'A must-read for anyone who's doubted Pep's influence, from handing the power to Barca's homegrown crop to never betraying his childhood romanticism of the game Four Four Two 'Balague's insightful biography presents Guardiola as a relentless perfectionist - a man obsessed with the minutiae of football, often unable to switch off' SPORT This fully updated edition of the international bestseller includes Manchester City's incredible 2017-18 league triumph Pep Guardiola is the most successful and sought-after football coach in the world. After being appointed first-team manager in 2008, he transformed Barcelona into arguably the greatest club side of all time, winning thirteen trophies in four years, and he won the Double twice in his three years in charge of Bayern Munich. He then faced his biggest challenge yet when he joined Manchester City in 2016: to turn them into a team that consistently wins in the most difficult of leagues and a regular challenger in the Champions League. But in only his second year at the club, he had turned a good side into memorable one, leading them to the Premier League title in record-breaking style . . . and doing it the Guardiola way. Guillem Balague has followed Pep's career from the outset and has had direct access to the man and his inner circle for this updated edition. This then is the definitive portrait of Pep Guardiola and his relentless pursuit of footballing perfection.
This book came as a disappointment to me on so many levels. The main flaw of this book is that its quite superficial in its research or the insights it provides about the main character. Although, Balague has an easy writing style there is no interesting anecdote or research which comes across. I'm a massive Barca and Guardiola fan and have been following Barca and Guardiola in football media for the past 3-4 years, and it seems most of Balague's research has been sourced from there. So there...