Josep "Pep" Guardiola Sala is a Spanish professional football manager and former player, a real life manager of Premier League football team Manchester City F.C., and also a minor character in the Apple TV+ series, Ted Lasso. He is considered one of the greatest managers of all time.
History[]
Considered by pundits to be one of the greatest managers of all time, Pep Guardiola is often linked with the successes of the Spanish and German national teams in 2010s, both of whom had many first-team players that were coached by him. he started his career playing in Barcelona under what was known as the Dream Team, but he is perhaps best known for leading Barcelona as a coach, taking the Total Football technique he learned as a player to win virtually every single title he could with the team.
He became the youngest manager to win the Champions League, and lead Barcelona to win the "treble," meaning every major title a team can get, with victories at the national La Liga League, the Spanish Copa del Rey, and also the Champions League. He would later also lead Bayern Munich to multiple league victories before transferring to Manchester City, where he has also won multiple titles — including several Premier Leagues.
Coach Pep's Shadow[]
Ted Lasso substitutes Jamie Tartt off the pitch with Robbie Roberts during a match between AFC Richmond vs Watford F.C.. Richmond then goes on to win the game thanks to a fantastic pass from Roy Kent and a goal from Sam Obisanya. This proved Richmond could win games without Jamie, especially when the team could work together without any negative distractions.
During a press conference, Trent Crimm asks whether Ted would keep the club's best player on the bench, and he answers that it depends on Jamie whether he would do what expected from the club. Rebecca Welton praises Ted about his decision benching Jamie, but Man City called and asked for their player to be returned if Richmond only keep him benched.
After a bond moment between the players, Rebecca decides to give Jamie back to Manchester the next day. During the team meeting for the preparation against Man City, Nathan Shelley shows the squad a video of Jamie, who is commenting that Pep is a "real manager" unlike the "rodeo clown" in Ted Lasso.
During the match, Jamie makes the extra pass to his team player, Hendrick, who scores the goal. Richmond lost the game and the club gets relegated. Ted, in an interview after the game praises Pep for how sharp he looked during the game.
Jamie returns to Richmond, and now being coached by his former Captain, Roy. During a training, Roy criticizing Jamie for not supporting Richard Montlaur when he was dribbling the ball, but Jamie argues that he needed to give Richard some space, which he learnt from Pep. Jan Maas agrees with Jamie but argue that he didn't get it from Pep, but from Johan Cruyff.
The Lessons[]
Ted has a hallucinogenic epiphany in Amsterdam in which he learns all about the history of triangles and their relation to sports. This inspires him to create a new tactic for Richmond that will, hopefully, enable them to play with fewer restrictions. Coach Beard later informs Ted that his tactic is called "Total Football". Total Football allows teams to create fluid and effective attacks, but it's also more complex than that. For example, the modern tiki-taka system, made famous by Pep Guardiola, embraces elements of Total Football to great effect.
Ted and Pep shake hands after the match
Beard then teaches the Richmond players the history of Total Football and also Pep Guardiola's career in many clubs including Man City. Ted thinks loudly that Pep has a great style and hair before he shaved it off and how much he admired him.
Richmond has been having a 15-game winning streak, and a victory in their upcoming match against Manchester City will put them in contention to win the Premier League. During the match, Manchester City fans heckle Jamie. Despite this, he assists Colin Hughes in scoring a goal. As the game is nearing its end, he injures his ankle preventing a goal.
Rather than replacing him, Ted waits for Jamie to recover, forcing Richmond to play with just 10 players. Ted's suggestion that Jamie forgive his father motivates Jamie to return to the game. He scores a goal in the final minutes, clinching Richmond's victory and earning the local audience's support.
Pep and Ted shake hands after the match, and he congratulates the Richmond coach for the winning. He tells Ted the secret of playing football:
“Don’t worry about wins or losses. Just help these guys be the best version of themselves on and off the pitch. This, at the end, is the most important thing.”
Ted couldn't agree more and called him coach. When he returns to Beard, both of them are giddy and fanboying because they've met Pep. Pep also hugs Jamie and have a friendly short chat. Nobody can hear what they are saying, but Pep looks proud at Jamie.
From Arlo White's cheat sheet:[]
- Tactical genius
- Sharp dresser