Why I think Josep Guardiola i Sala is the greatest manager of all time

Please note that this is MY opinion. You may disagree with me, but don't come to the comments telling me I'm "wrong" because everyone's entitled to their own view, and I won't change my mind for anyone

Let's have a look at Pep's first job, Barcelona B. You may argue that's a luxurious position to start in, but he 100% deserved it by dedicating 11 years of his playing career and 6 years of his youth to Barcelona, being captain for 4 years

He won the Tercera Division in his first ever season, promoting them to the third division and earning his place as Barcelona first team manager

Pep can't do it with lower league sides and lesser quality players? He clearly can

His first season at Barcelona was famously remarkable, winning the first ever Spanish treble consisting of La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League

In his first full calendar year he won football's first ever Sextuple

An argument people use is that "anyone" could have won those trophies with that Barcelona team

In reality, Pep won more trophies that year than Barcelona had won in the last 10 years COMBINED

So why didn't anyone else do it if it was that easy?

Pep also greatly assisted Lionel Messi that season

Messi's G/As the season before Pep: 32 in 40 games

Messi's G/As in his first season with Pep: 56 in 51 games

He was awarded the 2009 Ballon D'Or

Pep's team consisted of unknown La Masia product Sergio Busquets (playing his first ever pro season), Manchester United reject Gérard Pique, and Yaya Toure out of position at CB

He helped shape their careers and eventually, they became football legends

Guardiola left Barcelona with another two La Liga titles, another Copa del Rey, another two Supercopa's, another Champions League, another Super Cup and another Club World Cup

14 trophies in 4 seasons, as many in 4 seasons as Barca had won in the 16 seasons prior to Pep

His Champions League triumphs saw him beat Manchester United in both Finals, managed by one of the greatest managers of all time in Alex Ferguson

Pep's tactically outclassed him in both, and handed United their only two Champions League Final defeats

Pep then went to Bayern Munich in 2013, immediately winning them their first ever UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup

He won the Bundesliga thrice, the Pokal twice, the UEFA Super Cup and the CWC in an era where Dortmund were more competitive

7 honours in 3 seasons

Guardiola brought in the following players:

Thiago
Alonso
Lewandowski
Kimmich
Coman (Loan)

All for a combined fee of £36M. Typical moneybags Pep

Thiago, Lewandowski and Kimmich were arguably the best 3 outfield players in their 2019/20 treble, with the latter two winning football's 2nd sextuple, and Coman scored the winning goal in the CL Final

8 of the starting XI of that Final played under Pep. Laying the foundations

Guardiola finally came to the Premier League to manage Manchester City, facing grave criticism before his arrival

We were told his style of play wouldn't work in England...

Guardiola has won 3* Premier Leagues, the FA Cup, 4 League Cups and 2 FA Community Shields, and has brought City to their first ever Champions League Final

10 trophies in his first 5 season, with the potential for one more

Pep's 2017/18 City team achieved 100 points, the only time that points margin has been achieved in the history of the English leagues

Manchester City joined an exclusive group of 4 Centurions in the top 5 leagues

In 2018/19, Pep won the first ever English domestic treble, and became the first Manchester City manager to win multiple league titles

A combined 198 points in the 2018/19 season and the previous one

Continuing his record of bringing through world class talents, the way Guardiola has handled Phil Foden has been phenomenal, with other hot prospects growing under his guidance

With Pep about to wrap up his 3rd Premier League title, let's have a look at his league record

2008: 1st
2009: 1st
2010: 1st
2011: 1st
2012: 2nd
2014: 1st
2015: 1st
2016: 1st
2017: 3rd
2018: 1st
2019: 1st
2020: 2nd
2021: 1st

10 league titles in 13 seasons, never below 3rd

And his Champions League record?

2009: Winners
2010: SF
2011: Winners
2012: SF
2014: SF
2015: SF
2016: SF
2017: RO16
2018: QF
2019: QF
2020: QF
2021: Final*

No manager has been to more CL SFs, and he has the chance to become the first manager to win it in 3 different decades

Now for some personal accolades:

1x FIFA World Coach of the Year
2x UEFA Best Coach
3x Onze D'Or Coach of the Year
4x La Liga Coach of the Year
2x PL Manager of the Season
9x PL Manager of the Month
Globe Awards Coach of the Century

Records broken at Barcelona:

Most home points in a season: 55

Longest away unbeaten streak: 23

Most home consecutive clean sheets: 12

Most goals in a season: 190

Records broken at Bayern:

Most games left after becoming champion: 7

Earliest title win: 25th of March

Most wins in a season: 29

Records broken at Manchester City:

Most points in a season: 100

Biggest title winning margin: 19

Most wins in a season: 32 (twice)

Most consecutive league wins: 18

Most consecutive wins for an English team: 21

Most away points in a season: 50

Most away wins in a season: 16

Records broken at Manchester City continued:

Most goals scored in a PL season: 106

Best goal difference in a PL season: 79

Quickest to reach 100 PL wins: 134 games

Most CL wins in a row for an English team: 7

Largest number of CL wins before the Final: 11

Pep's Managerial record:

Barcelona - 247G, 179W, 47D, 21L

Bayern - 161G, 124W, 16D, 21L

City - 289G, 218W, 31D, 40L

Overall - 697G, 521W, 94D, 82L

A win percentage of 75%

"We won a lot of titles and I grew a lot – that was the time when I grew most as a footballer. We had a fantastic relationship when he was here.” - Lionel Messi

"He is a perfectionist, obsessive: he keeps going until he gets it right, no matter what he’s doing. If Pep Guardiola decided to be a musician, he would be a good musician. If he wanted to be a psychologist, he would be a good psychologist.” - Xavi

"Pep looks at everything we need to do. He thinks about football 24 hours a day. He covers every angle to the smallest detail and he always demands 100 per cent in training and in games.” - Robert Lewandowski

"With Pep it’s more than just about winning trophies. You’re always measured by the number of trophies but he developed a lot of players with the way he thinks about tactics, the way he analyses games and prepares teams for particular opponents.” - Philip Lahm

“He’s the world’s best in terms of analysing the opposition, game preparation and coming up with solutions.” - Toni Kroos

“I had been told really good things about him and he has lived up to them. He’s the best manager I have ever had. He’s really hard driven. He pushes everybody. But if you want to get to the very highest level, it’s good for you.” - David Silva

“You shouldn’t make comparisons with me and Guardiola. He has achieved incredible things. Guardiola is a fantastic coach and what he is doing is very impressive.” - Zinedine Zidane

"He analyses what is best for the team, utilises the special details and through that leads them to the greatest possible success. It’s no coincidence that Spain won the World Cup with seven of Guardiola’s players, and now Germany with six or seven of his players.” - Johan Cruyff