Pep Guardiola: Everything You Need To Know About The Iconic Coach

Pep Guardiola is a former Spanish footballer and the current manager of ‘Manchester City,’ a ‘Premier League’ team. He was regarded as one of the best footballers and midfielders in the world before announcing his retirement from the game. His association with ‘Barcelona’ proved extremely successful in the early 1990s.

Early Life of Pep Guardiola

Pep Guardiola was born on January 18, 1971, in Santpedor, Spain, to bricklayer Valenti and homemaker Dolors. He was the youngest of three siblings, with two older sisters and a younger brother born a few years later. He was a football addict before joining the ‘Barcelona’ youth academy and played whenever he could. His passion for the game led him to work as a ball-boy in local matches.

At the age of 13, he was admitted to the ‘Barcelona Youth Academy,’ and his formal training began. He began his professional football career as a defender and spent the next six years honing his skills with the goal of making the club’s first team. The team’s head coach – Johan Cruyff, the head coach of the youth team, grew fond of Pep and included him in the first team in 1990, when Pep was 19 years old. This was only the beginning of one of the world’s most illustrious player-club associations.

Playing Career of Pep Guardiola

Guardiola was a defensive midfielder who excelled as a deep-lying playmaker. He spent the majority of his career with Barcelona, where he was a member of Johan Cruyff’s Dream Team that won the club’s first European Cup in 1992, as well as four consecutive Spanish league titles from 1991 to 1994. 

From 1997 until his departure from the club in 2001, he captained the team. Guardiola went on to play for Brescia and Roma in Italy, Al-Ahli in Qatar, and Dorados de Sinaloa in Mexico. He was capped 47 times for Spain and appeared in the 1994 FIFA World Cup as well as UEFA Euro 2000. He also represented Catalonia in friendlies.

Guardiola was appointed as the coach for “Barcelona B” team and later as the manager of FC Barcelona’s senior side in 2008, after retiring as a player, where he won four consecutive La Liga titles from 1991 to 1994, as well as glory in European Championships with FC Barcelona.

Coaching Career of Pep Guardiola

He was named coach of the ‘Barcelona B’ team in June 2007. He was named first-team coach for the 2008-2009 season. Pep officially began his coaching career in the third qualifying round of the ‘Champions League’ that same year. Under his leadership, ‘Barcelona’ went on a 20-match winning streak and retained first place in ‘La Liga’.

In his first season as coach of ‘Barcelona,’ Pep led his team to victories in both the ‘League’ and the ‘Copa del Rey.’ Pep’s first season with ‘Barcelona’ ended with a Champions League finals victory over ‘Manchester United.’ Following this win, ‘Barcelona’ became the first Spanish club in history to win the treble, namely the ‘European Club’ title, the domestic cup, and the league title, all in the same year. Pep also became the game’s youngest coach to have coached a ‘Champions League’-winning team.

Pep helped ‘Barcelona’ win the ‘FIFA Club World Championships’ for the first time in the club’s history in 2009. The calendar year 2009 was a banner year for ‘Barcelona,’ with the club winning nine titles. By February 2010, Pep had coached 100 matches, and his enviable win-loss ratio of 71:10 earned him the title of best football coach in the world. He continued his winning ways for the next two seasons before joining ‘Bayern Munich’ in 2013. He led ‘Bayern’ to a ‘Club World Cup’ victory in December 2013. He brought a few more glorious victories to ‘Bayern’ for the rest of his time with them.

In the 2016-2017 season, he became the head coach of ‘Manchester City,’ and by the end of September, he had won all ten of his team’s games. Unfortunately, ‘Manchester City’s’ performance deteriorated over the next few months. However, Pep recovered, and the team was able to resume its winning streak.

Achievements by Pep Guardiola:

Bravo Award: 1992

Olympics – Spain Best Player: 1992

UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 2000

Don Balón Award: 2009, 2010

Miguel Muñoz Trophy: 2008–09, 2009–10

Onze d’Or Coach of the Year: 2009, 2011, 2012

World Soccer Magazine World Manager of the Year: 2009, 2011

World Soccer Magazine 5th Greatest Manager of All Time: 2013

France Football 5th Greatest Manager of All Time: 2019

ESPN FC18th Greatest Manager of All Time: 2013

IFFHS World’s Best Club Coach: 2009, 2011

European Coach of the Year—Alf Ramsey Award: 2011

European Coach of the Season: 2008–09

UEFA Team of the Year Best Coach: 2008–09, 2010–11

La Liga Coach of the Year: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012

FIFA World Coach of the Year: 2011

Globe Soccer Awards Coach Career Award: 2013

Premier League Manager of the Month: February 2017, September 2017, October 2017, November 2017, December 2017, February 2019, April 2019

Premier League Manager of the Season: 2017–18, 2018–19

LMA Manager of the Year: 2017–18

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