Bayern Munich's announcement on Wednesday that
Pep Guardiola is set to become their new manager
took many by surprise, not just in England but the rest of Europe too.
Chelsea and Manchester City were just two of the clubs seen as
possible destinations for the most wanted manager on the planet
when he ends his
season-long sabbatical
this coming summer, speculation which heightened this week when
Guardiola said he wanted the "challenge" of managing in the Premier
League.
Instead the 41-year-old is Bundesliga-bound, and hoping to follow his
trophy-laden spell as Barcelona coach
by building a similarly spectacular era at German giants Bayern.
Guardiola's old Barcelona team-mate and
current coaching confidant, Ajax manager Frank de Boer,
was shocked when he heard the news, telling BBC Sport: "I thought he wanted to come to the Premier League."
So, why exactly is Guardiola going to Germany and,
other than the fact that he is joining a team that are four-time
European champions, how did the Allianz Arena appeal?
"I think it will be down to the structure of the club," De Boer told BBC Sport.
"I speak to former Bayern coach Louis van Gaal and he
always says it is a very professional club, a well-run club, with the
same kind of philosophy as Barcelona. So they will understand what Pep
will be trying to do.
"As far as the Bundesliga goes, it is a very
interesting league and definitely on the up. Maybe it is passing La
Liga, and it passed Serie A a long time ago.
"I think maybe with the crowds they get, it is up with
the Premier League. The atmosphere in the stadiums is best in England,
but in Germany it is similar."
If Bayern does prove to be like Barca, then Guardiola will be right at home.
The Catalan spent the first 18 years of his playing
career at the Nou Camp, joining at the age of 13, learning his trade
under former Dutch international and Barca legend Johan Cruyff and
taking more inspiration from Van Gaal, whose pressing and passing Ajax
team of the mid-90s provided Pep with much of his coaching model.
But Guardiola picked up more from those Dutch masters
than a propensity for possession football and enough pretty passing to
take your breath away.
De Boer, who began discussing coaching with Guardiola
when they were team-mates at Barca from 1998 to 2001, refers to his
friend's approach as 'the hand of Guardiola', by which he means a focus
on discipline as well as individual skill.
Another key element of Guardiola's make-up is his vision for his club, perpetuated by
his belief in Barcelona's La Masia academy,
which provided seven of the starting XI in the team which
beat Manchester United in the 2009 Champions League.
Can he replicate that at Bayern?
The Bavarians already have had some success at bringing stars like Thomas Mueller and Philipp Lam through the ranks but De Boer, who has spoken to Guardiola regularly
since he began his own coaching career in 2007, thinks there is room
for improvement.
"There is a youth programme there, which is OK, but I
think Bayern can still build on it," De Boer, who takes a particularly
hands-on approach to working with young players at Ajax, explained.
"If you look at the kind of players who have come from
their youth teams and who are playing in their first team then I think
they can do more with their programme.
"But we don't know yet what their plans are for the academy or
what plans they have got for Pep. He might be overseeing that as well or
he might be only concerned with the first team. We will have to wait
and see."
One thing De
Boer is sure will be the same in Germany that it was in Spain is the way Guardiola's team will play - full of
flair going forward, and full of industry tracking back.
"He might adapt it but it will not change much," De
Boer said. "I know him well and he is a smart guy so he will always look
at what kind of players he has, and from there he will get the best
concept to play."
Comparisons with Barca will undoubtedly be drawn, but
mainly in terms of trophies won rather than playing style or youth
development. Guardiola collected 14 of them in his four seasons at
Barca, including three La Liga titles and a double Champions League
success.
That lorry-load of silverware still left some claiming that Barca's brilliance is
down to Lionel Messi.
Certainly, they have not missed
Guardiola too much since he left last May - under his
successor Tito Vilanova
they have built an
11-point lead at the top of La Liga.
But De Boer says those who doubt Guardiola's influence are wrong,
"Of course he had good players at Barcelona but he
showed us the 'hand of Guardiola," said De Boer. "I am 100% convinced of
it.
"I think he will do the same at Bayern. You can never
know for sure if he will succeed and I don't know if he will win as much
as he did with Barcelona, but you can already see that there will be a
Guardiola team playing to win the Champions League next season."
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