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Champions League Analysis: The Mental Duel Between Barcelona's Pep Guardiola & Inter's Jose Mourinho
Goal.com’s Cyrus C. Malek characterises Barca and Inter’s Champions League clash first and foremost as a chess match between two of football’s most prodigious tacticians.
Apr 19, 2010 6:22:00 AM
By Cyrus C. Malek
With the reigning Italian and Spanish champions having been direct rivals in Group F back in autumn, the conventional headlines previewing tomorrow’s Champions League semi-final between Inter and Barcelona seem to linger on the side of old news.
The player-related storylines have been sufficiently covered. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Samuel Eto’o have already faced their former teams, leaving little room on that front other than speculating whether the Swede or Cameroonian will score against their old sides and if so, whether they should celebrate. From Barca’s last quarte-rfinal clash, articles praising Lionel Messi’s very obvious superiority as the best footballer in the world seem superfluous and much has already been made of Wesley Sneijder, who has arguably been this year’s best player in the Serie A.
Instead, the prevailing theme that surrounds Tuesday evening’s mouth-watering match does not directly relate to the action on the pitch at all, but rather how that action is orchestrated on the pitch. That is to say, instead of the match being framed as a battle of brawn between players, it is largely considered to be a battle of brains - specifically the mental duel between the two sides’ respective coaches.
Barca coach Pep Guardiola and Inter tactician Jose Mourinho are largely considered to be two of the most formidable minds in contemporary football and have earned their reputations among the best managers of the modern game. They are both masterful tacticians who carefully measure and analyse the beautiful game down to each millimetre-perfect angle. Yet both coaches are not stiflingly technical, still able to remove themselves from being strictly scientific about football so to relate to their players, so much so that they are hailed as excellent motivators.
The 'Special One' brings a resume that few can boast. While unable to excel as a player, Mourinho pursued management, studying under such coaches as Sir Bobby Robson (at Sporting CP and Barcelona) and subsequently Louis van Gaal where he learned Catalan in the process, before taking on the full responsibilities of coaching.
The Portuguese was wildly successful in his new leadership role. In two years of coaching at Porto, he won the Portuguese Liga twice, the Portuguese Cup, the Portuguese Super Cup, the UEFA Cup, and the Champions League. In three years at Chelsea he won the Premier League title twice, the FA Cup, the League Cup twice, and the FA Community Shield. And now, in just his second year at Inter, he has already won the Serie A title and the Supercoppa Italiana. This season, his team are just one point off the Serie A lead, are in the Champions League semi-final, and have reached the Coppa Italia final, putting the Nerazzurri in position to possibly win the treble.
While Guardiola’s coaching career has been far shorter, it has been similarly marked by success. Unlike Mourinho, Pep was a prolific player, enjoying a career that consisted of six Primera Liga titles, two Copa del Rey trophies, four Spanish Supercups, a Champions League trophy, one European Winner’s Cup, and a European Supercup. He also starred with the Spanish international team, winning the Olympics with La Furi Roja in 1992 and being named the squad’s best player of the tournament.
In 2007, Guardiola’s first year in a coaching position, he won Spain’s Tercera Division title with Barcelona’s B team, a result that saw the squad promoted. The next year, Guardiola himself was promoted, given the job of coaching the Blaugrana first team in what would become a record-breaking year.
Last year, the “Pep Team” won every title for which they competed, an astonishing six consecutive trophies: the Champions League, La Liga, the Copa del Rey, the Spanish Supercup, the UEFA Supercup, and the FIFA Club World Cup. While Barca were narrowly knocked out of the Copa del Rey this season, Guardiola has his club in pole position to claim the Liga title for the second consecutive year as well as aiming for his side to become the first team in history to win successive Champions League trophies.
During his time at Chelsea, Mourinho employed a 4-3-3 system, the same formation Guardiola religiously adheres to in Barca’s perpetual and relentless attacking machine, outwardly voicing his belief that such a formation was football’s most rational system.
In the 4-3-3, Mourinho encouraged his players to constantly assist in defence, to have an understanding of the dynamics of a team’s movements so that players would be aware of their movements with respect to their team-mates on the pitch, and create space in tandem without unbalancing the team.
While Mourinho no longer relies on a 4-3-3 system at Inter, largely opting instead for a 4-3-1-2 or a 4-2-3-1 formation, which emphasises exploiting the width of the pitch by way of wing play (in part to suit the style of play in the Serie A and also because he believes it is a better fit for the players in his current squad), Guardiola has taken the formation that inherently creates an equal distribution of players around the pitch and perfected it.
Inspiring his players to compete with unrivalled work ethic, Guardiola has engineered a team that suffocate their opponents in defence, restricting avenues for counterattacks and breaking down the opposition's formations simply by keeping the ball and forcing teams to collapse their shape just to try to win back possession.
During the course of matches, both Mourinho and Guardiola are the best in their trade at making the necessary adjustments to keep their teams firing on all cylinders. Students of the game, it is apparent both coaches have spent hours upon hours watching videos, taking diligent notes, and drilling their players so that the team accomplish their objectives precisely as envisaged.
One would think that such nearly obsessive devotion to the perfection of minute details would take its toll on players. Yet for all the discipline, both sets of players fully buy into their respective coaches' systems, mostly because they both champion one thing above all else: winning.
What drives Guardiola and Mourinho’s intensity is an unquenchable drive to win and that passion for victory and competition is contagious within a team, spreading through the squad faster than the ash from Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano has spread across the European sky. This will to win instills confidence in a squad, in effect making the Spaniard and Portuguese world-class psychologists.
While Barca largely outplayed the Nerazzurri in the group stage matches, Mourinho’s men have progressed strongly over the course of the season and the Portuguese now knows how to get the best out of his squad in a Champions League fixture. But rest assured, Guardiola will have his historic Barca side ready to attack at San Siro.
As for those of us watching the match, hopefully we will have a moment or two to catch our breath and take the chance to admire the brainchildren of two of the most gifted minds in the world of football. Although, if one is to give any credence to the prevailing rumours currently running rampant through the Spanish and Italian tabloids that Real Madrid could bag The 'Special One' for next season, perhaps we will be given more such opportunities in the near future.
Keep up to date with all the latest Champions League news with Goal.com and join Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page!
The player-related storylines have been sufficiently covered. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Samuel Eto’o have already faced their former teams, leaving little room on that front other than speculating whether the Swede or Cameroonian will score against their old sides and if so, whether they should celebrate. From Barca’s last quarte-rfinal clash, articles praising Lionel Messi’s very obvious superiority as the best footballer in the world seem superfluous and much has already been made of Wesley Sneijder, who has arguably been this year’s best player in the Serie A.
Instead, the prevailing theme that surrounds Tuesday evening’s mouth-watering match does not directly relate to the action on the pitch at all, but rather how that action is orchestrated on the pitch. That is to say, instead of the match being framed as a battle of brawn between players, it is largely considered to be a battle of brains - specifically the mental duel between the two sides’ respective coaches.
Barca coach Pep Guardiola and Inter tactician Jose Mourinho are largely considered to be two of the most formidable minds in contemporary football and have earned their reputations among the best managers of the modern game. They are both masterful tacticians who carefully measure and analyse the beautiful game down to each millimetre-perfect angle. Yet both coaches are not stiflingly technical, still able to remove themselves from being strictly scientific about football so to relate to their players, so much so that they are hailed as excellent motivators.
The 'Special One' brings a resume that few can boast. While unable to excel as a player, Mourinho pursued management, studying under such coaches as Sir Bobby Robson (at Sporting CP and Barcelona) and subsequently Louis van Gaal where he learned Catalan in the process, before taking on the full responsibilities of coaching.
The Portuguese was wildly successful in his new leadership role. In two years of coaching at Porto, he won the Portuguese Liga twice, the Portuguese Cup, the Portuguese Super Cup, the UEFA Cup, and the Champions League. In three years at Chelsea he won the Premier League title twice, the FA Cup, the League Cup twice, and the FA Community Shield. And now, in just his second year at Inter, he has already won the Serie A title and the Supercoppa Italiana. This season, his team are just one point off the Serie A lead, are in the Champions League semi-final, and have reached the Coppa Italia final, putting the Nerazzurri in position to possibly win the treble.
While Guardiola’s coaching career has been far shorter, it has been similarly marked by success. Unlike Mourinho, Pep was a prolific player, enjoying a career that consisted of six Primera Liga titles, two Copa del Rey trophies, four Spanish Supercups, a Champions League trophy, one European Winner’s Cup, and a European Supercup. He also starred with the Spanish international team, winning the Olympics with La Furi Roja in 1992 and being named the squad’s best player of the tournament.
In 2007, Guardiola’s first year in a coaching position, he won Spain’s Tercera Division title with Barcelona’s B team, a result that saw the squad promoted. The next year, Guardiola himself was promoted, given the job of coaching the Blaugrana first team in what would become a record-breaking year.
Last year, the “Pep Team” won every title for which they competed, an astonishing six consecutive trophies: the Champions League, La Liga, the Copa del Rey, the Spanish Supercup, the UEFA Supercup, and the FIFA Club World Cup. While Barca were narrowly knocked out of the Copa del Rey this season, Guardiola has his club in pole position to claim the Liga title for the second consecutive year as well as aiming for his side to become the first team in history to win successive Champions League trophies.
Pep at the pinnacle of club football
During his time at Chelsea, Mourinho employed a 4-3-3 system, the same formation Guardiola religiously adheres to in Barca’s perpetual and relentless attacking machine, outwardly voicing his belief that such a formation was football’s most rational system.
In the 4-3-3, Mourinho encouraged his players to constantly assist in defence, to have an understanding of the dynamics of a team’s movements so that players would be aware of their movements with respect to their team-mates on the pitch, and create space in tandem without unbalancing the team.
While Mourinho no longer relies on a 4-3-3 system at Inter, largely opting instead for a 4-3-1-2 or a 4-2-3-1 formation, which emphasises exploiting the width of the pitch by way of wing play (in part to suit the style of play in the Serie A and also because he believes it is a better fit for the players in his current squad), Guardiola has taken the formation that inherently creates an equal distribution of players around the pitch and perfected it.
Inspiring his players to compete with unrivalled work ethic, Guardiola has engineered a team that suffocate their opponents in defence, restricting avenues for counterattacks and breaking down the opposition's formations simply by keeping the ball and forcing teams to collapse their shape just to try to win back possession.
During the course of matches, both Mourinho and Guardiola are the best in their trade at making the necessary adjustments to keep their teams firing on all cylinders. Students of the game, it is apparent both coaches have spent hours upon hours watching videos, taking diligent notes, and drilling their players so that the team accomplish their objectives precisely as envisaged.
One would think that such nearly obsessive devotion to the perfection of minute details would take its toll on players. Yet for all the discipline, both sets of players fully buy into their respective coaches' systems, mostly because they both champion one thing above all else: winning.
What drives Guardiola and Mourinho’s intensity is an unquenchable drive to win and that passion for victory and competition is contagious within a team, spreading through the squad faster than the ash from Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano has spread across the European sky. This will to win instills confidence in a squad, in effect making the Spaniard and Portuguese world-class psychologists.
Mou giving directions to Wesley
While Barca largely outplayed the Nerazzurri in the group stage matches, Mourinho’s men have progressed strongly over the course of the season and the Portuguese now knows how to get the best out of his squad in a Champions League fixture. But rest assured, Guardiola will have his historic Barca side ready to attack at San Siro.
As for those of us watching the match, hopefully we will have a moment or two to catch our breath and take the chance to admire the brainchildren of two of the most gifted minds in the world of football. Although, if one is to give any credence to the prevailing rumours currently running rampant through the Spanish and Italian tabloids that Real Madrid could bag The 'Special One' for next season, perhaps we will be given more such opportunities in the near future.
Keep up to date with all the latest Champions League news with Goal.com and join Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page!
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