SUMMARY
- Fans take Pep Guardiola as a key person for FC Barcelona, he led them to three Spanish League and two Champions League victories.
- Deco, Barca's ex-player and 2024 Sporting Director, disagreed with the fans.
The FC Barcelona fans fondly remember the Pep Guardiola team. The Spanish coach oversaw a successful era in the Catalan team’s history that saw them winning the Spanish League thrice and the Champions League twice. More than the trophies it was Pep’s possession-based, attractive ‘tiki-taka’ brand of soccer that pleased the fans, However, former Barca player Deco who in 2024 was the Sporting Director of the club begged to differ from the ‘Culers.’
Deco – “When he (Pep) arrived at Barcelona, it’s talked about as a great revolution, which is a big lie. Ronaldinho and I left, but he had Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets was promoted, Yaya Toure, the best player in Africa, Messi, of course, Samuel Eto’o…”
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The Portuguese’s recent comments come at a time when the Catalan team is going through a tough time. Its coach, Xavi in January 2024 abruptly announced his departure from Barca and this has sent shockwaves across the club’s fanbase.
Deco disapproves of Pep Guardiola’s impact at FC Barcelona
In such times their 46-year-old Sporting Director has decided to make a comment that could potentially backfire. Deco presented his thoughts about Pep Guardiola’s time at the club and didn’t credit the Manchester City manager for revolutionizing the Catalan club.
He feels that Pep Guardiola was extremely lucky to have some of the most talented players in the world at his disposal. He termed the Spanish coach’s revolution at FC Barcelona as a ‘big lie’.
Deco said, “When he (Pep) arrived at Barcelona, it’s talked about as a great revolution, which is a big lie.” A vast majority of the FC Barcelona fanbase believes that Guardiola developed a young group of world-class players. But Deco decided to say otherwise. The Portuguese believed that the former FC Bayern Munich manager already had talented young players like Lionel Messi, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, etc.
1 – Pep Guardiola has won the treble for the second time in his managerial career, while he’s the first ever manager to do so with two different clubs (Barcelona in 2008-09 and Manchester City in 2022-23). Greatness. #UCLFinal pic.twitter.com/Yn4YcLOFNG
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) June 10, 2023
The only player that Pep Guardiola had to work on, in Deco’s opinion was Sergio Busquets. The manager promoted the defensive midfielder from the youth team. Deco also opined that even after he and Ronaldinho left the club in 2008, the FC Barcelona squad wasn’t devoid of any stars. According to the Sporting Director, the Catalan giants continued to have the two best African players at the time in the form of Samuel Eto’o and Yaya Toure.
Deco expresses his surprise at Xavi’s departure at the end of the 23/24 season
The acrimonious departure of head coach Xavi has saddened the ‘Culers’. The former soccer player announced his departure at a post-match conference after his team’s shocking 5-3 defeat to Villareal in La Liga. He is set to leave the club on June 30, 2024, ending his 2-and-a-half-year campaign at the Catalan club. His decision had reportedly shocked the FC Barcelona board which also included their Sporting Director.
Deco also announced that the Barca board is already looking for Xavi’s successor. He said, “We are still surprised with Xavi’s decision to leave. We were planning for Barça future with him”.
🔵🔴 Barça director Deco: “We are still surprised with Xavi’s decision to leave. We were planning for Barça future with him”.
“We had been planning signings like Vitor Roque’s for weeks, deciding if we needed to sign in January with Balde’s injury”, told @LaVanguardia. pic.twitter.com/3XWGJQFiG2
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) February 5, 2024
The Sporting Director also talked briefly about the club’s new January signing, Victor Roque. He said that the board had identified many players like the Brazilian as potential Barca players. However, they weren’t sure of signing a striker in January. Their apprehension increased after the injury to their left back Alejandro Balde.
Daunting times are ahead of FC Barcelona. The club would have to dodge their off-field issues and also secure success on the pitch to regain their lost glory. The club also has the challenging task of hiring a new manager for the 24/25 season. It would be interesting to see how the Catalan club fares in the future.