Guardiola: �I�m passionate about my job�

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Football

09.09.2011 14:09

Guardiola: �I�m passionate about my job�

Vanessa Forns

Not the titles. Neither the Gold Medal just awarded by the Parliament. Nothing takes Guardiola�s mind off the job. �My passion is for training, for my job. All I�m worried about is doing my work�, he said.

Puyol always a guarantee

From Friday, Guardiola has four players back to full fitness in Puyol, Maxwell, Afellay and Adriano. “We will need everybody to fight for every match” he said.

On Puyol, who has been out for the longest, Guardiola said “we’re full of joy that he’s back. He is a basic player for us, he does things that nobody else does, he’s the captain, he has experience in so many different situations … he been though a lot. We are pleased to see him happy and yelling in training. Carles is always a guarantee of effectiveness.”

They day after being awarded the maximum accolade from the Parliament of Catalonia, Josep Guardiola has turned his mind fully back to Saturday’s game at Anoeta. He may have won 12 out of 15 titles so far, but all he wants to think about his carrying on his good work.

“I didn’t start my career with those pretensions. I try not to lose my perspective. You can’t predict these things. I don’t worry about these things. I was once passionate about playing football, now I am about coaching. I am passionate about my job, this team, giving pleasure to people that like football in general. I’ll continue to do my job as well as I can. If we hadn’t won the titles I’d still be happy to know that we tried”, said the FC Barcelona manager.

Importance of the group

Guardiola disagrees with people that put Bar�a’s huge success down to him, claiming he is just one of many elements. “The strength of the team is that everybody has an influence in making this work. The club cannot depend on one person. It depends on the management, the Board, the coach, the players, the members … The club will stay strong because it has been for a long time. Yes, we’ve won a lot of titles in two years, but the club is over a hundred years old. As long as we keep making good signings we shall stay at the peak of our competitiveness”.

He also joked about his future in politics. “I’m just a coach. I have no political vocation, there are people who are very prepared for that … All coaches in the world are passionate about their work. Me and some players have won 12 out of 15 titles? I’m proud of being a contemporary of my players … but these questions make me uncomfortable, stop it!” he laughed.

Danger of international break

Turning to Saturday’s match at Anoeta, Guardiola said “it is always a bit hard to get back to things after international matches. We have to prepare well and work very hard. Real Sociedad play differently to what they did last season, I’m very impressed with their team and they have some things that have surprised me. They move around in a similar way to us”.

Guardiola added that the hardest challenge this season “is the league as always, you have to be competitive in every game. That’s the big challenge. That’s what’s hardest for us. It clearly gets harder every year”.