Just seconds after the announcement that
Pep Guardiola would not be coaching the team next season, Andoni Zubizarreta
announced, to everyone’s surprise, the new coach for the F.C Barcelona: Tito
Vilanova. Is it me or is this move just pure genius? A cloudy and doubtful
future seems now much more clear.
Tito’s announcement came to me as a
surprise as he had been struggling with his health this season. In fact, I
thought one of the reasons Guardiola would be leaving the team was the
possibility of Tito not being able to be his second coach for the future. So here
comes the first good news: in order to take charge of the team it means that Tito
is 100% recovered.
From a technical and tactical point of
view, Tito Vilanova is the only man that can guarantee the continuity of the
club’s philosophy. I’m not saying that other coaches are not capable of
continuing Pep’s work; however, what better man that the guy who has been there
for years already. Tito coached Messi, Fabregas and Pique when they were kids.
He is also known for being a strategist who studies his rivals meticulously.
Tito Vilanonva is the ideal man to help the team make the transition in the
post Guardiola era.
The fact that Tito Vilanova was appointed as
the new coach is no coincidence. This means the general manager, Andoni
Zubizarreta, had already considered future candidates for a long time The way
he explained his reasoning for this decision leaves no doubt in my mind that he
studied the possibilities long before Guardiola stated he was not going to
continue. This caused a very positive effect, as the talk is no longer about
Guardiola leaving but about Tito’s role next season.
Will this work? Nobody thought it would
when Guardiola was appointed four years ago and we all know how that story
ends. I think it’s a perfectly logical solution. Tito has to make sure he puts
his own spin into the team and introduce some new alternatives without
deviating from the values and philosophies of the team. There, I think, lies
the true challenge. I hope fans understand that he is not Guardiola and he
shouldn’t try to be. He’s Tito and he’s been given something many coaches would
die for: trust.
Let the Tito era begins.
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