Guardiol' s hardest ride

Assessing Pep Guardiola and his era at Bayern Munich might be complicated. Has the 45-year-old football mastermind been successful in his three years or not? Was the Catalonian the right coach at the right time? You might get diverse answers depending on your perspective.

Fact is: Looking at the upcoming months, Guardiola and Bayern face the maybe toughest challenge ever. You might say there is just a job to do. Sure there is, but the situation couldn't be more complex as Guardiola in December announced to leave next summer and Bayern promptly presented Carlo Ancelotti as their next coach. When considering Guardiola's Bavarian era, winning the Champions League or failing again might help to create answers. The next approximately four months will be Guardiola's hardest ride in his career so far.

The perhaps most important question that has to be answered is: Is it enough when you can call a coach a development worker at this high level or is it vital that you win international titles besides the national successes?

It seems to be the key question and a heavy burden on the shoulders of all in Munich. 2013 Jupp Heynckes achieved what Guardiola is dreaming of despite the latter seemingly hiding his true feelings by statements that try to indicate a man at ease. Heynckes, knowing he would leave, won the treble.

"Titles are just numbers. Football is emotion," said Guardiola recently. He asked to be admired for the "football my team plays, not for the trophies I won, titles are nothing." He is both right and wrong. A coach taking over a club like Bayern Munich has to win international titles. That is part of his job profile. Looking at Bayern's style with Guardiola in charge, even critical pundits must admit: Bayern's play has never before been of such beauty. Under Guardiola, Bayern has no longer been accused of playing ice-cold football and being lucky. Non-Bayern fans called it "Bayern-luck" (Bayern-Dusel).

But after all, Guardiola was employed to develop Bayern Munich which he has undoubtedly done when it comes to tactics and flexibility. Bayern need and wanted an international figure like him to push the club forward to new international heights. Bayern wanted to close the gap to the big boys like Real Madrid and Barcelona. Today you would say, they have (well Guardiola has), but the final proof is still lacking. It will come if Bayern reverses previous results when they were painfully beaten in the past two years by Real and Barcelona in the semifinals of the Champions League.

Today the judgement on him has changed. Guardiola is seen less than a magical coach but more as a pragmatist who is not inevitably part of the furniture standing for emotions. This has turned out to be a certain problem in a club built on emotions and "homemade" world class stars. Guardiola lets on only very little keeping most of his thoughts to himself. His next challenge will be not to lose a team of individuals that have a high amount of self-motivation and keep an eye on the team spirit. Not all of Bayern's top players are sad about him leaving (for instance Franck Ribery). Guardiola has to watch his relationship to every squad member until he leaves.

After all Bayern and Guardiola for the rest of their time together can be seen as a partnership of convenience that has been through a lot of power struggles after Guardiola tried to test his influence within the club before being limited by the club bosses when it came to transfer decision-making and the battles with the team doctor.

Hesitating to make a clear statement and stay longer, Guardiola first lost a lot of sympathy and the understanding of Uli Hoeness. But now the former club president is the man everybody at Bayern Munich is counting on as he will leave jail after serving the two-year sentence for tax offences. When the second half of the German Bundesliga seasons kicks off this Friday evening with Bayern Munich's game in Hamburg, the imminent return of Hoeness (until now he is responsible for the club's youth teams) might help solve possible problems during the last meters of Guardiola and Bayern. The first serious test is waiting when Guardiola and Bayern meet Juventus Turin mid-February and mid-March in the round of the last 16 in the Champions League.

What Guardiola and Bayern need to do is to create a happy end and to get off to a good start in the second leg of the season as seven of their first ten games are away. They have to be aware that partnerships in football are most of the time contracts for a certain time, but not always a long-lasting love affair.

At the end Guardiola will have won several titles with Bayern (to date two German championships, one cup win, the European Supercup and the Club World Cup) and everyone has to decide if it was an inspiring and successful time together, no matter the number of titles. Endit