Guardiola Possibility

With Fenway Sports Group apparently in search of a young manager to lead the club for at least 4 to 5 years Pep Guardiola would seem to be the perfect candidate. At the age of 41 Guardiola is young enough to oversee long term development at the club and build a formidable team.

Guardiola's Barcelona squad has been called the best to ever play the game and whilst this has been achieved through a large amount of spending on players such as David Villa and Alexis Sanchez, there have also been several wonders who have come through the ranks at the club and this is likely to be appealing to the owners who have already put a large amount of capital into the club and are likely to be less willing to repeat this level of spending.

Whilst Guardiola gets his team to play creative, stylish football there is a question of whether this style of play would suit the current Liverpool players. Guardiola encourages his team to "keep the ball and play in the opposition's half" and this may not work for players such as Charlie Adam and Andy Carroll. Adam is known as a long pass player and although this can create opportunities it is unlikely to keep the ball as much as Guardiola would demand. In terms of Andy Carroll, a player who thrives on the long ball forward and crosses coming into the box, he may struggle and become frustrated if his team plays a style of football involving several short passes and quick movement off the ball, this can be seen in the failed spell of Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Barcelona, a physical player whose role has been taken by the much smaller and more nimble Lionel Messi. However players like Suarez would be more likely to thrive under Guardiola, his quick play and intelligent movement would mean he would fit into a Guardiola style system.

Guardiola is a proven winner and will be unattached after confirming he will leave Barcelona. However Guardiola has suggested he will be taking a break from football for a year and it could take a lot of convincing to change his mind but maybe a chance to manage one of football's true elite teams and the spirit of Liverpool Football Club and the knowledge of the fans could be enough to persuade the Spaniard to take the role not to mention the possibility of a hefty wage packet.

Whilst I would be happy with the appointment of Guardiola his experience so far has been with a club that he has been involved with for several years and understands well, he could struggle at a new club until he understands how the club works. Therefore I believe that for this appointment to work the full backing of the board would be required and time would need to be given for him to build his squad and bring talent through the youth system.

Benitez would still be my first choice but certainly Guardiola would not be a bad second choice. Maybe the club needs someone of his stature to take it forward. A big name for a massive club.