Is Pep Guardiola The Greatest Manager Of All Time?

 

Is Pep Guardiola The Greatest Manager Of All Time?

 

One of the most popular questions in modern football apart from “Messi or Ronaldo”?  is “is Pep Guardiola  the greatest manager of all time?” Sometimes, that question will come in the form of “Pep  Guardiola or Sir Alex Ferguson?” It’s still the same argument because many believe Sir  Alex to be the greatest manager of all time.

So “is  Pep Guardiola the greatest manager of all time?”

First of all, Pep Guardiola’s trophy cabinet as a coach is absolutely insane. The man has been coaching for just 15 years, but he is already one of the most decorated managers of all time. As a matter of fact, he’s the 2nd, behind only  – yeah, you guessed right – Sir Alex Ferguson. Guardiola has won 35 trophies in 15 years, while  Sir Alex Ferguson won 49 trophies in 39 years. At this rate, Pep is almost sure to retire as the most decorated manager of all time.

As far as Europe is concerned,  only Carlo Ancelotti has won more UEFA Champions League titles than him. Already, Pep Guardiola has broken a truckload of records that no other manager might be able to touch in a long, long time. He is the youngest manager to have ever won the UEFA Champions League, the only manager to finish a Premier League season with 100+ points, the manager with the longest winning run in the history of the English top flight, the only manager in English football history to complete a domestic treble, and the only manager to complete the European treble twice. We could go on and on with records this man has broken, but let’s just halt there for now.

 Certain managers just win, and others completely transform the sport.  Managers like Rinus Michels, Johan Cruyff, Jose Mourinho, and Arsene Wenger are some managers who heavily influenced the game with their tactics. But as far as the modern game goes, Pep  Guardiola is easily the most influential manager we have seen. From when he broke into the scene as a senior team coach in 2008, Pep has been heavily influencing the game. He didn’t invent the tiki-taka style of play, but he perfected it and popularized it with Barcelona. Then he exported it to Germany and then to England.

In England, his tactics have greatly evolved but he’s still the biggest influencer of the game. His tactic of using inverted fullbacks is probably the clearest example. Since he started doing it, everyone else has started doing it, too,  including Mikel Arteta and Jurgen Klopp. And when he advanced the tactic by pushing  John Stones into the midfield full-time and operating with a box midfield, Klopp adopted it for his Liverpool team, too.

It’s not enough to just win, you have to have heavily influenced the game if you are going to be considered the GOAT. That's exactly how you build a legacy! And by the time Pep retires, he might be the manager with the greatest legacy in football history. Speaking of legacy, it also counts in his favor that Pep Guardiola has a number of successful coaches who are students of his. Xavi Hernandez of Barcelona, Erik Ten Hag of Man United, Mikel Arteta of  Arsenal, Xabi Alonso of Bayer Leverkusen, and Vincent Kompany of Burnley are all disciples of Guardiola.

The man is only 52 years old and he has already influenced 5 coaches who are tactically sound and already showing signs that they could go on to be hugely successful all-timers. How many coaches can boast of that? Not Jurgen  Klopp, not Jose Mourinho, not Arsene Wenger, not even Sir Alex Ferguson. The only people who probably come to Guardiola in terms of influence and legacy are Rinus Michels and Johan Cruyff.  And they’re up there because it was they who influenced Pep Guardiola himself. But if the  Spaniard continues birthing really successful coaches, he’s surely going to retire as the most influential coach in football history. But it’s not only managers Pep develops, he also develops players, perhaps better than any other coach. Yes, he’s known to spend a lot of money, but he’s also known to develop players from academies. Players like Sergio Busquets, Thiago Alcantara, Pedro, Phil Foden, and Rico Williams, are some of the fine talents Pep promoted from the academies of their respective clubs and he went on to develop them. Right now, each one of those players is not only a Champions  League winner but a European treble winner. Even players that Pep met at the clubs he coached or the ones he bought, he has been responsible for the development of most of their careers, including Erling Haaland, Julian Alvarez, Raheem Sterling, Kyle  Walker, and of course, Lionel Messi himself.

Many of these players have worked with other coaches throughout their careers, but their best spells came when they played under  Pep Guardiola. Is there a coach in the history of football about whom you can say this? His man-management is really second to none.

Some players he has worked with may hate him, but most of them love and respect him including the true greats like Thierry Henry, Xavi  Hernandez, Cesc Fabregas, and again, Lionel Messi. Another huge point in favor of Pep  Guardiola is that he is one of the most disciplined bosses we have seen. These players who love and respect him often speak about how strict a boss he was and how that helped them be better players and people.

The man is not afraid to let go of his biggest players if they refuse to align with his plans. He did it with Zlatan Ibrahimovic at  Barcelona and he did it with Joe Hart and Joao Cancelo at Man City. After he let go of these superstars, he won the Champions League. He continues to show that he’s never dependent on the stars but on his tactics. Also, Pep’s recruitment is insane. The man hardly gets it wrong with his signings. From Dani Alves at Barcelona to Thiago at Bayern  Munich and Gundogan at Man City among others, Pep’s signings almost always turn out to be huge treasures for the clubs even after he leaves. Even the ones that seem like flops at the beginning, he manages to turn them into proper ballers;  case in point, John Stones and Jack Grealish.

But there’s one weakness Pep Guardiola has; the one argument rival fans always have against him – that he is unable to do it at a small club. Sir Alex Ferguson coached clubs like St. Mirren and Aberdeen, and Ancelotti coached clubs like Parma and Everton, Jose Mourinho coached clubs like Porto and AS Roma and Arsene Wenger coached clubs like Nancy and Nagoya Grampus Eight. But with Pep, it’s been Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Manchester City, all really huge clubs,  one of which is backed up by state funds. And honestly, he doesn’t even look like the type that will move to a small club if and when he decides to leave City. But should that really affect his legacy as the  GOAT manager? Also, people call him a checkbook manager and say that’s the only reason he’s great, but that argument hardly holds water because the greatest managers make big spending. It’s part of the game.

Sir Alex Ferguson made Rio Ferdinand the most expensive British footballer and most expensive defender in the world in 2002, made Cristiano Ronaldo the most expensive teenager in history in 2003, and then Wayne Rooney broke that record when Ferguson brought him to Old Trafford in 2004. The Scotsman himself even admitted that the Rooney transfer was so expensive it raised so many eyebrows.

So, if you’ll call Pep Guardiola a checkbook manager, then you’d have to say the same for Alex Ferguson and virtually every other great manager there is. Now, having considered all the points that have  been made, the huge question still remains;  is Pep Guardiola the greatest manager in football history