Bayern Munich's Pep Guardiola is flanked by Fabio Capello on his right and Juventus manager Antonio Conte in Dubai. Mohammed Omar / Reuters
Bayern Munich's Pep Guardiola is flanked by Fabio Capello on his right and Juventus manager Antonio Conte in Dubai. Mohammed Omar / Reuters

Jury still out on Ronaldo but Guardiola has his winner ready



Cristiano Ronaldo, speaking at the Dubai International Sports Conference, named himself as his favourite player. Franck Ribery, set to speak there today, believes the Ballon d’Or for world’s best player is his right.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the Paris Saint-Germain striker, has declared, “I don’t need the Ballon d’Or to know I’m the best.”

It’s all me, me, me in football these days.

But if you need someone to fight the corner for the team ethic, who better than Pep Guardiola.

The titles of each session at the conference were telling. Ronaldo’s was “At The Top”; Guardiola’s, “Creating A Winning Team”.

The Bayern Munich coach was introduced alongside Fabio Capello and Antonio Conte as “three teachers” by the Italian journalist Tony Damascelli.

Three intelligent central midfielders, three title-winning coaches. “Everybody can become a manager regardless of position,” Guardiola said. “As a midfielder, of course,t you see what happens on the pitch in the interest of the group, but then sometimes that’s true of forwards as well.”

Guardiola took over as Barcelona coach from Frank Rijkaard in 2008, and his phenomenal success, and the team’s peerless playing style, has marked him as one of the game’s foremost thinkers and tacticians.

“The game was in my head as much as my legs,” he said. “At 25, I decided to become a manager.”

Barca’s tiki-taka style of play incorporated some of the finest players in the world, such as Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi, in a system steeped in team philosophy. Despite a reputation of not getting on with highly individual performers, such as Ibrahimovic, Guardiola says he enjoys working with star names.

“It’s easier to coach big players. Good players are the ones who help you win matches,” the 42 year old said. “People go to stadium to see the players.”

One man, above all others, has influenced Guardiola’s football ideology.

“I was born in Barcelona, and the biggest influence on me was Johann Cruyff,” he says of the man behind Barcelona’s 1990s Dream Team that Guardiola himself played in. “When he arrived we’d had an Argentine coach, a German and an Italian, and now we had to get used to the Dutch system.”

Cruyff’s blueprint would become gospel at Camp Nou for the next two decades.

“We started playing in exactly the same way throughout all the age groups, which gave the club stability through its philosophy,” Guardiola said.

“You see 10-year-olds play the same way, and have the same concept, as the senior players.”

It is a philosophy that he took to record-breaking extremes. In his four years in charge of Barcelona, Guardiola won 14 trophies. Fabio Capello paid him the ultimate compliment.

“The Dutch system, AC Milan with [Arrigo] Sacchi and then myself, and then Guardiola’s Barcelona,” the coach of the Russian national team said.

“Those are the three fundamental phases of football evolution, which came 20 years apart.”

Guardiola, not surprisingly, is not too keen to talk about his own legacy. “We are too close to events now, history will judge us.”

Nor does he agree, as one journalist suggested, that his coaching career might have peaked with Barcelona’s famous treble in 2009.

“Of course, I am better now than when I started out,” he says. “I can handle certain situations better and I have more experience. I hope to be better in 10 years time.”

Bayern stand to reap the benefits of his tactical genius. But for Guardiola, tactics are not about numbers, but movement.

“Tactics are about players, you have to know the quality of your players and what they can do,” he said. “If you play 4-3-3, it’s only a starting position, the players have to move at the right times during the match.”

Capello, only half joking, said that the you only have to watch the matches on television to realise that the favoured system these days is “9-1”.

Everyone presses to get the ball back, before launching attacks on the opposition.

“[For a midfielder] it’s about knowing when to arrive in the box,” Guardiola said, as an example. “The [starting] system is not as important. Once the game starts, the players have to start moving.”

Last week, Guardiola collected his first trophy as Bayern Munich coach, the Club World Cup after beating Raja Casablanca in Marrakech, Morocco.

The Bavarians are also running away with the Bundesliga in Germany, and are favourites to retain the Uefa Champions League.

He dismissed the notion he can only manage great teams, and insisted teams need strong organisers. “The players need a coach, and his ideas” he said. “Someone to put it all together for the group.”

And Guardiola’s lasting dream? It is a modest one.

“I’d like to finish my career off coaching young players again,” he said. “When I started with Barcelona, I coached the youth players. There were no lies, no journalists, it was pure football and I’d like to end my career like I started it.”

akhaled@thenational.ae

Follow us on Twitter at SprtNationalUAE

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

A State of Passion

Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi

Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah

Rating: 4/5

THE SPECS

Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine 

Power: 420kW

Torque: 780Nm

Transmission: 8-speed automatic

Price: From Dh1,350,000

On sale: Available for preorder now

Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
 
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Traits of Chinese zodiac animals

Tiger:independent, successful, volatile
Rat:witty, creative, charming
Ox:diligent, perseverent, conservative
Rabbit:gracious, considerate, sensitive
Dragon:prosperous, brave, rash
Snake:calm, thoughtful, stubborn
Horse:faithful, energetic, carefree
Sheep:easy-going, peacemaker, curious
Monkey:family-orientated, clever, playful
Rooster:honest, confident, pompous
Dog:loyal, kind, perfectionist
Boar:loving, tolerant, indulgent   

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 
Ticket prices

General admission Dh295 (under-three free)

Buy a four-person Family & Friends ticket and pay for only three tickets, so the fourth family member is free

Buy tickets at: wbworldabudhabi.com/en/tickets

%3Cp%3E%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenationalnews.com%2Fbusiness%2Feconomy%2Fislamic-economy-consumer-spending-to-increase-45-to-3-2tn-by-2024-1.936583%22%20target%3D%22_self%22%3EGlobal%20Islamic%20economy%20to%20grow%203.1%25%20to%20touch%20%242.4%20trillion%20by%202024%3C%2Fa%3E%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenationalnews.com%2Fbusiness%2Feconomy%2Fuk-economy-plunges-into-worst-ever-recession-after-record-20-4-contraction-1.1062560%22%20target%3D%22_self%22%3EUK%20economy%20plunges%20into%20worst-ever%20recession%20after%20record%2020.4%25%20contraction%3C%2Fa%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenationalnews.com%2Fbusiness%2Feconomy%2Fislamic-economy-consumer-spending-to-increase-45-to-3-2tn-by-2024-1.936583%22%20target%3D%22_self%22%3EIslamic%20economy%20consumer%20spending%20to%20increase%2045%25%20to%20%243.2tn%20by%202024%3C%2Fa%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MATCH INFO

Champions League quarter-final, first leg

Ajax v Juventus, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)

Match on BeIN Sports

ETFs explained

Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.

ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.

There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.

 

 

BMW%20M4%20Competition
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3.0%20twin-turbo%20inline%20six-cylinder%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20eight-speed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E503hp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20600Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20from%20Dh617%2C600%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Now%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Dr Afridi's warning signs of digital addiction

Spending an excessive amount of time on the phone.

Neglecting personal, social, or academic responsibilities.

Losing interest in other activities or hobbies that were once enjoyed.

Having withdrawal symptoms like feeling anxious, restless, or upset when the technology is not available.

Experiencing sleep disturbances or changes in sleep patterns.

What are the guidelines?

Under 18 months: Avoid screen time altogether, except for video chatting with family.

Aged 18-24 months: If screens are introduced, it should be high-quality content watched with a caregiver to help the child understand what they are seeing.

Aged 2-5 years: Limit to one-hour per day of high-quality programming, with co-viewing whenever possible.

Aged 6-12 years: Set consistent limits on screen time to ensure it does not interfere with sleep, physical activity, or social interactions.

Teenagers: Encourage a balanced approach – screens should not replace sleep, exercise, or face-to-face socialisation.

Source: American Paediatric Association
The specs

AT4 Ultimate, as tested

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

Power: 420hp

Torque: 623Nm

Transmission: 10-speed automatic

Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)

On sale: Now

Name: Peter Dicce

Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics

Favourite sport: soccer

Favourite team: Bayern Munich

Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer

Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates