Page 75 - Pep Guardiola: Another Way of Winning: The Biography

‘The style comes dictated by the history of this club and we will be faithful to it. When we have the
ball, we can’t lose it. And when that happens, run and get it back. That is it, basically.’
The squad, the group, was seduced. Not for the last time; far from it.
Upon leaving the room, Xavi commented to a team-mate that everything that they had needed to

know was there in that talk. A breath of fresh air, order and discipline. A reminder of the style he
wanted to reinforce. All that was established from day one.
There would be many more team talks, but the one at St Andrews laid the foundations for the new
era at FC Barcelona.

‘There are talks that just come to you and talks that begin from a few ideas based on what you have
seen. What you can’t do is study the talks, learn them by heart. Two or three concepts are all you need
... and then you have to put your heart into it. You can’t deceive the players, they are too well
prepared, intelligent, intuitive. I was a footballer and I know what I’m saying. In every talk, from that
one in St Andrews to the last one, I have put my heart into them. And when I don’t feel it, I don’t

speak, it’s the best way. There are days when you think that you have to say something, but you don’t
feel it, so at times like that it is better to keep quiet. Sometimes you show them images of the rivals,
and sometimes you don’t show them a single image of the opposition because on that day you realise,
for whatever reason, that in life there are more important things than a football game, you tell them
other things, unrelated to the game. Stories of overcoming difficulties, of human beings acting in
extraordinary ways. This is the beautiful thing about this job, because each rival, each situation, is

different to the previous one and you always have to find that special something, to say to them “Guys,
today is important ...” for such and such a reason. It doesn’t have to be tactical. When you have been
doing it for three or four years it is a lot easier to find. When you have been doing it for four years,
with the same players, it is more difficult.’
At St Andrews, Pep knew that his job would consist of reminding the players of some basic,
fundamental truths and principles. He knew that many of them had lost their love for football, their
hunger – and that it was necessary to create the best conditions for them to return to the pitch.

Guardiola, after spending years asking so many questions, had learnt what he had to do from some of
the greatest minds in the game.
In terms of the playing staff, after putting his faith in the home-grown players, the coach chose
professionals he could trust. And the same principles were applied to his backroom staff, where he
decided to go one step further and professionalise the entire set-up: introducing a hand-picked team of

specialists to include technical assistants, fitness coaches, personal trainers, doctors, nutritionists,
physiotherapists, players’ assistants, analysts, press officers, delegates and even handymen. The
control and evaluation of training sessions and competitions was exhaustive, both at an individual
level and as a group; recovery work was individualised and personalised.
All of them shared one thing in common: they were all culés (Barça fans). Xavi explains that this
simple yet rare common attribute at a modern club was central to the group’s ability to unite and feel
that they were pulling in the same direction from day one: ‘We’re all culés. We give it our all and we
all share the glory.’

Pep’s right-hand man, Tito Vilanova, is a friend but also an exceptional match and team analyst.
Notebook in hand, in the first season in the reserves he surprised people with his talent for strategies
that turned out to be key to the team’s promotion to the Second Division B. Such was his rapport with
Guardiola that there were no doubts as to his selection when Pep was offered the job with the first