Page 177 - Pep Guardiola: Another Way of Winning: The Biography

for el Clásico becomes the focus of negative press no matter how many times Guardiola tries to tell
everybody that they all have the right to play, that they were all equal, that it’s about options, resting
players, etc. They were games marked in everybody’s calendar and the final selection would have
repercussions upon the balance and well-being of the squad. In Rome, at Wembley, the only doubts in

the line-up were related to injuries or suspensions and in those games it was always going to come
down to twelve or thirteen key players. But in Pep’s last season, there were always doubts and tough
decisions to be taken before the naming of his eleven ahead of every big game.
Creating and maintaining an atmosphere of suspense and introducing players still not versed in the
most intricate games was a way of shaking the squad up and keeping everybody on their toes as Pep
perceived their crucial competitive edge was being blunted. However, the uncertainty also became
difficult to control and – unlike his masterly ability to smooth things over in previous years – Pep’s

desire to keep everybody guessing led to a sense of disquiet, anxiety and uneasiness in the players’
minds and in his own.
And, let’s not forget, Pep’s biggest fear since the day he travelled to St Andrews for pre-season
those four long years ago was that he might one day lose the group, be unable to connect with them.
Perhaps the lack of attention to details and the conceding of injury-time goals were some of the
warning signs he had been dreading. And when he felt not all was in order, he started pressing buttons

at key moments in the season. And often, he did not hit the right ones. Yes, they remained faithful to
their style against Madrid; granted, they did not have the luck against Chelsea. But ... there was
something in the way the English club neutralised Barcelona in the last twenty minutes of the Camp
Nou tie that again suggested something had been lost.
In that second leg of the Champions League semi-final, Pep had decided to use the youngster
Cuenca down the left flank, leaving experienced players like Pedro, Keita and Adriano on the bench.
He had done something similar against Madrid with Tello, who started the Clásico while Piqué,

Alexis and Cesc started on the bench. In the club offices, the analysis was a list of question marks.
Those decisions reminded some of Johan Cruyff’s when, towards the end of his tenure, he started to
apply a very peculiar logic that suggested to his critics that he was clutching at straws. Others argued
that, perhaps, Pep felt some form of ‘paternal instinct’ for La Masía boys Cuenca and Tello – which
blurred his judgement. Could two incredibly inexperienced kids really be chosen ahead of
internationals for such monumentally important games?

It also meant that the bigger names left on the bench, incapable of challenging a decision made by
someone they admired, adored and respected – with a proven track record for making so many
correct decisions – started doubting themselves: ‘there must be something wrong with me if I am not
playing’. Doubts create fear. And fear is a bad companion when you have to take responsibility if
things are not going your way. The sudden absence of a familiar eleven – an element so clearly
defined in previous campaigns – meant many were struggling with confidence issues. Pedro, for
instance, went from the great discovery and hope for the future to the great forgotten man. Cesc,

frequently, the match-winning goalscorer, went from saviour to sub.
They were an extraordinary bunch of players, an exceptional team. But they were human, too.
Imperceptibly, for those brief weeks Guardiola may have forgotten that football belongs mostly to
the players.
Guardiola knew that the system, the style, had to become automatic, second nature, as it had been
for most of his four years in charge. And, when everybody knows what to do, talent appears to

complete the team effort. But changes of personnel and of formation in the final months of his tenure
had created a certain level of disorder. So if the players felt, perhaps not even knowing why, that