Page 183 - Pep Guardiola: Another Way of Winning: The Biography

the captain, an icon and thirty years old at the time. For the club that you have adored and served
since childhood to turn on you in such a cruel way, and without any apparent motive, isn’t something
that is easy to deal with and less so for someone like Pep, sensitive to criticism and who never forgot
the lesson that leaving at the right time is crucially important: just as he did as a manager.

His latest farewell at the Nou Camp, beyond its implications, was the most sensitive, most heartfelt
and honest experienced on a stage that, all too often, had been unable to say goodbye to its heroes or
managers. Guardiola left in a way that both Cruyff and Rijkaard were unable to, who ended their
careers in sporting decline and without the unanimous consent of the fans. Strong criticisms were
heard when Louis Van Gaal, twice league winner, dared to return for a second stint as manager.
‘The legacy? For me, the memory I have of these people, I hope it lasts for ever,’ Pep said some
days later. A banner at the Villamarín, in Pep’s final league game, spoke for the fans who adored him:

‘Pep, your football has shown us the way.’
Guardiola had defended the club’s values and taught people a special way to support and feel part
of Barça. Would it be the new way to be a culé? Or just a momentary lapse in a culture that seemed to
relish the role of victim? Pep had already warned, during his final season, in a moment of doubt:
‘This won’t last for ever. Sooner or later we will stop winning and that is when we will have to see
if we really do have faith in the way we are and the way we play. I’m not putting my hand in the fire, I

have to see it. If the club is firm in its convictions, it will always progress.’
But while certain sectors remained tied to their old ways, the Camp Nou, the fans, showed signs
that this team has changed history, going far beyond just the titles. The final reaction in the Clásico
defeat was an impressive message. Rather than surrender and start to doubt, thousands of Catalans
raised their voices to make sure Pep and the team knew that they were with them, that they deserved
recognition and loyalty ahead of a result.
Perhaps the fans have changed, but the environment was still harmful. Pep’s departure was enough

for a sector of Barcelona to fall back upon old ways, indifferent to the massive change that the club
had undergone at a sporting level. With Guardiola present, nobody dared disrupt the harmony. And he
himself had always made an effort to remain equidistant from all sides – he always spoke well of
former presidents Laporta, Núñez and even Gaspart – and he had always been amicable with Rosell,
with whom he had a cordial relationship without ever managing to have a particularly high level of
trust.

‘I’m stepping aside, I don’t want my name to be mentioned. I’m leaving and I want to be left in
peace,’ Guardiola warned. But before the last game of the season, Joan Laporta resurfaced: ‘the
current board is obsessed with destroying when what we did was build, including Pep … they could
have done more for him to stay.’ Johan Cruyff was asked for his opinion, as was Carles Rexach.
Rosell’s strength was tested, Guardiola’s steps were controlled. All sorts of rumours began to
circulate: clashes between Valdés and Messi, separated by Keita; rumours of the Argentine star
getting angry; the alleged rift between Pep, Tito Vilanova, and even Pep and Andoni Zubizarreta.

Did Guardiola leave at the right time? Would the same things have happened if he had stayed one
more year? Luis Aragonés was the only football man who questioned Pep’s reasons for leaving the
club. ‘I don’t understand him,’ the former Spain national coach told AS newspaper. ‘I don’t believe
him when he says he is tired. I agree with Mourinho. He has only been at the job four years, he has
just started. It must be something else. Don’t get me wrong – what he has done has a huge merit. But I
don’t know why he is leaving. People will forget what he has done very quickly.’

When they meet, and Xavi Hernández has insisted to Pep they should, as he considers them two of
the best brains in the game, Guardiola will be on the receiving end of some stern words from Luis and