Pep Off To Bavaria

The news of Pep Guardiola's appointment at Bayern Munich is not a shock. It will be a story a lot of people will keep an eye on.

His achievements at Barcelona have marked him out for being a maverick and also been disregarded because of the quality of the players available to him. Both sides of the debate will have their opinions but what I look at is the state of Barcelona in the summer of 2008. They were side dissolved in mediocrity for a club of their standards. Finishing 19 points behind their great rivals Real Madrid was compounded by finishing a further 10 points behind second placed Villarreal. In fact Barcelona only got Champions League qualification by 3 points from Sevilla, it showed the task that  Pep had at hand after his successful spell as coach of Barcelona's B side.

The turnaround in 2008/09 lead to the current side been regarded as the greatest club side in history, the facts speak for themselves since then. It's not Pep's fault he inherited talents like Messi, Iniesta, Xavi to name a few but his transfer dealings were the catapult to where they ended up in Rome on that evening in May 2009. The signings of Seydou Keita, Gerard Pique, Dani Alves added to a squad who were on their knees following a disappointing 2007/08 season.

Now that he has had his sabbatical, he has chosen to go to probably the best league in Europe at the moment, Bundesliga and the giants four-time European Champions Bayern Munich. A lot of the press will say "he shunned" such and such a club, but really what is on offer in the Premier League is he guaranteed a job. Like Rafael Benitez, the longer you wait the harder it becomes to be relevant again as a coach and like Rafa he has jumped at a great opportunity.

If it is anything like the run he had at Barcelona, Bayern fans will be in for a treat. 2012/13 season just had its first big move. Currently the runaway leaders in Germany at the moment and looking like taking the title back to Bavaria, he will inherit a talented squad of players but no doubt some additions will be brought in. Unlike Barcelona, he will not know the in's and out's of Bayern but his character will make him immerse himself in all aspects of the club. Personally for me it will be intriguing to see how Pep Guardiola vs. Jurgen Klopp will go next season, sure to be entertaining.