I Think Therefore I Play Read Online Free PDF Page A

chlorine.
    “Okay then, vamos .”
    I didn’t need to be asked twice. In I went. The room was furnished in sober fashion, and there was some red wine on the table. “Always a good start,” I muttered to myself. Thankfully the most envied coach in the word didn’t hear me. His way of speaking is very similar to mine – not really tenor style, let’s say.
    “Make yourself comfortable, Andrea,” he began, his Italian absolutely perfect.
    I wasn’t really bothered about much else in that room besides the person who had summoned me. Guardiola was sitting in an armchair. He began to tell me about Barcelona, saying that it’s a world apart, a perfect machine that pretty much invented itself. He wore a white shirt and a pair of dark trousers whose colour matched that of his tie. He was elegant in the extreme, much like his conversation.
    “Thank you for agreeing to meet me.”
    “Thank you for inviting me.”
    “We need you here, Andrea.”
    You could tell he wasn’t a man to beat about the bush. After a couple of minutes, he’d cut straight to the chase. As a player, his job had been to conduct the play and as a manager he’d learned to attack, always with impeccable style.
    “We’re already very strong, I really couldn’t ask for better, but you’d be the icing on the cake. We’re looking for a midfielder to alternate with Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets, and that midfielder is you. You’ve got all the attributes to play for Barcelona, and one in particular – you’re world class.”
    During that half hour I largely kept quiet and let him speak. I listened and, at most, nodded my head. I was so taken aback by the summons that my reflexes had slowed. I was more dazed than excited: shaken by the situation, but in a really positive way.
    “You know what, Andrea: we’ve made this approach because that’s how we do things round here. We don’t waste time. We want to buy you right now, and we’ve already spoken to Milan. They’ve said ‘no’, but we’ll not give up: we’re Barcelona. We’re used to hearing certain answers but, in the end, things pretty much always change. We’ll try again with Milan. In the meantime, start making a few moves with them as well.”
    Nobody had said a thing to me until then. Without even knowing, I was the object of some remarkable negotiations in the football luxury goods market.
    “If you come here, you’ll find yourself in a unique place. La Masia, our youth academy, is our pride and joy – there’s nothing like it at any other club. It runs like clockwork; it’s a philharmonic orchestra where bum notes aren’t permitted. Every year, players arrive from there ready to wear our shirt.
    “Our champions are home-made; apart from you, that is. What we do is all very wonderful, but all very demanding, too. Sometimes winning can be draining.”
    I would never have expected it. Perhaps I’d spent so much time on the PlayStation that I’d ended up inside it, sucked into a parallel universe by my favourite hobby and now at the mercy of a puppeteer with some kind of enchanted hand.
    “You’ve got to come here, Andrea. I’ve always liked you as a player. I want to coach you.”
    I immediately thought of Sandro – he’d die of jealousy when I told him. I was taking away the 50% of Guardiola that belonged to him.
    “Even though Milan have said ‘no’ for the moment, we’re not giving up. Let’s see what happens.”
    As with Real Madrid (in fact, even more so than with Real Madrid), I’d have crawled to Barcelona on all fours. At that time, they were the best team in the world – what more needs to be said? Their brand of football hadn’t been seen in a long time; all little first-time passes and an almost insane ability to maintain possession.
    Theirs was a basic philosophy – “the ball’s ours, and we’re going to keep it” – mixed with intuitive understanding and movement so impressive that it seemed orchestrated by God himself. A Rolex with Swatch