http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/blogs/blog=ucl_blog_germany/postid=2039403.html

Neuer: Bayern's sweeper keeper

http://www.zeit.de/sport/2013-01/pep-guardiola-bayern-muenchen

Der Goldschmied des modernen Fußballs

Pep Guardiola ist ein Schöngeist, er veredelt Spieler und hat Erfolg. Mit ihm kann der FC Bayern den letzten Schritt zur Weltspitze machen. Doch geht Tiki Taka mit Gomez? von Oliver Fritsch

Osim sto su najbolji klub na svijetu, znaju brate i pjevati 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLCQkvhnG4A

Robben negirao da je glasao za Ronalda

Holandski reprezentativac i član Bayerna Arjen Robben negirao je tvrdnje medija u svojoj zemlji da je svoj glas za najvećeg kandidata za FIFA-inu nagradu “Zlatna lopta” dao Cristianu Ronaldu.

“Nadam se da će Ribery dobiti nagradu. Imao je sjajnu godinu i u potpunosti ju je zaslužio. Ono što je pisalo u holandskim medijima nije tačno. Nikada nisam rekao da mi je Ronaldo prvi izbor, već da su njegove brojke u dresu Real Madrida impresivne. Ništa drugo”, pokušao se opravdati njemačkim medijima brzonogi Robben.

Dobitnik nagrade biće poznat 13. januara, kada će mu biti i uručena nagrada u Zürichu. Osim Riberyja i Ronalda, u konkurenciji je i nezaobilazni Lionel Messi.

Dante: "Es wird ein schwieriges Spiel!"

Rafinha extends until 2017

Right-back Rafinha isn’t going anywhere. He signed a three-year extension to stay at FC Bayern until 2017.

The information, first published by Bild, was confirmed today by the club. Team officials have sometimes answered questions regarding his role and whether he would stay since his contract was running until June 2014 and it had not been renewed.

Rafinha is more involved in the team’s play since Pep Guardiola took over as a coach, with captain Philipp Lahm being used frequently either as a defensive midfield or even attacking midfield. He has his critics and his play is not perfect, but it has improved significantly in the last few months.

Between extending with a right-back whose strengths we know and getting someone else who may not fit in, this seems like the best option.

With extreme caution: Understanding the genius of Pep Guardiola

Yesterday, Michel shared with you an insight on how Pep’s 4-1-4-1 is considerably flawed and successfully dismantled and exploited by Manchester City. Today, I’ll offer a slightly more optimistic insight, with a completely different context, to offer you, dear readers, the complete picture of the current state of affairs at Camp Guardiola.

I’d like to start with an explanation on why I’m writing this piece in the first place.

I follow Real Madrid. Yes, guilty as charged. It’s not nearly as meaningful as Bayern, but I do like them. I make lots of fun of them in my recaps but only because they warrant being made fun of.

Because of this, I have closely followed the adventures of Pep Guardiola’s tenure at Barcelona, and anyone who follows the Spanish League will be all too familiar with his slightly unorthodox, but undeniably brilliant, approaches to managing a top level football team.

The emotional Pep

Guardiola has always been a protégé of the Barcelona fanbase. That started way back in 1992, when, under Johan Cruyff, the all-too famous “dreamteam” won the first European Cup for Barcelona. Guardiola was part of that team, and albeit he didn’t play all that much back then, he lit all of Barcelona’s separatist desires by uttering what people in Catalonia deem as a legendary phrase in the history of the country (these guys like football a lot):

Ciutadans de Catalunya, ja la tenim aquí!

Translate that to English, and you’ll have “Citizens of Catalonia, we finally have it here!”. A clear defiance to Real Madrid, who by then had already won six European Cups. A statement from the heart, fueled by the passion for FC Barcelona and what he considers to be his country, Catalonia.

This is one of Pep Guardiola’s two sides; the side that runs on passion, on emotion. The side that demands more than goals from himself and from the players. The side that demands courage, passion, and honesty when playing, when wearing the club’s shirt and representing it and its fans at the highest level.

And when his first tenure in a top-flight team started, Guardiola made that clear to his players and to the world:

I won’t give you grief if you miss a pass, or if you produce a bad clearance that costs us conceding a goal, just as long as I know that you are giving it your 100%. I can forgive any mistake, but I won’t forgive anyone who doesn’t give his heart and soul to Barcelona.

Guardiola, by his own nature, is not one to be motivated by money or the prospect of prestige. He is not interested in making big-name signings for the sake of marketing. This is why Bayern was able to hire him in the first place. Without a doubt, our monetary offer could have not nearly matched that of Chelsea or Manchester City. We are a different sort of club, and Guardiola knows it. 

That is also the reason why he chose to leave Barcelona. I won’t get into details, but their management, spearheaded by CEO Sandro Rosell, has made a marketing slut out of Barcelona. Just this week, they signed a contract with chip makers Intel to have their logo on the inside of the players’ shirts. So when Lionel Messi scores a goal, you’ll bet there’s an Intel executive hoping he’ll celebrate it by showing the company logo for all the TV viewership to see.

Guardiola, as much as he loves Barcelona, cannot stand this. And when he left, he knew he would only join a club with similar administrative philosophies to the ones he supports and advocates.

So, this emotional side is the side that trusts the youth ranks. The side that promoted seemingly average players like Marc Bartra, Cristian Tello and Isaac Cuenca. The side that is now trusting Hojbjerg (and talked to him when his father became sick to let him know the club had his back) and Green, and hopefully many of the newer talents like Schöpf.

But if you think that is all there is to Guardiola, heart, you’d be dead wrong.

That is not enough in football.

The uber-professional Guardiola

Bayern is Guardiola’s second job at the highest level of world football. His other job was, obviously, Barcelona. Before that, he was running Barcelona’s premier youth team, Barcelona B. So, how does a coach with no experience in the highest level, get hired to replace the guy who gave Barcelona their first Champions League in fourteen years?

Enter the other side of Guardiola. The super professional side, the side obsessed with work ethic and the thorough analysis of each and every opponent.

Back in Spain, Guardiola was regularly mocked for referring to any opponent Barcelona faced as very, very dangerous. They could be facing a third-division side in the Copa del Rey, but Guardiola resisted the idea of complacency vehemently. He refused to underestimate any team, any player.

This side of Pep Guardiola refuses to be constrained by any sort of footballing sense, as evidenced by the fact that his hand didn’t shake when letting go of Ronaldinho and Deco immediately after taking office, citing poor work ethic on their part. This side also had no doubt in selling Ibrahimović to Milan in the winter transfer window.

Pep Guardiola is all about having just the right men, who work tirelessly and submittedly. You might remember, back in the summer, when he said that he was a great guy, and very close to the players, provided they do what he says and accept his decisions without much questioning. You’ll say “But every manager will say that”, but the thing is that Guardiola has the courage and the mindset to say that to players he even shared a pitch with when he was a player himself. Some of the guys at Bayern have been professionals longer than Guardiola has been a manager.

How does this translate to football?

Well, Guardiola likes to innovate. We’ve seen that all-too evidently, with his promoting Lahm to midfield. He did a lot of that at Barcelona. Mascherano, for instance, was a holding midfielder when he was acquired by the Catalans. Today, he is a centreback, and a decent one at that. Messi went from playing the wing to being a false nine on some occasions.

Get the picture? Guardiola likes multipotency. He likes knowing that any player can fill more than one position in the field during the passage of play. That’s why you see Ribéry and Robben switching sides, Götze opening up play often, Mandžukić retreating to the attacking midfield line, and, even if it hasn’t worked properly, the holding midfielder setting up a three-man defence line with the centre backs.

In my recaps, I’ve told you about dynamic formations. How a team might line up one way when in possesion, and another when trying to get the ball back. Guardiola takes that to the next level, to get the team to an absurd state of unpredictability. Surprising the opponent is Guardiola’s way. This is the philosophy he’s brought to Bayern. Thankfully, he doesn’t want to establish Tiki-Taka 2.0.

My final summation is this: give Guardiola a chance. He’s no retard. I’m sure that he has noticed the same things you and I have, and is taking the appropriate measures. I’m sure he is desperate to compensate for the lack of some key players. And i, very confident that, come Saturday, he will have won his first of many trophies with Bayern.

Pep Guardiola, I trust you.

znaš šta je mene najviše impresioniralo kod pepa u one 4 godine u barci, ovako s distance? to šta nikad u te 4 godine ta ekipa nije upala u nekakvu krizu, čega god- igre, rezultata, odnosa, ponašanja... nekad su se možda malo više mučili, nekad baš briljirali, ali uvik su bili na top razini. ok, to ide na čast i igračima, ali masa tih igrača je bila tu i u sezoni 07/08 kad se barca znala propisno osramotit i na terenu i van njega.