He would mention a winger at Palmeiras, Botafogo, or wherever.” “I still think we don’t really appreciate how good Leo is … Also, he loves football. But I was thinking: ‘Bloody hell, in this game?’”īarcelona won 6-2. I turn up with my laptop and they take it in with them and afterwards Pep tells me Leo loves the idea. “There is only one architect of that: Pep Guardiola. So did the decision to move Lionel Messi to false nine on the eve of the clásico with Real Madrid in 2009, a decision backed by the report Torrent prepared on Madrid’s defence – although, put like that, he’s swift to interrupt. Lorenzo always says: ‘I’ve never seen a player run up a mountain in a game,’ but it can seem strange to begin with.” “At first people think that means we’re not working physically but that’s not true. “Lorenzo Buenaventura does everything with the ball,” Torrent says. Guardiola’s approach can be unconventional. Pep Guardiola and Domènec Torrent in Munich. He’s a sponge soaking up information, a humble guy who doesn’t believe he’s better. He learns from everyone too: he can go to an under-12s game and learn from it. It’s not that Pep has come to teach but if you’re interested in different ideas, he’ll explain, talk. That’s normal for coaches who are intelligent, open. If you’re alert to it, you’ll see tactical changes. ![]() It was like playing chess: one would change a piece, so the other would change his. The games were hard, very tactical: both teams changed systems two or three times. They would meet and have lunch together, talk about football. Both coaches are very, very good tactically. “I remember that the games against Tuchel’s sides, Mainz and then Dortmund, were always a lot of fun and very difficult: he’s a very good strategist. Photograph: Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images It’ll be fascinating.ĭomènec Torrent points Pep Guardiola in the right direction during their time at Bayern Munich. ![]() But it will certainly be one to watch for coaches, in terms of how they move the pieces and I think there will be surprises in the lineups. Who knows, it might be a castaña, a stinker. “But I’ll record it too because I’d like to watch it back tactically as there are bound to be things I miss first time. “First as a Manchester City fan and someone who has friends there, hoping they win,” he says. Torrent, who worked with him at Barcelona B, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City before taking over at New York City, where he broke a franchise points record, and Brazilian giants Flamengo, and who is preparing to return to coaching in England or Germany, will be watching. The destruction of United proved the pinnacle of a period that redefined the game and yet it was the last time Guardiola reached a European Cup final. “Because of the ash cloud, we went early meaning Pep could work exactly as he wanted, right down to the throws-in. Two years later, they did it again at Wembley. ![]() It might not have been the video – “that was a very, very, very good United side,” he rightly says – and by the end Barcelona were European champions with a young improvised team, the start of the club’s best era. But in Rome United dominated the first 15 minutes. “We’d done it before for the play-off final with Barcelona B when we got promotion: they went out and won the game in 30 minutes. ![]() But they were hyper-motivated and extremes aren’t good,” he says. “It was a surprise, very emotional, and it motivated them.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |