Page 43 - Pep Guardiola: Another Way of Winning: The Biography

future generations. For example, the Catalan media frequently positioned themselves in favour of
talented yet troublesome players like Stoichkov and Rivaldo, while simultaneously portraying Van
Gaal as a cold, ruthless individual who completely failed to grasp what FC Barcelona stood for as a
club and a national institution. Yet the reality is altogether different and, while it’s true that the

blueprint for the club’s playing traditions was established by Johan Cruyff, it is Van Gaal who
deserves much of the credit for building upon those foundations and advancing the methodologies and
systems upon which much of Barcelona’s current success has been based. What Van Gaal might not
be aware of is the influence his teachings had on Pep who today, as we shall see, recognises him as a
key figure of the recent success of the side. ‘I am not sure he is the best coach in the world, as he
keeps saying,’ Guardiola points out, ‘but certainly one of the best. I learnt a lot with him. I would
have to ask him, though, would you do things the same way if you had to do it all over again?’

His time under Van Gaal was not without problems, however, and Pep’s lengthy injury lay-offs led
to some uncomfortable contract negotiations that distanced him from the board and afforded him some
bitter experiences in just how unforgivingly and cruelly the football world can treat those who earn
their living from it.
It was while Pep was sidelined with injury during Van Gaal’s tenure that the club president, Josep
Lluís Núñez, enquired as to the player’s well-being with one of the doctors – and when the physical

report was positive, Núñez persisted with his enquiry, asking: ‘OK, but what about his head? How is
his head? Isn’t he a bit sick in his head?’
Pep found out that his president doubted him, but, worse still, there was a spiteful rumour
circulating on the streets of Barcelona that Guardiola’s ‘mystery’ injuries were connected to the
lamentable suggestion that he had contracted the AIDS virus. Pep has his suspicions as to the source
of these unfounded rumours: they didn’t come from the squad, from colleagues or even from
journalists; nor even from rival fans. Yet it was apparent that the board did nothing to silence the

gossip and protect their captain.
For Pep, it became difficult to enjoy his football at a club without the support and respect of the
board. The atmosphere around the team became increasingly negative and the mood soured further
when his close friend and Barcelona team-mate Luís Figo stunned the football world by moving to
Real Madrid. It was a further symptom of the ruptures and divisions separating the club president and
his board, the dressing room and the supporters. The club had gone from being an environment that

celebrated football at the height of the Dream Team’s successes, to an institution enveloped by
pessimism and recrimination. The supporters poured their frustrations into an overt expression of
anger at what they perceived to be Figo’s ultimate act of betrayal and treachery, turning the Camp
Nou into a cauldron of hate upon the Portuguese winger’s return to the stadium where, just several
months earlier, he had been worshipped as a hero. The noise that greeted Figo as he stepped out on to
the pitch in Barcelona wearing the white of Real Madrid was likened to that of a jet aeroplane and the
hostility generated by the Barcelona supporters may have sent the desired message to Figo but did

little to improve the mood at a club mired in negativity.
Pep struggled to come to terms with the sheer force of hatred levelled at the Portuguese star, the
godfather of one of his children, and the atmosphere surrounding the whole affair added to his
growing sense of unease. He finally felt that enough was enough and took the decision, approximately
twelve months before his contract ran out in the summer of 2001, that it was time to leave FC
Barcelona. ‘When he has made his mind up, there’s no changing it,’ says Pep’s agent, Josep María

Orobitg, whom he instructed not to open negotiations with Barcelona regarding his contract renewal.
Needless to say, it was not an easy decision: but as Pep described it, ‘I weighed up the bag of things I