FC Barcelona’s Top Five Managers – Part 2:
Pep Guardiola, Johan Cruyff
To read Part 1 of this article, click http://www.senore.com/FC-Barcelonas-Top-Five-Managers-Part-1-Herrera,-Frank-Rijkaard,-Ferdinand-Dauc%C3%ADk-a37843.
Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola is a living breathing Barcelona legend; he first made his name as a player and now he is famous as a manager.
He took control of an unmotivated team and made them what they are now. He did what was almost thought to be unthinkable: he took the club to the glorious ‘sextuple’ (the club won the 2008-09 La Liga, Copa del Rey, 2009 Supercopa
de España, 2008–09 UEFA Champions League, 2009 UEFA Super Cup and the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup); this was not at all predicted and he made his team showcase beautiful footballing that had not been seen for ages.
It can be rightfully said that Pep Guardiola did in two seasons what most managers cannot do in their entire careers (case in point: in the 2009-2010 La Liga, they retained the trophy with 99 points, and won the Spanish Super Cup
for the 9th time.)
Now he is in his third season and has taken FC Barcelona to good places in both the Champions League and the 2010-11 La Liga, as Barcelona are in second place (only a point adrift Real Madrid) and have almost made it to the knockout
stages of the Champions league.
This man only has to win a few more titles and will rightfully win the prize of being called the most successful manager in FC Barcelona’s history.
Johan Cruyff
Johan Cruyff is without a doubt FC Barcelona’s best manager of all time and arguably their biggest and most well-known legend.
He has had such an impact on the club that most fans use the term ‘Johan Cruyff is Barcelona’, as he is the man that brought FC Barcelona where it is today. The Spaniards owe everything to this Dutchman as it was only the policy
he introduced in the club that took them everywhere.
What Cruyff added to the game is what they call the ‘tiki-taka’ style of play, that is the constant passing game and if there had been no tiki-taka in the club, then there would have been no Lionel Messi, no Iniesta or Xavi.
It is widely accepted that there was no Barcelona before Johan Cruyff and there is only a Barcelona after him. He was also one of the club’s longest serving managers as he managed the club for eight years: from 1988 to 1996. He
took Barcelona to four Spanish League wins and all of them were in a row.
He took Barcelona to their first Champions League trophy, and won eleven trophies in his time with the club and completely changed their presence in the world of football.
However, in his last two seasons with the club, he did not manage to win any trophies and he had a fallout with the club’s (then) president Josep Lluis Nunez.
This resulted in Cruyff leaving the club and declaring that he would never coach football again. However, he remains a legend who is known and loved by all Barcelona fans.
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