Can Pep Guardiola’s stay in Germany be really labelled a success?

As the sun sets on the former Barcelona gaffer’s time in Bavaria, Manchester City fans can start to smack their lips at the prospect of having one of the world’s best managers prowling on the Eastlands touchline. But before he does that, like Michael Owen would say “he has to leave Bayern Munich!”, and since he’s not doing that until May, the jury is still out on his stint in Germany, and every result will be scrutinized with daggers out and many a question unanswered. Has his reign taken Bayern Munich to a different level from when he took them on after Jupp Heynckes decided to hang his managerial boots, or have they remained where they were? Or maybe even regressed?

This might appear to be a simple yes-no question, but the moment you start answering it you see the different layers to it and figure out how tricky it gets with each passing layer. Most fans and pundits will probably label it a success just because of the Guardiola factor and the slight bias that comes with a legendary name as his, but that would be oversimplifying things. Looking at results alone, which his side have earned, would be like judging a book by its cover, not telling the entire story, or probably even the half of it. Winning and losing could be the defining markers from a hawk-eye view, but when judging a manager’s tenure at a club, a lot of other factors need to be accounted as well as the circumstances in play. How strong or viable the bridge built across the past and the future is, of the said club, plays a key role in reaching a conclusion to round off what the manager has accomplished.

However, looking with the lens of Bayern Munich’s lofty standards, these results, that too on the trot, begin to look unacceptable. Even the league titles and the DFB-Pokal appear to be heirlooms they were expected to hold on to, and hence they don’t get credited as much. Bayern’s hegemony in Bundesliga is well-known, and it is expected that the only yardstick that the fans can measure them agaisnt is Europe. Former coach Jupp Heynckes had set the bar high in this regard, winning the Champions League and thus leaving huge boots to fill. Naturally people expected Guardiola to repeat the feat, especially with his pedigree and Bayern’s winning side seeming a match made in heaven. But alas, Guardiola and Bayern failed, exiting the competition at the semis to Real Madrid. Many conspiracy theories went around as to how it was the first season, expecting Bayern to show signs of improvement in the second, with a more-settled squad cherry picked by Guardiola.

But Guardiola has also made some debatable transfer decisions. Toni Kroos was offloaded to Real Madrid, while Bastian Schweinsteiger was sold to Manchester United - both Bayern youth and very popular among the Allianz faithful. Kroos was replaced with the signing of Xabi Alonso, while Arturo Vidal was brought in to replace the German skipper. More so, Mehdi Benatia was signed from Roma when Bayern needed a quality center half in the summer of 2014, as the injury-prone Holger Badstuber could no longer be entrusted with a starting spot. Thiago Alcantara, the exciting yet composed midfielder from Barcelona, followed his mentor and has been a brilliant purchase.

The fact that Guardiola has failed to win the Champions League is a failure on his part but isn’t something that is strange. The man has built the foundation of a club that consisted of a core that was full of ageing players and has overhauled it by bringing in young players to replace them, passing on the baton successfully. Pep might not have filled the trophy cabinet to the brim, but he has fine-tuned the identity of the club in a manner that no other manager could probably have. When a manager’s contributions at a club aren’t decided solely by how much or what he has won and lost, one will find Guardiola’s stint at Bayern Munich not only productive and successful but also one that laid a blueprint for a bright and sustained future - the hallmark of a great manager.