A guy who grows up when he stops following the saying "it's better to be king of your silence than slave to your words" and decides to be king of his words, and if someone doesn't like it, what can you do? Let them get some leaves.
This is the case with Pep Guardiola. This week, Guardiola has finally grown up. And not because he turns 55 next month, but because of the recital he gave to the Spanish media in the Real Madrid press room. He didn't even wait for the match to be played, and the day before, he was already reminding them of what they used to say about him peeing cologne.
Just counting all the titles he has won (39 in seventeen years, in Spain, Germany, and England), he already deserved respect. Not only does he have nothing to lose, but he has won everything. Furthermore, the style of play his teams have employed has defined an era in world football.
But, against all evidence, there are those in the Spanish press who can't stand the sight of him. I understand them: he reminds them of their worst defeats. Guardiola is a winner, he's a Barça fan, and he's Catalan. Specifically, he's pro-independence, and that doesn't fit into the provincial view, which has always been presented to us as a worldview, consisting of worshipping Real Madrid and Spain as the only true religions.
Although much less so, Pep has also been criticized in Catalonia. Envy is a bad thing. Adapting a phrase from the historic columnist of The New Yorker Lillian Ross in the book Here, but not entirely (Saldonar), "if someone were to make a list of journalists who have dedicated their time and attention to attacking others, it would be easy to come up with a list of journalists overwhelmed by their own problems."
