Pep Confidential (13 page)

In the two friendlies they had played in Trentino against the Paulaner Dream Team (13-0) and against Serie B’s Brescia (3-0), the coach had used Højbjerg as a midfielder, but during that trip back from Verona to Munich he decided that it would be unwise to put the young Dane through a baptism of fire in Dortmund. He would consider a different option.

Immediately after their return from Italy, on July 14, Bayern played a friendly in Rostock. It was a benefit match for Hansa, an ancient and historic German club which was struggling with serious financial problems. A year before, Uli Hoeness had agreed to the fixture as a fundraiser to help Hansa renew their federation licence which qualified them to play in the German third division. The fundraising exercise was a success and 28,000 fans turned up at the DKB Arena, contributing almost a million Euros to the Rostock club’s funds.

Out on the pitch, Pep had chosen Toni Kroos as his organising midfielder. It was a declaration of intent. He was looking for alternatives to Højbjerg so that the youngster could be spared the ordeal of going up against Borussia. Kroos would be a good first choice as long as he had the right kind of support, and in Rostock it was Philipp Lahm who once again provided that back-up. The captain had played as a midfielder in their second friendly against TSV Regen and in the third, against the Paulaner Dream Team, and Pep liked the way he managed things in the middle of the pitch. Bayern won 4-0 and for the next five days were able to work continuously in Säbener Strasse for the first time since Guardiola’s arrival. As he was leaving Rostock stadium Pep had received a text: ‘We’ve signed Thiago.’

Days before, just as he was about to leave Trentino, Pep had insisted: ‘
Thiago oder nichts’
. Thiago or nobody.

Rummenigge had responded by making a formal offer to Barcelona. As far as the Catalan club’s management was concerned it was the perfect deal. Not only did it meet their price but it also allowed them to sell the pearl of Barça’s youth academy, the jewel of La Masia, without attracting too much flak. This way they could argue that Guardiola had stolen the player. The leaked news of the potential deal had not come from Bayern, nor from Thiago himself, who was still holed up on the Costa Brava. Pep knew that it could only have come from the club selling the player, which meant that the agreement was well on the way.

That day in Trentino the German journalists had asked him if Bayern were interested in the player. The coach’s emphatic response left them in no doubt. ‘Of course I want him.’ For a few moments the press room in the hotel annex lapsed into a surprised silence. The newsmen had not been expecting such a direct reply, although the need for transparency was not Pep’s primary concern at that moment. His intention was to give a helping hand to the negotiations which were already underway. By making his wishes public in this way he would, he hoped, help bring things to a satisfying conclusion. If Barça had decided to leak the news then Guardiola played his role by making his personal interest in the signing crystal clear. He also announced that there would be no more signings. ‘
Thiago oder nichts
.’

On July 11 Guardiola did much more than confirm his interest in Thiago, however. He also took the opportunity to launch an attack on Sandro Rosell, then president of FC Barcelona.

Rosell had insulted Cruyff by withdrawing the title of honorary president from him, and he had taken his predecessor, Joan Laporta, who had appointed Pep as coach, to court. And in March 2011 he had also dealt with serious accusations of doping against the club with a surprising lack of enthusiasm.

If, during Laporta’s time in charge, Pep had been forced on several occasions to act as the club’s official spokesperson (the Catalan media sometimes called him the ‘virtual president’), then under Rosell’s mandate he had increasingly sensed a creeping, progressive alienation which became only too apparent during Pep’s last season.

Pep had decided to speak out at last and opted to do it in Trentino: ‘During my sabbatical I told president Sandro Rosell that I would be going 6000 kilometres away from him. All I asked was that he leaves me in peace, but he has chosen not to do that. He has broken his promise. I did my time and then I left. It wasn’t their responsibility. I was the one who decided to go. And I went 6000 kilometres away. Let them get on with their own business now. I hope they’re happy with the players they’ve got and with the things that they’re doing. I wish them all the luck in the world because in some small way their success is my success. I don’t need to tell you what that club means to me, but this year they have crossed the line too many times.’

Attacking someone as devious as Sandro Rosell was not a great strategy and Guardiola knew it. He was just unwilling to contain himself for any longer.

As his friend, Sala i Martin, explains: ‘Pep just needed to get it all out that day. He had put up with so much abuse and had just taken it in silence. It was inevitable that he would have a blow-out eventually.’

In fact, he had probably chosen the wrong way and the wrong place to explode because the German journalists had no real understanding of the details. Not only because Pep was speaking in Catalan, but because it was too difficult for them to understand the context: what he had put up with over the years; the grievances he had dealt with; the manipulation of the last year and the financial and editorial influences in Barcelona. It was all too complicated and all the German press really understood was that Guardiola was furious with Sandro Rosell because of the way he had treated him once he knew the coach was leaving. In fact, this would end up being a pretty good summary of what actually happened.

A few days later Thiago arrived in Munich and on July 17 he took part in his first training session. He had come with very little physical preparation. Just a month before he had scored a hat-trick as Spain beat Italy in the final of the UEFA Under-21 European Championship. Since then his personal training regime had been restricted to mountain biking and hill running with his younger brother Rafinha, who had been loaned to Celta de Vigo by Barça.

Thiago was delighted to have made it to Munich. ‘It’s an amazing feeling that someone of the calibre of Pep has so much confidence in me. When the best coach in the world calls you, you don’t have to think twice.’

Guardiola had propelled Thiago through the youth ranks, promoting him to the B team at 16 and then to the first team aged 18. He had complete confidence in the player and, just as he was doing now with Højbjerg, had spent many hours honing this rough diamond. With Thiago he had focused on defensive concepts.

The player himself tells me over coffee in Munich shortly after his arrival: ‘Pep told me I had to get rid of some aspects of my game. Things like the way I celebrated. I am Brazilian after all! I often got really annoyed with him because he was always telling me to calm down. Whenever we were winning he’d try to impose a bit of order and stop us getting too carried away. He got rid of a lot of the things I used to do, probably all the superficial stuff, but in exchange he taught me much, much more important concepts. I reckon that’s a pretty good deal.’

Thiago arrived ready for anything. ‘Now I need to express myself. I’m going to use everything Pep has added to my game and at the same time try to express who I am as a player.’

The Brazilian would soon get his opportunity to do that – three days later he was in the starting line-up for the Hamburg-Bayern game which kicked off the Telekom Trophy tournament. Bayern won easily and Thiago played well as the single organising midfielder with Kroos to one side of him. Pep’s plans for the Dortmund final were beginning to emerge. If Thiago held up physically he would be the starting
pivote
in the Super Cup.

The next day, July 21, the coach repeated this strategic approach for the tournament final although this time he added one more piece. With Thiago as
pivote
, Lahm and Kroos took up the other two midfield positions. The captain brought defensive power whilst Kroos added his creative flair. The trio played brilliantly and Bayern destroyed Borussia Mönchengladbach 5-1. As long as Thiago stayed fit, Pep had his line-up for the Dortmund match in a week’s time.

However, in the meantime Bayern had to face Barça in the Allianz Arena. It wasn’t a match Guardiola was looking forward to. He had been everything to the club: La Masia graduate, ball boy, player, captain, coach, spokesperson and ultimately the symbol of Barcelona. He would never be comfortable having to play against them.

The friendly had been fixed for Wednesday July 24, three days before the German Super Cup final, another reason for Pep’s reluctance. But this was Uli Hoeness’ cup. The president, patriarch, the father of Bayern, as he was affectionately known … so Pep just had to put a brave face on it and get on with the game.

Nobody at Barcelona was particularly enthused by the prospect, either. Those members of the squad who played for the national team were still on holiday and the club was still reeling after the terrible news of coach Tito Vilanova’s relapse in his fight against cancer. It was five days since they had heard that he was ill again and would have to resign as coach of the club he had just led to victory in La Liga.

On July 23 Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino had been appointed as the new coach, but he would not be in Munich in time for his new team’s debut match. Jordi Roura, who had been interim coach whilst Vilanova recovered in New York in early 2013, would be on the Barcelona bench. The team was returning to the scene of its most recent nightmare. Three months had passed since the Champions League semi-final in which Jupp Heynckes’ Bayern had beaten them 4-0 before winning 3-0 at the Camp Nou.

Thiago, supported by Lahm and Kroos, was Bayern’s new midfielder. All the pieces for the team that would face Dortmund had fallen into place.

In the event, the friendly was completely straightforward. The consequences were, however, anything but. Bayern won 2-0 by denying Barcelona barely any chance to develop their game, but on Thursday morning Guardiola learned the cost: Neuer and Ribéry were injured. The goalkeeper had some pain in his abductor muscle and the striker had taken a painful kick to his leg. Neither would make the Dortmund game.

Now, on July 25, Guardiola is to be found scowling and cursing the Barça friendly. He hadn’t wanted to do it, had always believed that playing it three days before a final amounted to disastrous timing. To make matters worse, the game has left two of his most important players injured. He will have to do without his No.1 goalkeeper and his most devastating forward. Guardiola is furious. He is going to have to play his first official fixture with too many men missing.

He spends the whole night studying Jürgen Klopp’s Borussia, as he always does before a match. For two-and-a-half days he analyses his opponents down to the last detail and looks for weaknesses he can exploit. His analytical approach is similar to that of Magnus Carlsen, world chess champion who likes to study the thinking behind every chess move without using a computer. He then reaches his own conclusions and instructs his assistants to find alternatives using powerful computers. In just the same way, Pep prefers to scrutinise the information himself before consulting his assistants, Carles Planchart and his team of analysts. Only once he has examined his rival in depth does he exchange ideas with the technical team. The final conclusions are usually a combination of both parties’ work. When I pointed out the similarity with Carlsen, Pep seemed pleasantly surprised with the comparison: ‘I’m getting more and more interested in chess.’

He has doubts. Pep always has doubts. He goes over everything a thousand times. How to attack opponents, his line-up, the instructions he needs to give individuals and the whole team. He’s missing Neuer and Ribéry, Javi Martínez and Dante, Götze and Luiz Gustavo and Schweinsteiger is still limping about. He decides to go on the attack.

He still has doubts and swithers between Rummenigge’s words – ‘We need patience’ – and Sammer’s – ‘We need passion.’

Patience and passion. Guardiola’s two main weapons. Which credo will this first appearance of the new Bayern reflect?

He opts for passion. When in doubt, go back to basics: attack, attack, attack. He’s going to move Philipp Lahm from the midfield and return him to right-back. He will play in Dortmund with as many forwards as possible. But it is going to be a huge risk.

14

‘BORUSSIA DESERVED TO WIN.’

Dortmund, July 27, 2013

PEP HAS VALENTINA in his arms. The little girl hugs her dad tightly. She seems to sense the gravity of the situation. The Bayern players are already on the team bus, waiting for their boss, his white shirt bathed in sweat, to come aboard. Temperatures in Dortmund are Mediterranean – 38 degrees centigrade and Guardiola has just lost his first official match. After a 4-2 win, the German Super Cup belongs to Borussia. Ten metres away, Jürgen Klopp, the victorious coach, goes by triumphantly, as volcanic as ever.

Every single ticket in Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park has been sold for this one-off match, as they usually are for games in almost every stadium in the country. 195 countries are televising the final and both coaches have spruced themselves up for the occasion. They wish each other well at this, the start of a long and friendly rivalry.

No glory without pain. For Guardiola this is the most difficult opponent against whom he could have begun his new career. Klopp and Guardiola, together; Borussia and Bayern head-to-head in the fight for another title and it’s only late July. It is a wonderful way to begin this journey. The two men make beguiling dance partners, perhaps because they evoke Pep and Mourinho in the days when they created the tactical solutions to help their respective teams, Barcelona and Real Madrid, achieve excellence.

Will Klopp become the German Mourinho? I am talking here in terms of tactics and strategy, of course – not collateral damage. Guardiola puts enough pressure on himself that he doesn’t need an external incentive to come up with his innovative ideas. However, Klopp has a similar character and the pair are like two skilled fencers who will thrust and parry to unpick football’s enigmas.