Page 129 - Pep Guardiola: Another Way of Winning: The Biography

He asked Xavi Hernández to come to the office very early on and although the tone was similar to
previous conversations the two had had in the past, there was something that had inevitably changed:
a touch of humility in the voice of Xavi, the subtle bow of his head. Pep was the boss now.
The midfielder had just come back from winning the European Championship with Spain and there

were stories in the papers about his possible transfer. It had been a difficult period in his career and
he was quickly falling out of love with football: not only because of the lack of titles in the previous
two seasons, but the disappointment of seeing talented players go to waste, the lack of synergy at the
club, the number of years spent in an institution with huge demands. A dangerous cocktail.
Xavi needed to hear what Pep’s plans were; he had no intention of leaving but if he had to, he
would look at the possibility of testing himself in the Premier League. Manchester United were
sniffing around.

The conversation between player and coach took place in the first days of training together.
Xavi: I won’t beat around the bush, Pep, I have one question for you: do you count on me?
Pep: I don’t see this team without you in it. I just don’t see this working without you.
With that, Pep Guardiola had reignited Xavi’s spark.
But the work to recover the midfielder mentally didn’t end there. In the rare instances of a defeat or
a bad performance, Xavi would carry his negative feelings to the training ground the next day. After

the sessions, while performing stretches, Pep would often sit next to him, chatting about general stuff,
about the weather, plans for that evening: the kind of idle talk that passes between colleagues.
Guardiola would then suddenly switch into the role of manager in gesture and tone: he would switch
the conversation to the next game; about what he wanted from the player; about what he had been
doing right, about what could be improved. Xavi’s wounds left by the defeat would heal and the
mood would change – there was another target.
As we say in Spain, with the arrival of Guardiola the sky opened for Xavi and the sun shone

through. The midfielder regained his sense of security and self-esteem and was about to embark on
the four most enjoyable years of his whole career. The manager would insist throughout that period
that he was nothing without the players, that it was they who made him good. But the footballers
identified him as a leader and were thankful that he was showing them the way.
There were still many others, a whole squad, to win over.
In the first speech he gave to the whole team in St Andrews, Guardiola put forward the master plan.

But he demanded mostly one thing: the players would have to run a lot, work, and train hard – every
team, he believes, plays as they train. He was referring to the culture of effort, of sacrifice, and it
surprised many. That was Pep; the football romantic was asking Barcelona never to stop running!
He wanted to implement a system that was an advanced version of what they had been playing,
with football starting with the goalkeeper, a sort of outfield sweeper who would have to get used to
touching the ball more with his feet than with his hands. Even though everybody realised the style
could improve the side, the risk was immense.

‘That is, by the way,’ insisted Pep, ‘non-negotiable.’
Goalkeeper Víctor Valdés demanded to talk to him straight away. If the new system didn’t work, he
was going to be the first one to be blamed. It would leave him exposed and in the firing line both on
and off the pitch and he needed to be convinced: was it such a good idea to move the defensive line
right up to the midfield line and ask the centre backs to start the moves? Football without a safety net?
Are we sure this is the way forward? Valdés, outwardly shy but with a trademark inner blend of

cheekiness and directness that has made him popular in the team, felt brave enough to see Pep a few
days after the St Andrews speech: