1. Pep Guardiola is considered to be one of the greatest managers of all time.
60 Facts About Pep Guardiola
1. 2.
Pep Guardiola was a defensive midfielder who usually played in a deep-lying playmaker's role.
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Pep Guardiola spent the majority of his career with Barcelona, forming a part of Johan Cruyff's Dream Team that won the club's first European Cup in 1992, and four successive Spanish league titles from 1991 to 1994.
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Pep Guardiola captained the team from 1997 until his departure from Barcelona in 2001.
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Pep Guardiola then had stints with Brescia and Roma in Italy, Al-Ahli in Qatar and Dorados in Mexico.
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Pep Guardiola was capped 47 times for the Spanish national team and appeared at the 1994 FIFA World Cup, as well as at UEFA Euro 2000.
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Pep Guardiola ended his four-year Barcelona stint in 2012 with 14 honours, a club record.
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Pep Guardiola left the club for Manchester City in 2016 and has won six Premier League titles: his first title in his second season in charge broke numerous domestic records as the team became the first to attain 100 points in a single season.
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Pep Guardiola adjusted immediately, as Cruyff had suspected he would, and when he moved to the first-team in 1990, he became the pivot of the Dream Team.
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Pep Guardiola returned to action the following season and Barcelona won La Liga.
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On 8 June 1998, Pep Guardiola underwent surgery to try to resolve his lingering calf injury, which had caused him to miss the 1998 FIFA World Cup for Spain.
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Pep Guardiola stated that it was a personal decision and, in part, a response to what he perceived as football heading in a new, more physical, direction.
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On 24 June 2001, Pep Guardiola played his last match with Barcelona in the final game of the season against Celta Vigo.
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Pep Guardiola played 479 games in 12 seasons for the first team, winning 16 trophies.
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Pep Guardiola played with Dorados for six months, but was limited to ten appearances due to injuries, before retiring.
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On 14 October 1992, Pep Guardiola debuted for the Spain national football team in a friendly match against Northern Ireland.
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Pep Guardiola has played for and advocated on behalf of the Catalonia football team.
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Pep Guardiola was a highly creative, hard-working, nimble, and elegant player, with good anticipation, tactical awareness, and an ability to read the game; throughout his career, he was usually deployed as either a central or defensive midfielder in front of his team's back-line, although he was capable of playing in more attacking midfield roles.
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Pep Guardiola's role has been likened to that of a metodista, due to his ability to dictate play in midfield as well as assist his team defensively.
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Pep Guardiola was capable of being an offensive threat, due to his ability to make attacking runs or strike accurately from distance; he was effective at creating chances or shooting on goal from set-pieces.
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Pep Guardiola's playing style, which relied on creativity, technique and ball movement, rather than physicality and pace, inspired several future diminutive Spanish playmaking midfielders, such as Xavi, Andres Iniesta, and Cesc Fabregas, with the latter describing him as his "idol".
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Miguel Val of Marca considered Pep Guardiola to be one of the greatest Spanish players of all time, describing him as the "brains of Barcelona's Dream Team under Johan Cruyff" in 2020.
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Pep Guardiola was appointed manager of Barcelona B on 21 June 2007 with Tito Vilanova as his assistant.
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In interviews with the press, Pep Guardiola stressed a harder work ethic than before, but a more personal approach during training and a closer relationship with his players.
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Pep Guardiola became the youngest man to manage a Champions League winning team, at age 37.
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Pep Guardiola finished the calendar year with a record six trophies, the Spanish League, Copa del Rey, Champions League, Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup and Club World Cup, becoming the first manager in history to do so.
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In February 2010, Pep Guardiola managed his 100th match for Barcelona's first team.
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Pep Guardiola's record stood at 71 wins, 19 draws and 10 losses, with 242 goals for and 76 against.
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On 8 February 2011, Pep Guardiola accepted the club's offer for a one-year deal extension, signing a contract until June 2012.
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Pep Guardiola's record stood at 144 wins, 39 draws and 17 losses with 500 goals for and 143 against.
31.
Pep Guardiola had faced criticism over his recent tactics and squad selections.
32.
Pep Guardiola had been on a rolling contract that was renewed annually during his tenure as manager.
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Pep Guardiola addressed his first press conference at Bayern, on 24 June 2013, in German, and had his first training session two days later.
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In December 2013, Pep Guardiola won his third Club World Cup after beating Raja Casablanca in Morocco.
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Pep Guardiola broke Karl-Heinz Feldkamp's record for the longest winning streak to start his tenure at a Bundesliga club.
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Pep Guardiola finished with a record of 82 wins, eleven draws and nine losses in the Bundesliga; a record of 14 wins, three draws and no losses in the DFB-Pokal; a record of 23 wins, five draws and eight losses in the UEFA Champions League.
37.
Pep Guardiola went a combined two wins, two draws, and two losses in the FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup, and the German Super Cup.
38.
Pep Guardiola brought in several significant players in the summer, including midfielders Ilkay Gundogan from Borussia Dortmund and Nolito from Celta Vigo, winger Leroy Sane from Schalke 04 and defender John Stones from Everton.
39.
Pep Guardiola controversially replaced long-serving City starting goalkeeper Joe Hart with Claudio Bravo from his former club Barcelona; Hart would never make another appearance for the club.
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Pep Guardiola identified the defensive areas which required improvement for Manchester City in the summer transfer window to challenge for the league title, particularly in the goalkeeper and full-back positions.
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On 24 February 2019, Pep Guardiola's side played Chelsea in the EFL Cup final held at Wembley.
42.
On 19 November 2020, Pep Guardiola signed a new two-year contract with Manchester City until summer 2023.
43.
On 23 November 2022, Pep Guardiola signed a new two-year contract with Manchester City until summer 2025.
44.
Pep Guardiola, reflecting on the team's struggles, openly criticized his own performance and suggested that he would not remain at the club if he were found to be the source of the problem.
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Pep Guardiola has stated he tries to constantly evolve his tactics.
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Pep Guardiola sought help of Marcelo Bielsa to learn from him.
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Tactics employed by Pep Guardiola have been likened to Gegenpressing invented by Ralf Rangnick and used to great effect by Jurgen Klopp.
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Pep Guardiola's tactics have influenced approaches of managers such as Maurizio Sarri, Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter, and Luis Enrique; as well as those of other sports such as rugby.
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Pep Guardiola admitted that he had to adapt his style to German and English leagues, but his "football education comes from [Catalunya]" which is possession-based, and distinct from Gegenpressing.
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Pep Guardiola has been praised by pundits for his flexibility as a coach, and has used several formations throughout his career.
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Pep Guardiola began to use a false 9 during his time at Barcelona, fielding Lionel Messi in the centre of the team's attacking line, who would drop deep into midfield to give the team a numerical advantage in the middle of the pitch.
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Pep Guardiola deployed centre-back John Stones in a hybrid defensive and creative role in midfield, which Jonathan Wilson of The Guardian likened to both the libero and wing-half roles in 2023.
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Pep Guardiola used inverted full-backs who moved inside to occupy central areas of the pitch, while he played in a more physical and direct style than in previous seasons, utilising Erling Haaland as a traditional striker.
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Pep Guardiola has two older sisters and a younger brother, Pere Guardiola, a football agent.
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Pep Guardiola met his wife Cristina Serra when he was 18.
56.
On 24 May 2023, Pep Guardiola made a cameo appearance in Ted Lasso, in which Ted Lasso's team, AFC Richmond, play against Manchester City and win.
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Pep Guardiola gives Lasso a handshake following City's defeat and gives Lasso a word of advice, to which Lasso responds positively.
58.
Pep Guardiola reportedly is a fan of the show and enjoys watching it with his wife and daughter.
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Pep Guardiola was one of the 13 sports personalities named in the Pandora Papers published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
60.
Pep Guardiola had an account open in the principality of Andorra until 2012, exploiting the tax amnesty that Mariano Rajoy's conservative government had enacted in Spain to regularise his fiscal situation.