Page 72 - Pep Guardiola: Another Way of Winning: The Biography

for €10 million – despite the fact that José Mourinho, who had coached him at Porto, wanted to link
up with him at Inter Milan.
Pep possessed genuine self-belief when it came to his capacity to get the message across to his
players. Barça had finished the league eighteen points behind Madrid the previous season and, at

times like that, sportsmen typically need somebody to show them the way, point out to them how to
correct mistakes. He cleansed the dressing room of players who were uncommitted and oblivious of
the club’s core values: prioritising good football and hard work ahead of individual talent. Before
they met for pre-season, Pep received messages from key players in the squad backing his bravery;
the squad’s leaders were effectively opening the door to the dressing room for him.
Iniesta, for one, could not wait to work with his all-time hero. ‘When I was fourteen, I competed in
a Nike club competition, which we won, and Pep presented me with the trophy. His brother had told

him about me and when he gave me the trophy he said, “Congratulations, I hope to see you in the first
team, but wait until I’ve left!” He was my idol, an example. He represents the values and feelings of
Barcelona. Attacking football, respect for team-mates, respect for the fans. And now he was going to
be my coach!
‘I remember when he greeted us on the first day in the dressing room. He shook my hand and it was
something really special because he was a reference for me. I was immediately struck by the

confidence he had and that he transmitted to us, he was convinced that everything would go well, he
had a lot of faith.’ The admiration was mutual. Pep often remembers a conversation he had with Xavi,
while they were both watching Iniesta play when he stepped up to the first team. ‘Look at that guy. He
is going to force us both into retirement!’
In Pep’s first summer in charge, Barcelona signed Dani Alvés, Cáceres, Piqué, Keita and Hleb,
injecting new blood into the team.
With Deco and Ronaldinho gone, Eto’o’s situation took a significant twist. Seeing that his two main

antagonists had left the club, he rejected all offers and made a pledge of commitment to his new
coach. With the Brazilians out of the way, he saw his big opportunity to be the standard-bearer of the
team. The leader. Eto’o had always considered that he wasn’t getting the recognition or credit he was
due and stepping out of Ronaldinho’s shadow to take centre stage was one of his obsessions.
The striker exerted a fair amount of influence over Abidal, Henry and Touré, who had the potential
to help him flourish, and now – with Messi still developing – Eto’o might finally get to play the

leading role he craved. In the dressing room there were certain characteristics of his that would need
to be tolerated – the same things that had convinced Guardiola to get rid of him in fact – but he had
now been handed a golden opportunity and pre-season would determine his future.
It feels strange to think back to a time when Messi had yet to consolidate himself as the key player
in the team, but at that moment, despite his obvious talent, it was felt that handing the baton of
responsibility from Ronaldinho to a twenty-one-year-old still nicknamed ‘the flea’ was too much too
soon. As Pep said at his unveiling: ‘We can’t allow Messi to carry the weight of the team, I don’t

think it would be good for him or the club.’ In the wake of Deco’s and Ronaldinho’s departure,
Guardiola wanted to hand the lion’s share of the responsibility over to players who had come up
through the ranks, from the youth teams, who had become the standard-bearers of the values of the
institution: Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta. Messi, who had previously been at risk of being led astray by the
Brazilian group and was going to be fostered into the axis of the team, fitted that same profile.
By giving the power and captaincy to the home-grown players, Pep had, almost seamlessly, even

before pre-season had begun, overseen a transition and sent out a clear signal of intent, mapping the
way forward for years to come. He also achieved something essential that hadn’t been seen at