As smooth as you like: Guardiola arrives

style="float: right; margin-bottom: 10px; font-weight: 600;"Tue 25th Jun, 2013

"I am ready," he said in a buoyant, slightly clunky foreign accent. There's certainly no doubt the city of Munich has been for quite some time and as Pep Guardiola stepped into Bayern's pressroom to deliver his opening gambit, in German of course, it was clear Germany's new sporting media darling had been born.

From the cut of Guardiola's immaculate three-piece suit to the manner in which he wielded various languages, Guardiola won over an already doting audience with consummate ease. "It's an honour. Not only to be here but that Bayern Munich thought I deserved to be here." Respectful suited the ironed-on smiles of the elderly members of the bench accompanying him: The suitably forgotten Uli Hoeness and the charming Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. The fourth and final member was the other young gun, Matthias Sammer. The combination of his drive with Guardiola's meticulous nature could bring terrifying results for the rest of European football.

Away from his comments on handling pressure, denying the start of a new era and the time he needs to adjust, Guardiola did what all great actors do and impressed without revealing much. Template questions were followed with short, concise answers and the curveballs, whether language or content related, were calmly dealt with. His amusing quip about his German teacher nearly stopping him from coming to Munich because they were a Dortmund fan tickled an awe-struck audience who have seemingly donned the rose-tinted glasses before a ball has been kicked.

As the questions finished and the cameras frantically clicked away, Guardiola walked out on the pitch for what felt like one of the most lavish managerial press conferences in footballing history. Following a high five with the club's mascots, Guardiola was photographed with an Audi (a club sponsor) before soaking in the quiet interior of the stadium, in turn allowing for some pensive, dugout shots to be taken. The attention of modern media, particularly in football, has led us to an ambiguous area beyond the pitch. Every aspect has become relevant and although every article (this one included) will mention the swish nature of his suit, its inclusion is far from superficial.

Training starts on Wednesday and with a 25,000 capacity crowd expected, the session will no longer take place at the training ground but at the stadium instead. The Guardiola circus has well and truly begun.


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