Pep Confidential Read Free Page A

time at all.’
    Pep is back where he wants to be. Pursuing his passion.
    But what about Bayern? Why the change? Why would a treble-winning horse decide to change its rider?
    Por qué?
    Warum ?
    Why?
    To understand the reason for Bayern’s decision to appoint a new coach just as they were enjoying such success requires an understanding of the realities of a modern football club, and the role of the directors in an industry which combines the tangible with the intangible – mixing goals and roars in equal measure.
    Bayern could boast a proud history, financial clout, innate self-confidence and a strong fan base. After a glorious run of successes, the future looked bright. They had built their excellence on the virtues that best represent the German character: endurance, unshakeable belief and an iron will. What they lacked was a playing philosophy.
    Hoeness and Rummenigge were no longer interested in just winning titles, now they wanted a clear identity, an enduring hallmark which would establish their dominance once and for all. They wished that, in due course, the Bayern brand wouldn’t simply be related to effort, courage, power and victory. They wanted more. In this quest, Pep was the chosen one.
    Perhaps the real stroke of genius on the part of the Bavarian club was to start making changes at the peak of their success. After all, nobody would have complained had they continued with Heynckes and his staff after their treble win.
    Under Guardiola, the club hoped to take a quantum leap forward and achieve the kind of consistent and enduring success they craved. They understood that none of this would be easy. Heynckes had set the bar very high.
    All of this has led to this moment. Here, today, on June 24, 2013, in the Allianz Arena.
    On the pitch Guardiola’s eyes meet those of Matthias Sammer, Bayern’s technical director, the man on whom he’ll come to rely in the coming months.
    Pep’s expression seems to hint at the paradox he is accepting. His climb starts here, at the summit. His mission is to climb higher still.
    In Munich it rains for about 134 days a year. Just one more thing Pep will have to get used to.

3
    ‘I COULD SEE MYSELF COACHING HERE ONE DAY.’
    New York, October 2012
    ‘PREPARE YOURSELF, MANEL. I’ve chosen Bayern!’
    In Pescara, in the north-east of Italy, Manel Estiarte smiles. Hard though it had been for his old friend to close one chapter of his life, the decision about his next step had obviously been an easy one. Their destination would not after all be England, but Germany.
    The exchange is taking place five months after Pep’s departure from Barça. In this time, he has been flooded with offers: Chelsea, Manchester City, Milan and, of course, Bayern. In reality, they are not job offers, but love letters, project proposals for this most illustrious of coaches.
    The departure from Barça had been long and difficult and Guardiola had shared his plans with his friend Estiarte before speaking to the club, or even to Tito Vilanova, his deputy and successor. The reason was pretty straightforward. After four years at maximum intensity, Pep was drained. He had no more to give.
    This was not the only reason, of course.
    Over his four-year tenure, Pep had been expected to act as coach, club spokesperson, virtual president and even travel co-ordinator. During that time he had also struggled to remain on good terms with two successive presidents.
    He had found in Joan Laporta a dynamic but pushy man, who possessed volcanic energy and who could be supportive one minute and undermining the next. Electric, contradictory – occasionally lewd.
    Sandro Rosell was different and Pep quickly discovered that the new president’s smiling demeanour concealed the cold, treacherous heart of a bureaucrat. Guardiola balanced the at-times hysterical behaviour of Laporta with his own calm sobriety. He coped with Rosell’s sanctimonious posturing by injecting an overdose of his own energy.
    Relations with neither