Who is Pep Guardiola? What is the biography, life, career and unique coaching philosophy of the head coach of Man City Club? Thethao.vn will partly answer those questions from readers.
Not in the form of a ‘child of the family’ like Jose Mourinho and not possessing an ideal body, but Pep Guardiola still makes his own mark, both as a player and as a coach. Guardiola-player is considered the best midfielder of his generation. Coach Guardiola has been and is on his way to becoming one of the greatest coaches of all time.
Pep Guardiola is the current head coach of Man City
So who is Pep Guardiola? What is the biography, life, career and unique coaching philosophy of the head coach of Man City Club? Let’s find out with Thethao.vn!
- Biography of Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola’s real name is Josep Guardiola i Sala. He was born on January 18, 1971 (the same month as coach Jose Mourinho), in Santpedor, Barcelona province, Catalanonia, Spain.
He is currently the head coach of Man City club. Pep is considered one of the greatest managers of all time and holds the record for the most consecutive wins in La Liga, Bundesliga and Premier League.
Pep Guardiola is the third child in a middle-class family. He has 2 sisters and a younger brother. His father was Valenti – a bricklayer, and his mother was Dolors – a housewife.
Pep Guardiola in his youth
Guardiola was ‘addicted’ to football as a boy. He plays football whenever he gets the chance. His love for the ball prompted him to work as a ball boy in local matches.
- Pep Guardiola’s career
2.1 Player career
2.1.1 Club level
At the age of 13, Pep joined Barcelona’s La Masia Academy. He started as a defender before moving up to play in midfield.
19 years old, Pep Guardiola was promoted to one by coach Johan Cruyff (died in 2016). 1990/91 was the first season of his professional playing career.
It didn’t take long for Pep to become the most important element of the Barcelona ‘Dream Team’ under the leadership of former player Johan Cruyff. Barca won La Liga twice in a row (1990/91 and 1991/92) and the European Cup 1991/92.
Pep Guardiola is the most important factor in Barcelona’s ‘Dream Team’ under ‘Saint’ Johan Cruyff
Barcelona went on to win La Liga two seasons later and reached the 1993/94 Champions League final. In 1997, Pep was entrusted with the Blaugrana captaincy.
In the 1998/99 season, Guardiola lifted the La Liga title for the first time as captain. In April 2021, he announced his departure from Camp Nou after a long time with him and won a total of 16 titles.
Leaving Barcelona, Pep chose Brescia as the next stop. He only played for Brescia for one season before moving to AS Roma. After the 2002/03 season, Pep returned to Brescia but again he quickly left (playing only 13 games). He played for 2 seasons for Al-Ahli (Quatar) and then joined Dorados de Sinaloa (Mexico) and retired after the 2005/06 season in this club’s shirt.
2.1.2 National team level
Pep Guardiola made his first appearance for Spain in 1992, in the 1994 World Cup qualifiers. That same year, he was a member of the Spain Olympic team that won the 1992 Olympic gold medal. At the end of 1992, Pep became a member of the Spanish Olympic team. Bravo award for the best player under the age of 21 in the world.
Pep Guardiola and Spain Olympic team win the 1992 Olympic gold medal
Guardiola played for La Roja until 2001. During a decade of playing for the team that was known as the ‘King of the qualifiers’, he played a total of 47 matches and scored 5 goals.
1999 was the year he played the most for La Roja: 9 matches. In 2000, Pep made eight appearances for Spain. This number dropped to 7 in 2001.
2.3 Coaching career
In June 2007, Pep Guardiola was selected as the head coach of the Barcelona B team. In the summer of 2008, he became the first team coach. Since then, Pep officially entered the great journey of conquest and has not promised a stop.
In the first season of leading Barcelona, Pep and this club won the historic “sixth”: La Liga, King’s Cup, Champions League, European Super Cup, Spanish Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup.
In 4 seasons with Barca as head coach, Pep helped this club win up to 14/16 possible titles. Barcelona with the ‘brain’ Xavi Hernandez, the ‘magician’ Andres Iniesta and the ‘magical left leg’ Lionel Messi led by him is considered one of the best teams of all time and is often compared to ‘Dream Team’ under ‘Saint’ Johan.
Pep Guardiola won up to 14/16 possible titles in 4 seasons leading Barcelona
Leaving Barcelona after the 2001/02 season, Pep Guardiola decided to take a year off. He re-appeared as head coach of Bayern Munich club. Even in his first season in charge of Bayern (2013/14), Guardiola won a ‘triple’: the FIFA Club World Cup, the German Cup and the Bundesliga.
In 3 seasons with the Allianz Arena, Pep helped Bayern Munich win 8 titles. In the summer of 2016, he left Germany to move to England to work as the head coach of Man City.
With his talent and effective support from the assistant team and the Board of Directors, Pep helps Man City become the number one force in English football. The Citizens won 2 “doubles” to win the Premier League (2017/18, 2018/19 and 2020/21, 2021/22). Man City also successfully conquered 6 other domestic titles, including 4 League Cups.
2.5 Coaching philosophy
Pep Guardiola’s coaching philosophy since his start has been relatively consistent. The clubs he led have thoroughly applied position-oriented play based on the basic foundation of ball control. The media called it football in the style of ‘Tiki – Taka’ but Pep himself more than once denied that term. To him, ‘Tiki – Taka’ is just ‘no more trash’.
Messi is the best player Guardiola has ever coached
On the basis of position-oriented play, control the ball as much as possible, but the operation is different. Barcelona often use short and medium range passes before scoring. Bayern Munich and Man City also favor ball control but often use a real striker (Robert Lewandowski, Sergio Aguero, Gabriel Jesus and soon Erling Haaland) rather than a ‘virtual 9’ like Messi.
Situations that pass from the edge to the center for players to finish with their heads or crosses towards the far post often appear in the play of Bayern Munich and Man City. Man City last season also became the team that scored the most goals in the Premier League from set pieces.
- Coach Pep Guardiola’s Personal Life
Pep Guardiola first met Cristina Serra when he was 18 years old. They were “glued” to each other from then until officially married in 2014. Their wedding took place in a private ceremony in Catalonia, attended by friends and family. They have three sons together: Maria, Marius and Valentina.
During the break after leaving Barcelona, Pep planned to settle in the US. That intention was shelved only after he accepted the invitation to lead Bayern Munich. Since nodding to the Board of Directors of the Gray Lobster, he has continuously studied and improved the German language. He spends four to five hours a day doing this.
Pep and his wife – Cristina Serra
Pep Guardiola has been an atheist since birth. Besides his passion for football, he is also a fan of fashion and watches. Pep’s watch collection is growing, including the Richard Mille ‘RM27-01 Rafa Nadal’.
‘RM27-01 Rafa Nadal’ is handcrafted in Switzerland by Richard Mille in honor of tennis player Rafael Nadal. Richard Mille produced only 50 pieces, each priced at 75,000 euros. However, to own this ‘RM27-01 Rafa Nadal’, buyers promise to spend no less than 1.5 million euros.
- Tails
With a total of 33 trophies won so far, Pep Guardiola is definitely among the Top Great Coaches of All Time. He succeeds with a football that emphasizes control and organization but is equally beautiful.
That style of play has an inheritance from the Total Football philosophy that ‘Saint’ Johan brought to Barcelona as well as the pressing of ‘Crazy Man’ Marcelo Bielsa. Guardiola not only inherited excellence but also raised it to a new level.
Pep Guardiola has not won the Champions League while managing a club other than Barcelona
However, even after conquering 33 titles, Pep’s talent is still not recognized by a section of experts and fans. He has only won the Champions League (2 times) with Barcelona and has not or has not done the same when leading Bayern Munich or Man City.
Until now, all have not stopped arguing about the issue: Guardiola created the great Messi or Messi raised the level for Guardiola to become great. Only when Pep and a club other than Barcelona, without Messi’s service, won the Champions League, he was more widely recognized.
Either way, one thing is undeniable: Pep contributed to the success of teams at a time when he led a club with many of their players. What Spain, Germany or England have won shows that.
Spain won the 2010 World Cup, EURO 2012 with the core of Barcelona’s players. Germany won the 2014 World Cup according to the Bayern Munich player formula + the rest. He reached the semi-finals of the World Cup 2018, the final of EURO 2020 with John Stones, Kyle Walker, Raheem Sterling … on the staff of Man City Club.
