The Barcelona boss discussed various aspects of life in the Camp Nou hotseat in an interview with Barça TV, including the pressure, while also commenting on his playing career and admitting that he never envisaged moving into coaching.
The pressure:“I don’t let it affect me. Ultimately you have to put up barriers to protect yourself; these things would affect any human being otherwise”.
Setting the highest standards and constantly striving for more: “Being praised constantly weakens you. You have to develop every year. The biggest challenge is to keep winning and kicking on in every competition”.
Ambition: “We have to keep improving; this team has what it takes to break records. We’ve got some really attractive challenges ahead of us”.
The dressing room: “I like there to be a good atmosphere in the dressing room, for music to be played before matches. We have to entertain the fans and have a good time ourselves”.
His man-management skills and communication style:“I like to be close to the players and listen to what they’ve got to say and feel. Then I make decisions from a coach’s point of view, thinking about what’s best for the team. The players are smart enough to understand that”.
Youth development: “Parents should force their kids to study and let them enjoy their football”.
His playing days: “What I really enjoyed was scoring goals, setting them up and making tackles”.
Adapting to coaching: “I never thought I would become a coach and I found it hard at first”.
His future:“When I leave Barça I’m sure I’ll take at least a year off”.
