500 days of grace
Yesterday 500th day from the beginning of the project ,which was mistrusted because of inexperience of the new coach ,but they all are reassured thanks to 5 trophies, spectacular performances and correct attitude.Those weren’t actually 500 days of grace but thankfulness for all he brought to Barca,for making everyone enjoy again. Pep was the maing change..
His main virtue is his complete dedication to his duties,working whole night and day,whether being with players, having appointments with the rest of the management or being alone watching videos,both Barca’s in order to mend Barca’s mistake and opponent’s in order to see who his players have to cope with .
All Pep’s ideas weren’t accepted very well.Players got used to new sports concept,rigor out of the pitch ,strict diets….Maybe a few of them didn’t like it in the beginning but when they started having fun at the pitch,feeling stronger physically and enjoying the victories everyone wanted to continue that way.
But out of the changing room some criticism could be heard because of the new rules,which are today totally accepted .When Guadriola said didn’t want players to give individual interviews,it looked like big disrespect towards the media. .Today, after 174 press conferences –before and after matches,and some in special occasions nobody complains about that.
500 days ago,Ciutat Esportiva de Sant Joan Despi was only used by younger teams while the seniors were training at la Masia ,that was always criticized because of its small dimensions but was never replaced. Guardiola asked for adjustment of Sant Joan Despi and in Januray 2009 relocation was done.Tito Vilanova,who deserves thanks for all he has done in this 500 days,as the rest of management ,explained what this transfer meant:”For younger players it’s very important to see players of the 1st team so close and also let them participate in training sessions ,the distance between them was reduced in that way.’’
With Pep ,training sessions were closed for media,days before and after the match,and the rest of the week those were open only 15 minutes .These 15 minutes serve to see the greeting,Pep’s short introducing conversations and the warm-up. This was also criticized because it’s very hard to make a few different photos during this short period and draw any kind of conclusion,but after the Barca’s triumph ,there’s no one who would change this perfect system.
So,i guess the most of you are satisfied with Pep's work,but what's thing you dislike the most about him?