Puyol: Vilanova perfect to replace Guardiola
Reuters - Saturday 28 April 2012, 12:35
Tito Vilanova is the ideal
man to continue
developing Barcelona's eye-catching brand of football,
according to captain Carles Puyol.
Vilanova is to step up from assistant to take the reins at Camp Nou next season after Guardiola announced on Friday he
would not be continuing beyond the end of the current campaign.
After an astonishing four-year reign, during which he led
Barca to 13 titles, including two Champions League triumphs,
Guardiola said he needed to take time out to recharge his
batteries.
"We all wanted Pep to continue," Barca's shaggy-haired
defender Puyol told a news conference on Saturday.
"Once he had decided to go for the reasons he gave, which we
understand and respect, the best news we could have had was that
Tito Vilanova would be staying.
"It's a blow Guardiola is going, but Tito staying means the
project continues. Tito knows the team better than anyone, knows
a great deal about football, and understands the philosophy
perfectly.
"He is the ideal person to continue the project."
Vilanova, a former Barca youth team player, has been
assistant to his close personal friend Guardiola for the last
five years, starting out with him in the dugout with the
Barcelona B team.
SURPRISE EXIT
Spanish international Puyol thanked Guardiola for what he
achieved with the club and admitted no one in the squad had any
idea he was not going to renew his contract.
"We hadn't picked it up at all, a week ago I would have bet
everything on Pep continuing," Puyol said.
"We have to thank Pep for everything he has given us. He
marks a before and an after in football."
In the last week, Barca were knocked out of the Champions
League by Chelsea and saw their chances of winning a fourth
consecutive La Liga crown all but disappear when they lost 2-1
at home to leaders Real Madrid last weekend.
They travel to Madrid to play Rayo Vallecano in La Liga on
Sunday, seven points behind Real, who host Sevilla earlier that
day, with four matches left to play.
However, they still have the King's Cup final against
Athletic Bilbao, who they beat to lift the trophy in 2009, which
offers the chance for a 14th title of the Guardiola era before
he leaves.
"You are always motivated to win a title," Puyol added, "but
now what we want to do, is to win it for him."
The final is to be played at the Calderon in Madrid on May
25.