It's the most common criticism of his career. Pep Guardiola, bald fraud or tactical genius? The man who created a brilliant Barcelona system that maximised Messi's talents or the manager who got lucky with an exceptional group of players.
Ahead of their midweek game, the Manchester City boss was asked for his thoughts on the school of thought that he got "lucky" with Barcelona and gave an interesting answer.
I completely agree with them. I completely agree with them. I'm not going to argue for one second. Because when I was there I said many times I win because of incredible players. But I had in Munich as well, in Manchester as well. In Barcelona, I was a lucky guy, I'm sorry. I was lucky.
Guardiola on the old "fraud" accusations, namely that he only won the Champions League because of Messi and the lads. I've kept the question in because fair play to the lad, it was delivered excellently. NB I don't think Guardiola believes this pic.twitter.com/A685Uwqvw6
— Sam Lee (@Sammy_Goal) February 19, 2019
It's certainly questionable whether the Spanish boss was being sincere with his answer and it is not a view those players themselves hold. Last year, Xavi told Qatari media sc.qa about the "master" that is Guardiola.
Pep has very clear ideas. He's strict and meticulous. He's also football crazy and thinks about the sport 24 hours a day. Working with Pep was special for me. He's a very demanding person who believes in his ideas.
Pep's always innovating, trying new things, and he's very good tactically. He's one of the best coaches in the world, if not the best. I'm convinced Pep will go down in history as one of the greatest.
Manchester City are in action this week in the Champions League, with an away trip to Schalke on Wednesday.
