In his previous life, Gao Shen had read a passage in Guardiola's autobiography, Another Way to Victory.
Ferguson had once told Guardiola that it was best not to manage a team for more than four years.
Many people might scoff at that.
Damn, this old guy Ferguson isn't being fair. He coached Manchester United for decades, but he told Guardiola not to manage a team for more than four years? Isn't that ridiculous?
But in truth, this criticism of Ferguson isn't fair.
If you look at it more deeply, Ferguson's point wasn't just about managers. What he meant was that a group of players shouldn't be together for more than four years.
This logic isn't unique to football. It also exists in corporate management.
Freshness.
When someone has been in the same position for more than four years, even if they've mastered their work, they lose freshness. That lack of stimulation leads to a loss of passion, and their work becomes mechanical and repetitive.
That's true for individuals, and even more so for groups.
The final result for a team is that something feels inexplicably off.
The players are still the same. The tactics are still the same. But the team's overall performance keeps declining.
People will offer all sorts of explanations—fatigue, loss of hunger, lack of motivation.
But no matter what you do, nothing changes.
When that happens, the team usually has two options: restructure or change the coach.
Take Klopp's Dortmund as an example.
Many say Klopp was sacked because his high-intensity tactics burned out his players. That's not entirely wrong—but it's not the whole picture either.
The real reason?
That team had hit its ceiling.
Everyone, including Klopp, could see it clearly. There was no room left to grow.
From reaching the Champions League final in 2013 and losing to Bayern, to being eliminated by Real Madrid in the 2014 quarter-finals, everyone at Dortmund knew: without strengthening, they weren't going any further.
That realization is terrifying.
It spreads like a virus.
It's like a person who sees no hope. They fall into despair and give up.
So, what we saw in the end was a completely different Dortmund.
And that was no accident.
The reason Ferguson could manage Manchester United for so many years was because, whenever he sensed a downturn, he decisively restructured the team.
That's why United rebuilt every few years.
This applies not just to top clubs but to mid- and lower-tier teams as well.
In the 2013-14 season, Southampton finished eighth in the Premier League—a strong result. But there wasn't much room for further improvement.
A core group of players had been together since League One. Some joined in the Championship. They were very familiar with each other. When Pochettino led the team to success, he left for Tottenham.
At that point, Southampton carried out a major squad overhaul.
If you look closely at their moves that summer, you'll notice they didn't actually make a big profit.
They earned over £110 million in transfer fees by selling players like Luke Shaw and Adam Lallana, but spent over £87 million bringing in Mané, Shane Long, Tadić, Pellè, and others.
This doesn't even include internal contract renewals and increased wage costs.
Southampton's recruitment was very professional, but that didn't mean they were flawless. Several high-fee transfers failed to meet expectations.
However, players like Mané, Tadić, Pellè, and Bertrand performed well. So, people quickly forgot the ones who flopped.
Through this reshuffling, Southampton's performance even improved—until they hit their next ceiling.
On the other hand, if they had kept Pochettino and the original core, that would've been a different strategy—relying on small, targeted reinforcements to lift the team to the next level.
But that approach carries risk. Can the existing players maintain their previous performance?
Will the new players match expectations?
This depends on a club's ability to handle risk—especially financial risk.
Some might ask, what if we just stay put? Don't sell, don't buy?
That doesn't work.
Countless examples have proven that stagnation leads nowhere.
Take Manchester City this season. Gao Shen didn't bring in any new signings. He only sold Adam Lallana.
But when the season began, Gao Shen constantly adjusted his starting lineup, rotated players, and experimented with different playing styles. All of this relied on the elite individual qualities of the City squad and their incredible bench depth.
What other Premier League team could afford to do that?
The reason for mentioning all this is simple: Barcelona is now stuck.
In La Liga, they're still dominant. They could win matches with their eyes closed.
In the Champions League, their performances are still strong, and their playing style hasn't changed.
The players are the same. The midfield trio of Xavi, Busquets, and Iniesta remains untouchable. The defense is Puyol and Piqué, with Alves and Vargas. Up front, it's the same trident.
It's been several years, and nothing has changed.
And now, Barcelona's mobility is visibly declining.
Is it just physical?
Sure, Xavi is 32. Maybe he can't run like before. But what about Messi and Iniesta?
To put it bluntly, it's a lack of freshness, of stimulation, of excitement.
Why do men who marry beautiful wives still cheat?
Because they're bored. They want a thrill.
The more successful a professional footballer is, the higher their threshold for motivation. The harder it is to get them going.
That's why many top players fight like mad before they've won anything.
But once they've reached the top, their form often collapses.
It's human nature.
You see the same thing in the entertainment industry, in finance, among high achievers. The weirder their behavior gets, the more they're chasing new sensations.
Compared to Barcelona, Manchester City is in a much better state.
Internal competition is fierce. No one can afford to slack off.
Slip up for even a moment, and you lose your spot.
With Gao Shen constantly pushing the squad, making bold promises, and dishing out motivational speeches, how could anyone lose their edge?
In Gao Shen's eyes, that's City's biggest advantage over Barcelona.
The weekend after the Champions League draw, the Premier League entered Round 29. But Manchester City's home match against Chelsea was postponed to the following Wednesday because they had an FA Cup fixture over the weekend.
In the FA Cup quarter-finals, Manchester City hosted Stoke City.
Gao Shen rotated his lineup, and the team won 2-1 thanks to goals from Suarez and Gareth Bale.
Crouch scored for Stoke.
The tall Englishman netted an unorthodox goal that left City's defenders stunned.
With that win, Manchester City advanced to the semi-finals, where they would face Everton at home.
A favorable draw.
Midweek, in Round 29 of the Premier League, Manchester City hosted Chelsea.
Di Matteo adopted a defensive setup away from home, while City heavily rotated their squad.
The match was tight, but City controlled the ball and gradually asserted themselves in the second half.
First, Van Persie punished an error from Essien to open the scoring.
Then, in the 85th minute, Sturridge came off the bench and set up Hazard to double the lead.
In the end, Manchester City beat Chelsea 2-0 at home.
That weekend brought Round 30 of the Premier League.
Having just played Stoke in the FA Cup, City would face them again in the league one week later.
Crouch again scored for Stoke.
The big man caused serious problems for City's defense.
Fortunately, Manchester City equalized in the second half. Yaya Touré's goal earned a 1-1 draw away from home.
After the match, Gao Shen led the team back to Manchester overnight.
The focus immediately shifted to preparations for the Champions League quarter-final first leg at Camp Nou.
For Gao Shen, the match against Barcelona was the real focus. The other games were just warm-ups.
After two weeks of analysis and preparation, Gao Shen and his coaching staff had a complete game plan for facing Barcelona. Gao Shen, in particular, had always known how he wanted to approach it. He just needed to fine-tune the details.
Three days after returning to Manchester, the team departed again, this time for a long journey to Barcelona.
This was Gao Shen's first return to Camp Nou since leaving Real Madrid.
Their previous two meetings with Barcelona were in Champions League finals. This time, it was the quarter-finals.
As Barcelona technical director Zubizarreta said, this time is different.
Yes, very different.
Gao Shen felt that this time, he could truly go all in.
It was an away match. So what? Who was afraid of whom?
The Champions League knockout stage has the away goals rule, which restricts the home team and encourages the visitors to attack.
So in these ties, the away side often plays more aggressively.
In the final, Gao Shen had to be cautious and couldn't go head-to-head with Barcelona.
But this was different. If Barcelona wanted a shootout, Gao Shen would be more than happy to oblige.
If it came down to a goal-fest, who would score more? That remained to be seen.
The Catalan media were nervous.
From what they remembered, Barcelona had never beaten a team coached by Gao Shen.
The earliest clash dated back to 2006, when Gao Shen had just made his debut. Then there were two Champions League finals. Barcelona had lost all of them.
This time, they hoped Guardiola's team could finally get revenge at Camp Nou.
(To be continued.)
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