2023-11-30 07:30:39
Martí Perarnau presents today at Casino de Girona (7 p.m.) “Déu salvi el Pep”, the book with which he closes the trilogy dedicated to Pep Guardiola. He will be accompanied at the event by the writer Josep Maria Fonalleras and Michel, coach of Girona FC
Is this sitting with Guardiola becoming an obsession?
Heh, heh, yes, but with this book I finish it. After what I wrote about his stay in Munich, I changed course, I wrote two that have nothing to do with him. This gave me oxygen to return to Guardiola and close the trilogy.
Isn’t Guardiola sick of seeing him?
Yes (laughs). I think he is happier than I am, that the trilogy is over.
If Johan had not existed, there would have been a very different Pep, certainly not as bright or successful
Would there be a Pep if there hadn’t been a Johan?
There would be a different Pep, very different. And it would certainly not be as brilliant or as successful a Pep.
What did you learn from Cruyff?
He learned the same thing that players like Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Lahm and so many others now say about him: “he taught me another way to see football, before Pep, I didn’t understand football”. It was Johan who opened his eyes to a way of seeing football.
Is everyone able to assimilate such a teaching?
There are people who accept to have their eyes opened and there are others who are never able to open them. I mean coaches and professional players.
Over the years, Guardiola is more benevolent with the player’s mistake, before he considered a mistake almost a stab
How has Guardiola changed since meeting him?
He is much more patient and controls his emotions better. It’s also kinder to player error, it used to consider a mistake almost a stab, now it’s just another fact of the game.
And football?
He has learned other nuances of the game, now he has German and English influences. And it has greatly enhanced the inner nature of the player. It continues to place a lot of importance on tactics and strategy, but over the years it has given the player more freedom.
It still places a lot of importance on tactics and strategy, but now gives more freedom to the player
How will it be remembered?
As one of the greats, without a doubt. Herbert Chapman, for example, with the passage of decades a voice that was a true genius, with a brutal influence. Same as Johan and others. In the year 2050 or 2070, they will have Pep for the great football influencer of the first part of the 21st century.
Was Guardiola’s Barça favored by the referees, through Negreira?
I don’t have the perception, I don’t remember any arbitration scandal, as I do remember Guruceta’s, and that I was a dwarf. In Guardiola’s four years at Barça, I don’t remember any significantly beneficial arbitration.
What is your first football memory?
In Kubala At a Barça rally in Mas Badó, next to Castellterçol. I went to watch training and Kubala was there. unforgettable
Kubala! Do you realize that you are already an age, Perarnau?
(Laughter) A lot! Years have passed, yes.
In Guardiola’s four years at Barça, I don’t remember any significantly beneficial arbitration
Michel will accompany him today. Did you imagine that Girona would be where it is?
I didn’t imagine it, no. In fact, Michel’s presence today was closed before the start of the league. Girona is a Leicester from here. I don’t know how it will end, but it reminds me a lot of Leicester in 2016, the weeks went by and everyone was laughing, until the end came and they won the league.
Some take credit for it by accusing it of being a subsidiary of Manchester City.
This is laughable. The City group has quite a few teams, and al top of their leagues there are only Manchester City and Girona. Looking at Girona’s squad, there are very few of them, loaned by City. What there is is great technical work, by Michel and the people around him.
Looking at Girona’s squad, there are very few of them, loaned by City. What there is is great technical work, by Michel and the people around him
Will it last us long, Michel in Girona?
(Laughs) I didn’t expect him to get where he has, and I’m not just talking about the results but the quality he has as a coach. All this bodes poorly for its continuity. There are not many coaches with significant potential, and in the Premier and Bundesliga there is a lot of money… They will be tempting.
And the culers, what will we do this year?
Suffer
I don’t really know where Barça’s game is going, I confess that publicly
That’s right, we’re used to it.
I don’t really know where Barça’s game is going, I confess that publicly. Xavi’s early days were promising, last season also despite the irregularities, and this year, with a much better squad, I am baffled. I can’t define where it will go, I’m not at all clear.
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