Page 53 - Pep Guardiola: Another Way of Winning: The Biography

above Madrid in third. Txiki was aware of the indiscipline behind the scenes, but felt reluctant to
intervene when the team was fighting for the lead at the top of the table and, like everyone else, hoped
that it would rediscover some of the old magic.
After four months recuperating in isolation, Eto’o returned to an undisciplined dressing room, and

was so appalled by what he found that he informed president Joan Laporta, his main ally at the club.
Laporta sided with Eto’o and even offered him a captaincy role, so he felt reassured but, not long
after, Rijkaard accused him of not wanting to play against Racing de Santander (the player was
warming up but looked as if he didn’t want to come on after being instructed) and Ronaldinho
suggested in the mixed zone after the game that Eto’o had let them down because he should have been
thinking of the team. Eto’o, impatient and not known for being diplomatic, exploded a couple of days
later at a book presentation: ‘He’s a bad person’ – in reference to Rijkaard: ‘This is a war between

two groups: those that are with the president and those that are with Sandro Rosell.’
Rosell, the former vice-president, who also happened to be a close friend of Ronaldinho and was
responsible for persuading the Brazilian to sign for the club, had recently resigned following a
number of disagreements with Laporta. Eto’o also sent a message to Ronaldinho, without mentioning
his name: ‘If a team-mate comes out saying that you must think of the team, the first person who should
do so is himself.’

Given the less than harmonious atmosphere in the dressing room, the team went into a downward
spiral towards the end of that 2006–7 season, resulting in their failure to win any of the titles or cups
they had been competing for in the new year. Madrid finished the season level on points, but secured
the title courtesy of their superior head-to-head results: the unanimous verdict was that Barcelona had
thrown their title away as a consequence of complacency and lapses in concentration.
Those twin vices were never more evident than when Barcelona threw away an opportunity to
reach the final of the Copa del Rey after inexplicably throwing away a 5-2 semi-final first leg lead

over Getafe. Thinking that the game was won, Rijkaard left Messi in Barcelona for the second leg in
Madrid. Barça were soundly beaten 4-0.
Despite the pressure for a change within the first team, Laporta thought that the protagonists of that
historic Rijkaard side deserved another season. After all, at the peak of their powers this had been a
magical and mesmerising group of exceptional talents that had secured the club’s first Champions
League trophy in over twenty years. The Dutch coach assured Laporta that he was strong enough to

take control of the situation and recover the best of Ronaldinho, whom the club were considering
offloading. In a visit by Laporta to Ronaldinho’s home in Castelldefels, the Brazilian, who admitted
to having been distracted, promised a return to the player he had been before. He begged for the
opportunity to prove that he could change his ways.
Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola, recently returned from his trip to Argentina, received that phone call
from FC Barcelona.

A beach in Pescara. Just before lunchtime, beginning of summer 2007

Watching a match with Pep is an enlightening experience, a football master class. If you are lucky

enough to be sitting next to him while a game is on it becomes apparent that he cannot help sharing
everything he sees. ‘The ball runs faster than any human, so it’s the ball that has to do the running!’
which, in seventeen words, just about encapsulates his philosophy.
‘Look at him! Him, that one there! He’s hiding! Your team-mates need to know that you are always