Pep Guardiola and Brescia Have Beautiful Memories in Italy's Serie A.
Pep Guardiola is very synonymous with the red and blue shirt of the Barcelona shirt but many people then wonder why Guardiola then wore the Brescia shirt when he left El Barca.
When the final whistle sounded in the match on 24 June 2010, Barcelona were finally knocked out of the Coppa Del Rey after failing to beat Celta Vigo in the semifinals over two legs. The 4-1 loss on aggregate saw Barcelona go two seasons without a title, but more important than the end of this game is that their star Pep Guardiola had to part with his beloved team.
Previously he had held a press conference to reveal that the 2000-2001 season would be his last at Barcelona, after collecting 16 titles with Barcelona Pep Guardiola is looking for a new challenge at the age of 30. Guardiola is one of Barcelona's legends, his playing style reflects the culture that Johan Cruyff instilled during his coaching the Catalan team.
Guardiola is an intelligent player who is good at finding positions and is very good at manipulating space on the football field, this La Masia Academy graduate has shown true Barcelona attributes throughout his career from the Junior team to the Barcelona senior team and a true La Masia midfielder. In his final season injury problems ruled Guardiola out of six Champions League group games for Barcelona and he was unable to repeat his best form from previous years, with his contract running out Guardiola decided to take a separate step and bid farewell to the club that made his name. .
However, at the end of June, Guardiola himself did not know where he should move, he only got news that many clubs were willing to use his services as an experienced star player even though he was in his old age. Pep Guardiola then decided to buy some time and try to weigh the offers that came in before plunging into a new environment.
In July and August 2001 Guardiola has not yet made a decision but an urgent matter is the 2002 World Cup which is the last tournament table that he can participate in to defend his country in order to be called up to the Spanish national team, Guardiola must show impressive performances with his new club. If he continues to delay choosing his new club then the coach of the Spanish national team will not be able to witness his performance and will likely choose another player as his replacement, many football observers and journalists predict that Guardiola will choose big teams outside Spain such as AC Milan, Juventus, Inter Milan Liverpool, Manchester United, Bayern Munich and so on but in the end Guardiola surprised all parties by choosing a cheerful mediocre team namely Brescia Calcio.
There are several things that are the main reasons Guardiola chose Brescia Calcio as his new club, namely the first he wanted to find a new atmosphere outside of Spain, the second he wanted to play with one of his idols for a long time, Roberto Baggio and the third he wanted to learn to be a coach. football early on after I announced my separation from Barcelona.
The first team to contact me was Brescia, the president of the Brescia club said he needed my presence in his team, this opened my thoughts about adventures in the Italian Serie A, one of the best leagues in the world at that time, said Guardiola. Then there is the factor of Mega Star player Roberto Baggio who first landed in Brescia at the beginning of the 2000-2001 season, this is Guardiola's idol and playing with him is Guardiola's dream that has not been achieved.
When he learned that Baggio was playing for Brescia, Guardiola kept looking for information about this team and when an offer came to him, Guardiola was immediately very happy and excited to respond. The third thing that is Guardiola's main goal is to prepare for his future by learning to be a football coach, for this he needs to learn the philosophy and style of play from the best league teams in the world at that time, namely the Italian Serie A, his presence as a player in the world's best league at that time. making it possible to learn directly in the field or during discussions with Brescia coaches.
Guardiola also started the new season with fans who filled the Mario Rigamonti Stadium to welcome Guardiola's presence very lively, Brescia coach Carlo mazzone at that time put Guardiola in his favorite position, namely defensive midfielder. Guardiola operates among players who move more dynamically, although he doesn't move much but he is very forward-thinking.
Guardiola will regularly drop deep to collect the ball, make simple passes and try to organize attacks Pampering Brescia's forwards on the pitch, Guardiola played his role as a player very well. Meanwhile at the break or before and after the game he will join the coach and his staff to evaluate the match, analyze tactics and find solutions for the team's play.
Even the Brescia coach was amazed by the ability to analyze the game that is often done by Guardiola, Guardiola's presence only lasted for a month and in October 2001 after Brescia's win over Piacenza. Guardiola tested positive for doping drugs after the Italian League's disciplinary commission held a hearing, so Guardiola was banned from playing for Brescia and the Spanish national team for four months.
He also had to be willing to miss 16 important matches for Brescia because of this punishment, Guardiola's position in the Spanish national team for the 2022 world cup was finally replaced by a talented young midfielder named Xavi Hernandez. Guardiola also had to postpone playing with his idol Roberto Baggio because along with this incident his idol suffered an injury and had to rest until the end of March 2012.
After completing his four-month sentence, Guardiola returned to focus on bringing Brescia away from the relegation hole. He was then entrusted to captain the team by coach Carlo Mazzone on 21/4/2012, Brescia faced Fiorentina and they must win if they want to survive. In another story, Guardiola then asked the coach one thing before the game, which was to play with Roberto Baggio.
This is indeed still a consideration for Mazzone because Bagio has just recovered from a long injury, Brescia led 1-0 until halftime but Baggio was not included in the second half with 25 minutes remaining, Mazzone finally put Baggio on, Pep Guardiola stopped Baggio's steps but when the sidelines waiting for a change suddenly Guardiola who ran to Baggio he then removed his captain's armband and put it on Baggio's arm as a form of respect and a form of joy to be able to play with his idol, at the same time the audience immediately welcomed the positive attitude out of the hall, even though at that time the rules of football Italy does not allow the captain's tire to change while the old captain is still playing. But the referee also turned a blind eye to this and Guardiola was not punished in this first season, Pep Guardiola managed to bring Brescia away from the brink of relegation and occupies the 13th position in the Italian League standings.
He is very happy to be in a small club where the family ties are very strong, Roberto Baggio is a brother to him, an idol and role model that has always been and Mazzone is a father figure who always protects and gives direction to the decisions of Guardiola who is getting older, Luca Toni, Igli Tare and Esposito, Kevin Phillip to Andrea Pirlo are siblings who always bring happiness to him, other coaching staff, cleaners, club president and especially the fans are all always friendly to him and Brescia is a second home for Guardiola.
In the following season Guardiola had moved to AS Roma but did not last long, he then chose to return to Brescia and managed to bring his team to finish in ninth position which is one of their best achievements. In an interview with Guardiola, he once stated that one day he will coach in Serie A and it is certain that he will return to coach his favorite team Brescia without a salary.
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