Was Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona the best team ever?

The argument about who the best football team ever was is a difficult one, as different people from different generations will always favour the teams they have watched.

It’s like the best-player argument: there will be no definitive answer because it’s a matter of opinion, and everybody has one when it comes to these discussions.

However, one team that was generally considered amongst the best to grace a football pitch was Barcelona under now iconic head coach Pep Guardiola from 2008 until 2012.

Pep Guardiola is the master the ‘Tiki-Taka’

It is sometimes easy to forget that Guardiola was only Barcelona’s head coach for four years,. However, that relatively short period would have a significant effect on football as a whole for years to come.

During his time coaching the Blaugrana, Guardiola mastered the art of ‘Tiki-Taka’ football, a style of football first associated with former Barcelona and Ajax legend Johan Cruyff.

However, many teams used variations on the style, including Queens Park, who played a similar style in the late 1800s, and many claimed the Scottish outfit first used the style.

However, a Spanish commentator named Andres Montes first used the phrase tiki-taka during the 2006 World Cup. Guardiola is believed to hate it.

At the heart of the style was the desire to pass and keep the ball to create spaces, stop opponents from gaining control of a game, and produce effective attacking play.

The old adage that the opposition can’t score if you have the ball is a good one here. In fact, it fits Barcelona’s style perfectly.

This style was perfect for the masters of the ball in the Barcelona team at the time, such as Xavi, Andres Iniesta and, of course, a certain Argentinian superstar by the name of Lionel Messi.

The tiki-taka style of play spread, and it helped the Spanish national team win the European Championship twice and the World Cup once from 2008 to 2012.

Other teams in other countries then copied and developed their own versions of the style; some succeeded, but some failed. Imitation is, of course, the greatest form of flattery.

Barcelona understood the style perfectly

Sometimes, football can be an easy game if teams have top players. Guardiola inherited a squad with not only the likes of Iniesta and Xavi, but he also gave young players like Messi, Pedro and Sergio Busquets a genuine chance to shine in the first team.

He decided he would put faith in these young players, selling experienced campaigners such as Ronaldinho, Deco, and Samuel Eto’o.

Guardiola came into criticism for some of his early decisions, especially after the team made a questionable start to their campaign in La Liga.

Those doubters were soon silenced as Barcelona blew their opponents away in the Spanish top flight. Their style was too hard to handle for most teams they came up against.

Even if opposition teams knew what they were going to do, it was still difficult to stop them from implementing their style of play.

While people understandably associate Guardiola’s Barcelona with the undoubtedly brilliant Messi, the players in the middle of the park were just as important.

At the heart of Barcelona’s style of play was the relationship between defensive shield Busquets, metronome Xavi and the skilful Iniesta. They had a near-telepathic understanding of each other’s game.

Their footballing style was almost made for the team’s style of play. It was their understanding in the centre of the park that made the team tick.

Busquets was to Guardiola what Guardiola was to Johan Cruyff in the Dutchman’s Barcelona ‘Dream Team’ of the early 1990s. Cruyff showed faith and confidence in Guardiola. He then showed the same faith in fellow La Masia graduate Busquets, who was criminally underrated.

Busquets wasn’t just a midfield destroyer, though. He was the intelligent initiator of many of his team’s attacks. He was also hugely comfortable on the ball, often luring players in to create space for other players or winning tactical fouls.

Without Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta, Guardiola’s Barcelona would unlikely have had the same success that they enjoyed in those glory days.

Messi was key, too, of course, but his story deserves a whole article of its own. The Argentinian superstar’s story is a well-told one, but it wasn’t until Guardiola took over as head coach that the diminutive forward really made an impact on the team.

The midfield’s intelligent play, and combination with Messi, was a recipe for a football success.

The team may have been full of good players, but Guardiola’s influence certainly helped certain players develop and fulfil their potential, not only under him but for the rest of their playing careers.

One of the best teams on sheer silverware won

While it may be impossible to say subjectively which team was the best in football, by sheer number of trophies won in just 4 years, Barcelona under Guardiola was one of the most successful in winning prizes.

In his relatively short tenure as Barcelona boss, the legendary head coach guided the Blaugrana to 14 trophies, including three La Liga titles, two Champions Leagues, and two Copa del Rey’s.

That would be an incredible number of trophies for any team in such a short time frame. In fact, it is the club’s most successful period in terms of trophies won.

The Guardiola years at Barcelona will live long in the memory of those who witnessed them. Their style of play and performances had a massive effect on teams at home and abroad.

Guardiola’s methods have also been adopted by many of the next generation of head coaches, who will once again tweak and adjust them, looking to get more out of their teams.

This will be the legacy of Guardiola’s stay and the Barcelona team of that period, even if they can never officially be crowned as ‘The Greatest Team Ever’.

In your opinion, is Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona team the best the beautiful game has ever seen?