Guardiola’s philosophy now a sought-after ‘brand’ among the best clubs in Europe

Barcelona had lost out the La Liga crown to bitter rival Real Madrid for two successive seasons in 2008 and 2009 under head coach Frank Rijkaard, and the club president Joan Laporta’s next step to take Barca back to the top was to gamble on an untested Josep ‘Pep’ Guardiola. Guardiola, who came through the fabled La Masia (Barca’s academy) and went on to play in the first team and captain the side, had just led the Barcelona B team back to the Segunda Division B (Spain’s third tier) by winning the Catalonia division in his first season as a coach.

Barcelona had lost the LaLiga crown to bitter rival Real Madrid for two successive seasons in 2008 and 2009 under head coach Frank Rijkaard, and club president Joan Laporta’s next step to take the team back to the top was to gamble on an untested Josep ‘Pep’ Guardiola.

Guardiola, who came through the fabled La Masia (Barca’s academy) and went on to play and then captain the first team, had just led the Barcelona B team back to the Segunda Division B (Spain’s third tier) by winning the Catalonia division in his first season as a coach.

According to Laporta, when he approached him about the job, Guardiola responded saying that he hadn’t the courage to hire him.” Laporta, though, was convinced that Guardiola would be the man to revive Barcelona while playing the Barca way. His decision was justified when the club won a historic treble in his maiden season and would go on to win LaLiga two more times and the Champions League again in his four years among other trophies there. “We chose a philosophy, not a brand,” Laporta would later say.

The philosophy which Guardiola has implemented, over the course of the last 15 years with success, is now a sought-after ‘brand’ among the best clubs in Europe. Since Guardiola’s departure in 2012, Barcelona has been desperately seeking to recreate his brand of football.

Years after his exit from Bayern Munich, Thiago Alcantara said the club still employed his ideas during matches. Manchester City and the City Football Group (CFG), Guardiola’s employers since 2016, have recreated the ‘Guardiola Blueprint’ across their various affiliated clubs. His influence was also stamped in Spain’s national team’s golden generation when it won the World Cup and the European Cup between 2010 and 2012.

Guardiola, who modelled his philosophy on Johan Cruyff, revolutionised one-touch football to another level with the speed at which his teams passed through teams and suffocated teams off the ball. While those who believed in his ideas would call him a ‘perfectionist’ (Xavi Hernandez), those who fell foul of his methods labelled him a ‘philosopher’ (Zlatan Ibrahimovic).

In one of his early press conferences from his days as Barcelona coach, Guardiola was asked to explain his philosophy. He simply put it as, “I get the ball, I pass the ball. I get the ball, I pass the ball. I get the ball, I pass the ball...”