According to surveys at most clubs, with the exception of Real Madrid, most fans would vote for Pep Guardiola as the preferred manager. And at Madrid, he would not do for the simple reason that there is a higher chance for Pablo Iglesias (Podemos leader) to vote in favour of Mariano Rajoy as president of the Spanish government than for Guardiola to manage Real Madrid.
Guardiola has announced that he will leave his current club Bayern Munich in the summer. He has his destiny in his own hands but, as it is reported in most sports media, he has already made a decision. Will he manage Manchester City next season? Could it be true? We’ll see. Guardiola is an enigmatic character. The news in early 2013 that he was leaving Baca and was going to Bayern took everyone by surprise. The most valid question today is: Is City Guardiola’s best option?
The arguments are summarized in one word. Money. The owner of City is Sheik Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The funds available are unlimited. Guardiola would get paid whatever he wanted and would have whatever amount he needs available to make his own fantasy football team. Would he sign Messi? Nothing would be impossible. As the American boxer Floyd Patterson once said, when you have millions of dollars, you have millions of friends.
But are they real friends? Can money buy love, or dignity, or honour, or greatness? This is the real question. The answer, implicit in the statement of Patterson, is no.
Signing for the second club of England’s third biggest city would be more pragmatic than a noble gesture. City has lots of money but no tradition. Barca and Bayern are aristocrats of football; City is the new rich. Barca and Bayern have their legends, their identity, a great style. City is a project under construction.
Converting Manchester City in the champions of Europe, the dream of its Sheikh and its fans, would, of course, have its merits. But it would not be poetry, as it is what the Italian Claudio Ranieri is currently doing at Leicester City, currently top at the Premier League only two seasons after leaving the Nationwide League, or what Guardiola did during his first season as Barca coach, when he won it all and won the admiration of the world. At City, though victorious, it would represent a step backwards for Guardiola.
And it was one, of course, when he switched from Barca to Bayern. Perhaps there was no way, after what he had achieved at Barca, for Guardiola to reach such greatness again. Perhaps this is his conviction. But he is young and has no choice but to continue looking for new challenges in the sport he loves dearly. And there is a better challenge than City right next door. Manchester United, for example.
To the surprise of many, ManUtd current coach, Louis van Gaal, may have enjoyed his Christmas pudding at the Theatre of Dreams but can hardly continue there beyond May. No team in the world has more followers than ManUtd; none in England has a tradition, rooted in the sixties in times of Bobby Charlton, George Best and Denis Law.
Having said that, the best option for Guardiola would not ManUtd but Arsenal instead. Partly because Arsenal is a London club, and London is the global capital today, a city much suited for Guardiola’s cosmopolitan character. And partly because it is a club with a legendary history and style. Today, under its veteran coach Arsene Wenger, Arenal hopes to reach the pinnacle of art but has never ceased to be a light imitation of Guardiola’s Barca. The question is whether Arsenal would be willing to sack Wenger or, less likely, if he would resign in favour of the coach he most admires and of whom Arsenal’s fans dream.
Has Guardiola already signed for City? Or is he waiting for Wenger to make the ultimate sacrifice? In football, and Guardiola should know better than anyone – to spark the flame of romance, one has to wait for the perfect timing.
Source: El Pais – http://deportes.elpais.com/deportes/2015/12/26/actualidad/1451149799_824017.html?id_externo_promo=as-ob&prm=as-ob&ncid=as-ob
