Pep may have conquered all in Spain
and Germany so far, but English football
presents some unique challenges“Football, football, football”
It took just three months for Jurgen Klopp
to understand what the English game is
all about: football, and lots of it. Even a
manager as well prepared as the German
didn’t realise there are replays in the FA
Cup and two legs in the League Cup semi-
final. Guardiola will be spending more time
pitchside than ever before.It’s all in the mind
Guardiola, meet Pardiola. The Premier
League may have lost Alex Ferguson and
Jose Mourinho (for now), but there’s no
shortage of mind-games masters, from
Sam Allardyce to Alan Pardew. Don’t get
drawn in, Pep – that’s what they want.Beware of the media
Louis van Gaal is as experienced as they
come but he still allowed the English media
to get to him, even to the point of storming
out of a press conference.
As a manager who craved increased
training-ground privacy at Barcelona and
Bayern, and doesn’t do one-on-one
interviews, Pep may find there’s no place to
hide in the Premier League goldfish bowl.A winter of discontent
Apart from Israel, every UEFA country
outside Britain has a winter break, and it’s
something Guardiola will be accustomed
to from his time in Spain (where they break
for two weeks) and Germany (four). Sorry,
señor, but Leicester’s nothing like Qatar.There are no easy games, Jeff
The cliché has had a rebirth
this season, with a new TV deal giving the
Premier League’s smaller clubs budgets
comparable to only the biggest teams in
mainland Europe. “After we beat Arsenal,
Liverpool and Man City away, people are
expecting us to beat Norwich 6-0,”
explained West Ham boss Slaven Bilic
in September. “It doesn’t happen like
that.” Indeed it doesn’t – they drew 2-2.
There are far fewer whipping boys in
England than Spain and Germany.Stoke on a wet and windy Tuesday
It was Andy Gray who suggested that, as
great as Guardiola’s Barça were, they’d
struggle on a wet, windy night in the
Potteries. Stoke may be undergoing an
image change, but a visit to the Premier
League’s coldest and second-noisiest
ground (according to a study last season)
remains the acid test of a team’s title
credentials. Can Pep pass it?HE’S HIS OWn BIGGEST CRITIC
“Pep will never be satisfied,”
his midfield metronome
Thiago once said. “He’ll never
enjoy football because he’s
always looking for what has
gone wrong in order to correct
it. Pep is never happy. He’s
a perfectionist.”
Maybe it’s because losing is
something that happens so
rarely to Guardiola, but
nowhere does the weight of
defeat fall heavier than on his
own shoulders.
The 4-0 loss to Real is his
biggest regret in football,
because he changed his mind
from employing a back three
that would make them capable
of overloading Los Blancos’
midfield to a front four who
were isolated.
Rest assured, in the Premier
League the critics will come.
English football tends to have
an inherent mistrust of the new.
But they won’t be more critical
than Pep is of himself.
It’s the product of the hours
of planning that came before. If
you’re as obsessed with football
as Pep is, you’d be the same.
“All I do is look at the footage of
our opponents,” he says, “then
try to work out how to
demolish them.”ImagesImagesPA; Getty ImagesPA; Getty ImagesWE DO THIn G S
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