Is Guardiola the reason behind Barca success?

Most  football fans would agree that Barcelona have got the best team in the World at the moment and Champions league final against Manchester United proved that. You can argue that United were not at their best on the day or that Barca were lucky to eliminate Chelsea, but nobody can argue that Pep Guardiola’s team play the best football in Europe and still manage to win trophies. This has been the most successful season in club’s history as never have one club from Spain won Primera, Copa del Rey and Champions League titles in the course of a single season. Is it just a coincidence that this has happened during Josep Guardiola’s first season in charge of the Catalans, or maybe he is the reason behind Barca success?

Guardiola’s opponents will say that this is practically the same team from last season and that they were bound to come good at some point. However, this is not entirely true. While Frank Rijkaard tolerated players like Ronaldinho and Deco, who were evidently in the closing stage of their careers, Pep Guardiola made a bold move by letting two very important players leave and he thus got rid off two star players who often disturbed the atmosphere in the team. The young coach believed that good atmosphere in the team was the basis for success and how he was right. Even star players like Henry, Eto’o and Messi had to give everything they’d got for the team and this is definitely one of the reasons behind big success. Is it just a coincidence that Messi played his best season ever under Guardiola?

Guardiola has spent much of his playing career at Barcelona and he definitely knows how the club work, while his time as a coach of B team allowed him to spot the talent of Sergio Busquets, who featured heavily in club’s drive for success. The boss thus kept the Catalan core of the team, which is simply essential for every Barca side. Players like Xavi, Messi, Iniesta and Puyol know what Barcelona is all about and they were the ones leading this team forward throughout the season. Guardiola didn’t make too many changes to the style of play as 4-3-3 formation is something the Catalans are famous for but he gave more freedom to midfield players, namely Xavi and Iniesta, which produced excellent results. The team played attractive attacking football in every single match, regardless of the opponent and when a team win everything that can be won playing like they did, we can only say, hats off to them!

Pep Guardiola is the man who made all this happen and I am quite positive that Frank Rijkaard would not have won all the trophies had he remained in charge. Guardiola has got all the qualities required to become a world-class coach and I am sure that he will go on to achieve great things in the future.

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