Rosell to avoid war of words with Guardiola

Posted Sunday, July 14, 2013 by Marca.com

Barcelona has drawn up its communications strategy to respond to Pep Guardiola's press conference. Rosell will speak on Monday, but not in a press conference. He will talk on Josep Cuní's programme on '8tv'. Tito Vilanova and Andoni Zubizarreta will give a press conference the following day after the squad's first training session.

Since Guardiola held his inflammatory press conference on Thursday, several meetings have been held between the club's top brass in order to decide how to respond to the manager. There have been a variety of opinions, from those who wanted a forceful response to those who advised caution and not to rekindle the war of words with the former manager. In the end, the latter sentiment has won out.

Rosell will offer a conciliatory image without responding directly to the manager's comments. The president is well aware that Guardiola is the most successful manager in the club's history and has no intention of remaining at odds with him.

Furthermore, he will make it clear that Barcelona and its directors have never criticised Guardiola. On the contrary, he will point to some of his previous speeches, in which he praised the job done by the manager and stated that he believes that Guardiola is the best manager that Barcelona has ever had.