One of the main coaches in history, Pep Guardiola, did a lot of harm to football. The opinion is from none other than Lionel Messi, who worked with the coach at Barcelona. For the Argentine, many tried without success to copy the style that Guardiola’s team achieved between 2008 and 2012.
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“He did a lot of harm to football. It seemed so easy and so simple that everyone wanted to copy it. Then I met a lot of Guardiolas out there. And then you realize what we did – said Messi, in an interview with former player Jorge Valdano carried out before the 2022 World Cup.
Valdano, who was world champion with Argentina in 1986 and later pursued a career as a commentator in Spain, completed Messi’s reasoning:
“Exactly. Even in the second or third divisions the defenders were running forward.”
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Messi, however, did not hesitate to say that Guardiola was the best coach he had in his career.
“Without a doubt. He has something special, especially in the preparation of each game and also in his communication with the players, in the way he gave us the strategy”.
It’s worth remembering that together, Messi and Guardiola won 16 titles at Barcelona during four seasons. Among the main achievements are the second Champions League title and three Spanish Championship titles.
