryuff led his dream team to a European Cup final against a seemingly broken AC Milan outfit. The result was a foregone conclusion; Guardiola himself was amongst the Barca stars needing merely to turn up to lift the trophy. In a breathtaking performance Milan destroyed them. No one would have hurt more than Guardiola. Maybe that memory will be the edge that Barcelona need this coming Wednesday.