Deputies don’t necessary go on to make good bosses. Look no further than Gordon Brown and Mariano Rajoy.
In football it’s a mixed picture. Carlos Queiroz went from Ferguson’s assistant to managing Real Madrid (not a happy time)to being Ferguson’s assistant again, before pursuing an unexceptional career as national coach with Portugal, and now Iran. By contrast Mourinho laid claim to being a ‘special one’ after serving as Bobby Robson’s assistant and translator at Barca. He went on conquer more than Robson did.
FC Barcelona now have Tito Vilanova who grew up and lived under Pep Guardiola’s shadow before succeeding him as manager. Guardiola was more than just a manager. He personified an institutional ethos and style that had evolved over decades. He contributed to Cruyff’s ‘dream team’ as a player, and managed his own team through one of the most glorious period’s in the club’s history, during which he enjoyed periods of unprecedented supremacy.
Tito- never a great player, and sharing none of Guardiola’s natural charisma-knew he had a tough act to follow when he took on the biggest job of his life. He knew his job could well be on the line if Barca got off to a bad start and started losing early on in the season. He has also been lumbered with the injuries of key players like Iniesta, Pique,Pujol and now Thiago. He has consequently adopted a strategy aimed at winning at all costs, drawing on the mixed bag of resources he has available to him, and making outcomes more dependent than ever on the suitability of his substitutions -much like Mourinho does at Real Madrid.
I don’t know if Tito is on the road to success or perdition but I am not passionate about the way Barca play at present- they have lost some of their style and solidarity. They don’t hold the ball as well they used to, and lose it too easily. There is less fluidity of play, less apparent enjoyment. Messi seems less at peace with himself and with others. The risk is that Barca in the process, like Real Madrid, may lose a clear sense of itself as a team.
If Tito follows Mourinho then it would result in Barça having more trophies than when they were managed by Guardiola……
Mourinho and Ferguson and the 2 best managers in the history of modern football by miles, and remember Mourinho has triumphed in 4 European leagues. Ferguson took 2 years before any silver reached United and Pep started his short lived career with a defeat……. I don’t see the problem as Tito has won all his games to date, or do I detect nerviosismo in the Cule ranks?
An article though thought provoking I find a bit harsh.
The levels sustained at the height of the Guardiola era, were truly incredible. So incredible that after 4 seasons the architect of the project, pep, called time on his stewardship. Realising that to carry on at such a level was simply not possible. The expectations had just become to great for him to bear. It was never going to be the same once Pep departed.To expect it to be so is wholly unfair on Tito. Rather than draw comparisons with Jose Mourinho, perhaps we could go further back in time to the departure of Bill Shankly from Liverpool. And the dynasty that was further enhanced by his replacement. Bob Paisley.
We cannot expect Tito to be Pep. Things will never be the as under Pep. Also perhaps teams are learning to play against Barca. The out and defence adopted by Chelsea has been adopted by more oppenents.
This season Moscow and Granada both provided very stubborn resistance. As the games progressed the frustration of the team was palpable. Perhaps some of the jou de vivre of the Guardiola era has gone as oppenents defend in strength, realising that to play an open game is to invite disaster. The five nil thrashing handed out to Mourinho’s Madrid at the Camp Nou led him to revert to his natural instinct and strategy used the season before against Barca by his Inter side in the champions league semi final. Out and out defence. As more teams adopt that strategy of out and defence, some of the flair will go…. Better for opponents to park the bus and frustrate in a hope of getting a result rather than play an open game and suffer the consequences.
That cannot be the fault of Tito.