Some leading figures in football believe that the Catalan coach has unintentionally ended up doing more harm to the game than good
Former Roma coach Fabio Capello doesn't have especially fond memories of Pep Guardiola from their brief spell together at Trigoria. "He came to tell me how I should do my job," Capello claimed in an interview with , "and I told him: 'Go for a run and then you can talk.' That was the end of the debate."
It wasn't really, though. Capello and Guardiola continue to clash over the Catalan's footballing philosophy to this very day.
"You know what I don't like about Guardiola?" Capello continued. "His arrogance. The Champions League he won with [Manchester] City [in 2023] is the only one where he didn’t try anything funny in the decisive matches.
"But all the other years, in Manchester and Munich, on key days, he always wanted to be the protagonist. He would change things and invent them so he could say: 'It's not the players who win, it's me.' And that arrogance cost him several Champions Leagues. I respect him but, for me, it's clear.
"Furthermore, even if it is no longer his fault, he has done a lot of harm to football."
Evidently, there is a personal element at play here, but Capello certainly hasn't been alone in challenging the widely held belief that Guardiola has been nothing but good for the game…
AFPPep's brilliant Barcelona
While the merits of Guardiola's achievements with state-sponsored Manchester City have long been disputed for financial reasons, his Barcelona side is almost universally regarded as one of the greatest teams of all time – if not the greatest – and, as key midfielder Xavi pointed out, that was "not only because we won everything, but because of the way we did it."
Guardiola, as he has always admitted, was blessed with the good fortune to take over a squad containing Carles Puyol, Xavi, Andres Iniesta and, of course, Lionel Messi, that had won the Champions League just two years previously.
However, his role in Barca's era of unprecedented success simply cannot be downplayed. He implemented a style of play that brought the absolute best out of some of the most talented players in history.
Barca didn't just keep the ball brilliantly, they worked ferociously to retrieve it – and it was that mix of possession and pressing that made them practically perfect.
Indeed, the 5-0 rout of Real Madrid at Camp Nou in 2010 was a sporting masterpiece, one of the most delightful demonstrations of total football ever seen, but it's also arguably where the 'problem' with Pep began, as almost every other coach in the world rushed to replicate 'tiki-taka'.
AdvertisementGetty Images Sport'Guardiola killed the game'
Patrice Evra twice bore first-hand witness to Barca's brilliance. The French full-back started for Manchester United in both of their chastening Champions League final losses to the Blaugrana, in 2009 and 2011.
He's also had to endure the frustration of seeing his former club usurped by Guardiola's City as the dominant force in English football over the past decade, so he's aware that his views on the former Spain international are open to accusations of bias.
However, Evra is adamant that while "I think Guardiola is one of the best managers" ever, he nonetheless "killed the game" with his repetitive, automated attacking strategy.
"When I say that," the Champions League winner explained on , "it's because now we've got robots. Everybody wants to play like Guardiola. The goalkeeper has to be No.10!
"Everyone wants to play amazingly but this tiki-taka, only Guardiola can do it. Why does everyone copy him? We have no creativity. We have no geniuses anymore.
"You will never see a player like Ronaldinho again because when he's young, do you know what the coach is going to tell him? 'If you don't pass the ball, I'm going to put you on the bench.' But all football comes from the streets."
AFPNo fan of flair players?
Evra's reference to Ronaldinho appears pointed, even though it should be acknowledged that the myth that Guardiola forced the Brazilian out of Barcelona immediately after taking over in the summer of 2008 has since been debunked by both parties.
It's definitely hard to imagine that such a gloriously unpredictable player would have thrived within the rigid structure established by Guardiola at Camp Nou.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, another anomalous character in modern football, certainly felt out of place and restricted within Barca's school-like set-up – to which La Masia graduates such as Messi were already accustomed – and Guardiola continues to be dogged by claims that he does not want to work with free spirits.
Jack Grealish is obviously regularly cited as a case in point. The laconic winger may have played a small role in City's treble triumph but he's unquestionably underwhelmed at the Etihad and no longer looks anything like the thrilling talent he was at former club Aston Villa.
Grealish's obvious unprofessionalism has clearly contributed to his regression but Guardiola has copped his fair share of the blame for allegedly coaching every ounce of flair out of a gifted individual for the good of the group.
Getty Images Sport'We see less magic, less fantasy'
Still, it feels desperately unfair to pin the death of the old-school trequartista solely upon Guardiola's shoulders.
Awesome attacking midfielders such as Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva have flourished under the City boss and while they may be tasked with working harder than the No.10s of the past, that is also a product of the way in which the game has gone over the past 15 years.
As another fantastic footballer and Guardiola favourite, Thiago Alcantara, told , "It's taken up a different pace, rhythm: more accelerated, more physical. The figure of the No.10 has almost disappeared. Footballers do more but faster, so we see less magic, less fantasy.
"You lose that player who's different, who 'breathes'; the playmaker who was slower doesn't get the opportunity to turn even if he has sublime technique."
Physicality and athleticism have become increasingly coveted commodities in young players and Guardiola can hardly be held accountable for that particular shift in recruitment strategy, given his Barca side was not exactly a team of giants.
On the contrary, Messi & Co. proved that it was possible to not only beat bigger and stronger sides, but run rings around them by carrying out meticulously rehearsed movements – which was a most welcome development for many football fans after the "sh*t on a stick" served up by the likes of Jose Mourinho and Rafa Benitez before Guardiola exploded onto the scene.