"He was semi-depressed, he didn’t leave our room for two or three days" Former roommate of Pep Guardiola recalls tough times in Spain and the 'inevitable' signs he was destined for greatness
In an interview for FourFourTwo, Albert Ferrer spoke about rooming with Guardiola and the signs that hinted at a future in management
Barcelona players line up ahead of the 1992 European Cup final - Ferrer and Guardiola crouching next to each other in the middle of the front row(Image credit: Getty Images)
Albert Ferrer recalls Pep Guardiola always being very thorough and methodical in his approach to football. Both came through the Barcelona youth system and spent eight years in the first team together, winning multiple trophies.
Speaking to FourFourTwo, Ferrer looked back on the success he enjoyed at the Nou Camp and recalls early signs that indicated Guardiola was destined to become a manager.
"Because of his position, he was used to taking decisions at an early age. He never stopped talking to Johan [Cruyff] – they were so tight," explained Ferrer. "I can’t say I saw it at the time, but looking back now, you can see he was so inquisitive and asked so many questions that it was inevitable."
Johan Cruyff coaching his Barcelona team (Image credit: Getty Images)
Ferrer and Guardiola were international teammates too, rooming together as Spain won gold on home soil in the 1992 Olympics.
Despite success on the pitch, there were difficulties off it, with much of the squad suffering from boredom at an isolated training camp in the build up to the tournament.
"The training camp in Segovia was unbearable – there was nothing there. It was simply training every day in this remote town, eating, then back to our room," said Ferrer, who later played for Chelsea.
"I think he was semi-depressed. He didn’t leave our room for two or three days; he just read his books, not talking to anyone. At one point I thought, ‘I’ll have to do something here. This is a massive tournament, on home soil, and he’s one of our best players’. Those days were so tough.
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"But by the time we got to Valencia and the tournament itself, it was all better. And Pep was superb in that tournament – our conductor."
Sean Cole is a freelance journalist. He has written for FourFourTwo, BBC Sport and When Saturday Comes among others. A Birmingham City supporter and staunch Nikola Zigic advocate, he once scored a hat-trick at St. Andrew’s (in a half-time game). He also has far too many football shirts and spends far too much time reading the Wikipedia pages of obscure players.
