PEP GUARDIOLA (SPAIN/FC BARCELONA) 2009, 2011
Picture : Pep Guardiola and the IFFHS Award 2009
IFFHS AWARDS – THE WORLD’S BEST CLUB COACH 2009, 2011 : PEP GUARDIOLA (SPAIN/FC BARCELONA)
PRESENTATION
Josep “Pep” Guardiola “Sala” , born 18 January 1971 in Santpedor, is the Spanish current manager of FC Manchester City and is considered a one of the best managers in the Football History, after being a great international player.
As child of Barcelona, he began his youth career with FC Barcelona (1984-1990) where he progressed step by step from the C Team (1988) to the A Team (1990). Creative defensive midfielder, he spent 11 years in the Dream Team of Johan Cruyff, winning 4 successive Spanish La Liga titles (1991 to 1994),2 other Liga titles (1998, 1999), two Copa del Rey (1997, 1998), 4 Supercopa de Espana (1991, 1992, 1994, 1996), the UEFA Cup winner’s Cup 1997 and an the club’s first UEFA European Cup in 1992 ! He played 263 matches with Barcelona, captained the team from 1997 to 2001, being the continuation of Johan Cruyff on the field.
After leaving Barcelona in 2001, he signed in Brescia and AS Roma in Italy (2001-2003), Al-Ahli in Qatar (2003-2005) and Dorados de Sinaloa in Mexico (2006) to finish his player career. He was capped 47 times for the Spanish National Team between 1992 and 2001, playing the 1994 FIFA World Cup in USA and the UEFA Euro 2000, where he was nominated in the Top 11 of the Tournament.
After his retirement as player, Guardiola took in charge as coach the B-Team of FC Barcelona one season 2007/08. He won the Tercera Division title and was nominated to manage the first team of the club in 2008 ! He became the youngest manager to win the treble in his first year (La Liga, Copa del Rey and particularly the UEFA Champions League 2008/09 ) ! He was crowned as THE WORLD’S BEST CLUB COACH 2009 by IFFHS, winning also in 2009 the UEFA SuperCup and the FIFA Club World Cup title.
In 2010, he won again the Spanish La Liga title and the Supercopa de Espana before making a new fantastic season in 2010/11. He won again the UEFA Champions League, the Spanish La Liga title, the Supercopa de Espana, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup ! He was again nominated as THE WORLD’S BEST CLUB COACH 2011 by IFFHS and THE FIFA World Coach of the Year. In his fourth and last season in Barcelona, he won the Copa del Rey 2011/12 and ended with 14 Trophies in 4 years with the FC Barcelona ! A club record !
After a sabbatical period, Pep Guardiola signed in Germany at FC Bayern München, where he succeeded to Jupp Heynckes, winner of the treble (Bundesliga, German Cup, UEFA Champions League) in 2013. He brought his attractive football to Germany and won in 3 seasons 3 Bundesliga titles (2013/14, 2014/15, 2015/16), 2 DFB Cups (2013/14, 2015/16), one UEFA Super Cup 2013 and the FIFA Club World Cup 2013 ! He failed only in his quest to win the Champions League. After three years in Germany, he joined England and the Premier League to FC Manchester City.
He won the Premier League titles 2017/18 and 2018/19, the FA Cup 2018/19, the EFL Cup 2017/18, 2018/19 and the FA Community Shield 2018 and 2019 , breaking many records with the club. City became the first to reach 100 points in the Premier League and is considered as one of the best and more attractive teams in the World. Guardiola is currently the manager of the team and continued to dream of a new UEFA Champions League title. He holds the Managerial Record of the most wins in his manager career ( 73% in 632 matches ) !