Tito Vilanova

• Birthplace: Bellcaire d'Emporda, Spain
• Previous Clubs: FCBarcelona

Profile::: The man who had to step into the shoes of the great Pep Guardiola at Barcelona was the same man who had been Barcelona's assistant under Pep since 2008.

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Tito Vilanova is the new Barcelona boss

Given his first job in management because he "represents the play style, the analysis, the planning, the commitment and the personality" of the club he began his playing career with in 1984, Vilanova's appointment raised many eyebrows but also soothed many Catalan concerns. A La Masia graduate, Vilanova joined Barça's youth system in 1984 and, after making the jump to Barca B and featuring in three first-team friendlies, his career took him to Figueres, Celta, Badajoz, Mallorca, Lleida, Elche and Gramene before he retired in 2002. As a manager, he returned to the Nou Camp with FC Barcelona's Cadete B (Under-15) team in the 2001-02 season, and after a spell as technical director at Terrassa, he became the assistant manager of Barcelona's B team, working under Guardiola for the first time. When Guardiola was promoted to first-team duties, Vilanova followed and his first season was the most successful in Barcelona's history, with the club winning six major trophies and becoming the first team in Spain to win the domestic cup, league and European club titles (the treble) in the same season. Trophies continued to flow with Vilanova a key part of the club's success behind the scenes. So much so that when Guardiola decided to quit in 2012, he was announced as the new coach of Barcelona and said: "I coached youth football at Barca in 2002-03 and I worked with players like Pique, Messi, Cesc and Vazquez, so I'm really looking forward to it." The watching world is as well. Strengths: A good man-manager, he knows the club and its philosophy inside out and has vast experience of coaching the Barcelona players from an early age. Weaknesses: Tactically he may be lacking when things need to change and his media work will take some time to get used to. Being in the spotlight may not suit him well. Career high: Being given the chance to succeed Guardiola. Not bad for a first managerial job. Career low: Seeing Guardiola leave with only the Copa del Rey trophy and Madrid in pole position would have hurt in 2011-12. Tactics: Barcelona's 4-1-2-3 system is tried and tested but it remains to be seen how he adapts when chasing a game. He would have been part of the 3-4-3 that Guardiola played in parts of his final season and there could be some fluidity there but the key will be how his uses his substitutions and rotates his star players. Quotes: "Why Tito? Because he's brave, it's a huge, demanding challenge, because of where we've been and where we're going, it's huge. He's capable, he knows the idea and he has experienced the club from within. As Pep said, our success until now is partly down to him." Director of football Andoni Zubizarreta when asked why appoint Tito. Trivia: Vilanova has already had a run in with Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho during a fractious Spanish Super Cup clash between the clubs in August when he was poked in the eye by the Portuguese.
source:::ESPN search by keshav