Rotation & revolution

Guardiola: fine start

I've been reporting and broadcasting on football for 20 years and I've never seen so many changes made so quickly and with so much success.

Graham Hunter
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• Barcelona

Graham Hunter says Pep Guardiola has brought a revolution to Barcelona, the likes of which he has not seen in 20 years.

The inexperienced Guardiola was expected to take time to settle into the top job at Barca after succeeding Frank Rijkaard, but he has overseen a fine run of form which has seen them win 6-1 twice and 5-0 twice already this season.

Hunter says Barcelona's form can be attributed to the way Guardiola has rotated all of his players to keep them fresh and admits he is stunned at how successful that policy has been.

"I'm very glad to report that I called it wrong," Hunter said on Revista de la Liga.

"The autumn report card is full of A's and B's, whereas I thought after 12 months experience it might be full of C's and D's.

"I've been reporting and broadcasting on football for 20 years and I've never seen so many changes made so quickly and with so much success.

"He's taken the latter-day Frank Rijkaard's work book, ripped it up completely and done things that other managers - notably Rafa Benitez - have been bitterly criticised for.

"The rotation has meant that at the end of this week there will be no player that has played in every single game in October.

"He's used six different players at left-back, he's given the players training sessions on the morning of a match and the rest of the day off until an hour and a half before kick-off.

"It's revolutionary stuff, but he's got players like Rafael Márquez backing what we were saying in the spring and winter of last season, that they need more discipline. They've got that, they're enjoying it, they're working hard in training and the fruits are there on the pitch."

Ethic

Guardiola is known for his strong work ethic, but Hunter says his leadership qualities extend beyond that.

He says good discipline, clear instructions and some forward-thinking training methods are getting the best out of a highly-talented Barcelona squad.

He continued: "I think it's quality of decision making rather than intensity of commitment. He works much harder than Frank Rijkaard did over the last 24 months of his period here.

"We talked again and again about how the Dutchman was distracted by unfortunate things away from the club.

"Well that's not Pep Guardiola, his days are long, he watches videos of other players and future opponents. An example is before the cup game it was him that went to watch Benidorm play, he didn't leave it to his assistants.

"He interferes in a good way on the training ground. He's always interceding if something's not been done correctly or if he hasn't got his own point across correctly.

"There's a mixture of communication and discipline and the players are liking his firm, but not over-firm hand.

"The information that they're receiving about how to train, when to rest, when he thinks they're in danger of getting a muscle strain, how he wants to press the ball... They're understanding and carrying it out and they're enjoying the results. That's why at the moment it's a very steady ship.

"We're not in mid-winter yet, but so far it literally couldn't be better."