Guillem Balague

“Regarding positional play, he insisted on making sure the player stayed in his corresponding area, especially when the ball was lost.”

— Guillem Balague

“If each person does their job, and they know what it is because I make sure they know, then we are a…

— Guillem Balague

“In the end, Pep won most of the doubters over with a clever ploy, a few well-chosen words and a single bold…

— Guillem Balague

“What makes you grow is defeat, making mistakes. It is what keeps you alert. When you win you think: “Great, we’ve won.”

— Guillem Balague

“where his side could gain the upper hand in two v ones; endlessly replaying the key battles.”

— Guillem Balague

“Ramon Besa put it wonderfully: ‘He is a bit of a Quixote. In an era of fast food, Pep wants degustation football,…

— Guillem Balague

“Superiority in midfield, as predicted by Pep, was the key to the game.”

— Guillem Balague

“Pep realised that in order to make the team a success he needed to add intensity and an increased work rate to…

— Guillem Balague

“The German team became more German than ever. They used in their performance the ‘Mia San Mia’ motto that the players wear…

— Guillem Balague

“He represents the values and feelings of Barcelona. Attacking football, respect for team-mates, respect for the fans. And now he was going…

— Guillem Balague

“In life there are two ways of telling people what to do: either give them orders or set an example and encourage…

— Guillem Balague

“Ronaldo also dropped deep to receive the ball, turn round and run towards goal – and he always found space as the…

— Guillem Balague

“anxiety to become good enough for Johan Cruyff to notice us cannot be put into words. Without that desire, none of us…

— Guillem Balague

“It is important in football, as in any walk of life, to appear calm in times of crisis. To hide weaknesses. Pep…

— Guillem Balague

“After Germany he would have to change direction and re-evaluate his ideals and accept that success would come in accordance with the…

— Guillem Balague

“I’d love to work with the youth side, with the kids, because I’ve no pretensions that I’m ready to work at a…

— Guillem Balague

“What you can’t do is study the talks, learn them by heart. Two or three concepts are all you need . . . and…

— Guillem Balague

“Rijkaard was aware of the stars’ behaviour, but indulged them, ever the optimist that the players were mature and responsible enough to…

— Guillem Balague

“That August evening at Los Pajaritos, el mister, as coaches are known in Spain, told his players something that he has repeated…

— Guillem Balague

“He continually learnt from everything he saw around him, from other teams, from coaches, from older team-mates. On one occasion, he asked…

— Guillem Balague

“He also taught his players how to mark an opponent, teaching them to focus on a rival’s weaknesses – while accentuating what…

— Guillem Balague

“It wasn’t enough for him to have had first-hand experience of the methods of Cruyff, Robson, van Gaal, Mazzone or Capello, so…

— Guillem Balague

“Why do we open up the field?’ Cruyff would explain. ‘Because if we have the ball and we are open, it is…

— Guillem Balague

“In 1974 Laureano Ruíz became general coordinator for youth football and one of the first things he did was to tear down…

— Guillem Balague

“He said that if you pass the ball well, you receive it well and have good control; then you have far more…

— Guillem Balague

“He could live with them playing badly now and again, he told them, but he demanded 100 per cent on the pitch…

— Guillem Balague

“a passer of the ball positioned in front of the defence who could provide the platform from which every Barcelona attack would…

— Guillem Balague

“some key principles were quickly instilled in him: ‘Don’t stamp on anybody but don’t let anybody stamp on you; keep your head…

— Guillem Balague

“Jerome Boateng spoke pre-season after the World Cup in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and described how Guardiola told him in every training…

— Guillem Balague

“It is better for a player to lose the ball when he is dribbling, feeling over-confident, than for a blunder, a mistake…

— Guillem Balague

“During this period, Pep perfected other weapons that were going to be used during the rest of the season – and from…

— Guillem Balague

“above all else, they had to learn to win. Instilling a fiercely competitive, winning spirit into a team, an academy already blessed…

— Guillem Balague

“there are few pure footballing training sessions and there is a lot of co-existence and it isn’t easy. But the lucky thing…

— Guillem Balague

“The ball runs faster than any human, so it’s the ball that has to do the running!’ which, in seventeen words, just…

— Guillem Balague

“Little by little, the plan changed because one of the pillars of Pep’s methods is based on the evolution of the process.…

— Guillem Balague

“that coronation of the team’s achievements paradoxically heralded the beginning of the end for Rijkaard’s Barcelona, as the first signs of indiscipline…

— Guillem Balague

“On one occasion Guardiola explained that there are two types of coaches: those who think problems solve themselves and those who solve…

— Guillem Balague

“Pep, for instance, created collective conditions to create one v ones for Messi. As simple and common place as that may sound…

— Guillem Balague

“There was certainly an improvement and any dissent or unrest was external – in the media and on radio phone-ins – rather…

— Guillem Balague

“he explained that elements of his behaviour in front of the media were a necessary evil: a vital cog in the psychological…

— Guillem Balague