Pep Guardiola - A Barcelona Legend

 

At the end of the 2011/12 season Spanish team Barcelona played city rivals Espanyol in the last game of the season and in their last match with Pep Guardiola as manager.  During the game Barcelona’s star player Leo Messi scored four goals and celebrated his final goal by running across the pitch and embracing Guardiola as a sign of respect to him.  After the game Messi said ‘It was a game that was very emotional for me. I felt the need to hug Pep to thank him...Pep will always have my respect, I will always cherish him….’ 

 

Respect in Football

 

Respect is hugely important in football and also hugely important in life.  If we show respect and listen to what people have to say we can learn a lot.  Pep Guardiola is regarded as one of the top managers in world football. 

 

As a player he played at the very highest level for Barcelona and was part of the team which won La Liga 6 times as well as the European Cup and he has been even more successful as a manager.  He is tactically very aware, knows his players well and also studies opposition teams in minute detail to give his side the best chance of success. 

 

Through his hard work and dedication he has achieved many great things.  Imagine a scenario though where he was about to do a team talk and his players refused to listen - it would be crazy!  By listening to this great manager the team will have much more chance of success - by not listening it is very likely that they will fail.

 

Respect in Life

 

It is the same for us, whether in football or in every-day life.  If we don't show respect and don’t listen to what people have to say it reflects badly on us as individuals.  It makes us look quite rude, arrogant and self centred and we can also miss something which is very important. 

 

It is, of course, easy to listen to someone well known or successful.  They immediately have our respect just because of who they are.  It is harder to respect someone we don’t know because we might think they don’t know what they’re talking about.  This is a mistake. 

 

While it is good to always be discerning about what we hear and question internally if it is good information, ultimately, however, if someone is put in a position of authority over us we need to listen to what they have to say and do as they ask us to do. 

 

This can apply to our football coach, our teachers and our parents.  All of these people have been put in positions where they are trying to look after us and teach us.  They have your best interest at heart and even though  there are times when we may think that we know better than them it is very likely that they know better than you!

 

While it is important for you to listen to your coaches while you attend these training sessions it is also important that you also listen to your teachers and your parents.  They are very wise and showing them respect is a sign of maturity in you. 

 

‘Football is like life - it requires perseverance, self-denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication and respect for authority.'  Vince Lombardi