A tribute to Pep Guardiola: How he changed the Club’s fortunes

At the beginning of the summer of 2008, Barcelona were a club in crisis. Frank Rijkaard’s last season at the club was a disaster at best, with Barcelona finishing third in the league and having to perform the infamous pasillo at the Bernabeu. The players lacked motivation and the (immediate) future looked bleak for the club. But one man completely turned the club’s fortunes around: Pep Guardiola. In his first speech as manager, the former Barcelona defensive midfielder didn’t promise trophies, only hard work, but he told the fans to fasten their seatbelts because this was going to be a wild ride. But not even the most optimistic culé could imagine just how wild it was going to be.

In his first season as Barcelona’s manager, Pep Guardiola made the club’s tiki-taka brand of football the most widely admired in the world, and the team won an unprecedented sextuple of trophies, with an historic 6-2 win at the Santiago Bernabeu being the icing on the cake. Not only did Pep win, he did it in style. In just one year, Barcelona had gone from a team in disarray
to one of the best sides ever to grace the game. Pep Guardiola couldn’t possibly have had a better first year.

Still, many doubted that Barcelona could remain on top, but Pep Guardiola proved them all wrong. Despite not retaining the Champions League title (due to a narrow, slightly unlucky, defeat to eventual champions Inter Milan in the semifinals), Barcelona won La Liga again with a record-breaking 99 points, despite the best efforts and the Galatico signings of Real Madrid. Lionel Messi was yet again acknowledged as the world’s best player, with his teammates Xavi Hernandez and Andrés Iniesta completing the Ballon d’Or podium after, along with several other Barcelona players, leading Spain to the World Cup title.

But this was surely the end of Barcelona’s period of dominance. With José Mourinho taking over at Real Madrid, Barcelona couldn’t win anything again… or so many thought. The truth is that José Mourinho and the most expensively-assembled squad in football history were no match for Pep Guardiola and FC Barcelona. In a night that won’t soon be forgotten, Barcelona routed Real Madrid 5-0 at Camp Nou en route to the third consecutive La Liga title, also beating Madrid on their way to yet another Champions League final triumph against Manchester United.

In three years, Pep Guardiola has won 11 trophies (and counting) out of 14 and he has made this Barcelona crop one of the best club sides of all-time. To put it in perspective, 11 trophies is more than Barcelona had won in a decade before Pep arrived (9), you’d struggle to win that much in Football Manager! Pep did warn us that this was going to be a wild ride, but this has been way beyond even our wildest dreams, this is an era we culés will never forget.

Besides, Pep isn’t done winning yet. He has been improving the squad with each passing year: in 2008/2009, he promoted Pedro Rodriguez and Sergio Busquets, turning them from relative nobodies in the football world into starters for the World Champions Spain. In 2010/2011, the acquisition of David Villa took the team to yet another level. This time around, the signings of Alexis Sanchez and Cesc Fabregas, as well as the emergence of Thiago Alcantara, seem to indicate that Barcelona will keep (or even improve) their level and keep competing for every trophy.

Regardless of what happens from now on, Pep Guardiola’s legendary status is undeniable. FC Barcelona have won 21 leagues, Pep has won 9 of them (six as a player, three as a manager). They’ve won four Champions Leagues, Pep has won three of them (one as a player, two as a manager). It’s hard to find another man who has given so much to the club.

Some people love to discredit Pep, citing his mistakes, namely in the transfer market. It’s true that Pep isn’t perfect, but it’s also true that Barcelona couldn’t possibly have a better manager in charge, he’s an absolute legend. Pep’s mistakes are utterly insignificant compared to all the great things he has done for the club. As fans, we should all pay tribute to Pep and appreciate all the great moments he’s given us, because we’ll miss him when he’s gone. It will be a long time before Barcelona has such a great manager again. As Pep Guardiola said back in 2008, fasten your seatbelts one more time and enjoy the ride! With Pep in charge, this coming season promises to be another glorious one in the club’s history, further adding to Pep Guardiola’s legend.