Domenec Torrent has been named as one of four Assistant Coaches. Torrent, the grandson of a former Barcelona player, has worked closely alongside Pep for the past eight years including four years at Barca and a further three at Bayern Munich.
He first joined City’s new boss when he took over at Barcelona B in 2008, helping the Catalans’ second team to win promotion at the first attempt.
Domenec played as a midfielder at U.E. Olot and managed Palamos and Girona in Spain between 2003 and 2006.
Torrent is one of the Pep’s most trusted lieutenants, usually sits next to him on the bench and at Bayern Munich and Barca was the only coach who would also give team-talks.
Performance Analyst Carles Planchart has worked with Guardiola since 2007.
At Bayern and Barca, Planchart analysed the collective, individual, strategic and tactical aspects of the team’s play after which Guardiola will often work one-on-one with a player to enhance particular areas of his game.
Like all of the backroom room team, he is renowned for his attention to detail and in an interview in 2015, he revealed some of the secrets of how the coaching team operate
“There are basically two parts to this job: the analysis of your own team and that of your opponent,” said Planchart. “And they are two entirely different tasks. You’re working in a club that has a game every three days, so you just don’t have time to correct all their mistakes on the pitch. You therefore need to use other methods to communicate the corrections which are impossible to get through to them during a game. If you happen to have a whole week of training sessions then, of course, you can plan a series of exercises to correct the errors. Often, the most efficient method is to show them visual images, because that gets the idea across very quickly.”
Fitness Coach Lorenzo Buenaventura joined Guardiola at Barcelona in 2008. After helping shape Barca and Bayern into two of Europe’s most intensive sides, he will work to build stamina and pace which is a trademark of every team Guardiola has managed and has previously included an aggressive press that requires optimum fitness levels.
Buenaventura will be involved in planning specific training sessions and individual programmes and arrives with an unrivalled reputation for helping injured players rehabilitate.
Also joining the new City boss at the Etihad will be Manel Estiarte who, again, was with Pep at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
Manel is an Olympic gold medallist having represented Spain 578 times at water polo and became the first water polo player to represent his country at six Olympic Games.
A lifelong trusted friend and confidante, Estiarte’s wide knowledge of the sporting world is often something Pep likes to tap into, particularly when looking at innovative ways to inspire the players in certain situations.
Manel takes on the role of Head of Player Support and Protocol.
As announced earlier, former Arsenal, Everton and Rangers midfielder Mikel Arteta, joins Pep’s coaching team after leaving the Gunners over the summer.
Arteta started life with Barcelona’s junior sides before spending time on loan with Paris St Germain and eventually joining Glasgow Rangers. Full story here.
Rodolfo Borrell will also join Pep’s backroom staff and has a reputation of nurturing some of football’s most precocious talents.
It was Borrell who was Lionel Messi’s first coach at Barca and he also helped the development of Cesc Fabregas and Andres Iniesta during his time at the Camp Nou.
He was Technical Director and Head of Coaching for Liverpool FC’s Academy after Rafa Benitez brought him to England in 2009.
While on Merseyside, he helped bring through players like Raheem Sterling, Jon Flanagan and Jordan Ibe, but he left the club in 2014 and joined City.
For the past two seasons he has been the Academy Technical Director, looking after the youth teams from U21s down to U9s.
Borrell will now become part of Guardiola’s backroom team as an Assistant Coach.
Xabier Mancisidor, who arrived at City in 2013 as part of Manuel Pellegrini’s backroom staff will continue as Head of Goalkeeping
Brian Kidd, who arrived on the coaching staff in 2009 will also continue in his current role of Assistant Coach at the Club.
