In an interview to El Matí de Catalunya Radio today, Former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola believes the club’s icon Lionel Messi should be considered one of history’s most gifted athletes.
“Leo is privileged, he’s a genius. One of the greatest athletes of all time. Athletes, not just footballers.” Guardiola told Catalunya Radio .
“Leo Messi bares the weight of Argentina on his shoulders.”
“Actually, the greatest advantage of having Leo in your team is that the other 10 players on the pitch know they have Messi.”
“In their team and they know that sooner or later he’ll do ‘it’.”
“I was there as a coach & we were planning to do this & that & I thought ‘We’ll get the ball to Messi and that’s that, we’ll score!'”
“And only the best of all time can do that. The weight of this and being able to deal with this.”
“Do you know how hard it is to go out there every 3 days and for everyone to expect you to score 3 and assist 3 more? Every 3 days.”
“That’s brutal. No human being except him can bare that pressure in every game and do it.”
“And the best thing about him isn’t the exceptional things he does.”
“The greatest thing about him is that no one does the easy things as well as he does. No one.”
“As Johan said, the hardest thing is to do the easy things right.”
“There’s not a bad control, a bad pass, all the things they teach you as a kid to keep simple.”
“I’m not talking about dribbling 3 players and scoring, or about the other things that we know he does..”
“He’s been doing them for a decade. The best thing to teach kids about him is to watch the easy things he does better than anyone.”
“He’s been doing them for a decade. The best thing to teach kids about him is to watch the easy things he does better than anyone.”
“I don’t want to miss any Barça game because I think that when Messi is done, we’ll lose something that is unrepeatable.”
“We can’t miss any games, because he’s just so good. We’re very fortunate to watch him.”
“And every year you think he’s getting better. Tito, may his soul rest in peace, said a great phrase about Leo once..”
“‘Messi’s like a student who comes to class & the teacher explains the lesson & he gets bored because he already knows everything.”
“And sometimes when I was with him and telling him: ‘You go here or there!”
“I thought he must be saying to himself ‘Why is he telling me this when I already know this?”
“But he doesn’t make you feel like he’s the star.”
Guardiola believes Luis Enrique’s replacement, former Athletic Bilbao coach Ernesto Valverde, is a good appointment for the club.
“I know Ernesto Valverde very well and I think that he is a very, very good choice.”
“I believe that the right style of leadership for a football team has to be the way he is: more calm, not giving headlines.”
“Following the football to talk, not the coaches. Because with all the noise around it..”
“If you don’t take all of it with calmness I think that in 2-3 years everything burns down fast.”
“I think Ernesto is a very wise person and he knows a lot. He’s had success where he’s been and his teams were always played well.”
“I think he’ll do very well. I’ve talked to him since he’s been appointed and I’ve told him to get to work.”
“I’m sure he’ll do well, you’ll see. He’s a warm person; he’ll get the players on his side.”
“I know a lot of the guys in the Barça dressing-room and they are good people and it will work out.”
“I’ve said that Barça always come back, but it’s not like they’re far away..”
“Barça got to the last round of the league with the chance to win it against a great Madrid team.”
“And that’s what they have to do. Yes, they lost, because Madrid was also very good, but they were there until the end.”
“They have won 3 consecutive cups. That’s extraordinary. In knock out competitions you have one bad day and you’re out.”
“It’s easier to win them here than in England or Germany, because you have two legs in a tie..”
“But even so it’s very difficult to win it 3 consecutive times. And in the Champions League. I think we’re getting confused.”
“Yes, we’re Barça and we have to win the Champions League. But there are a lot of very good teams, good coaches..”
“There is a lot of buying power. And one bad day knocks you out. But what this team has been doing for the last 10-15 years..”
“When you win the league a lot of times it’s more difficult to get motivated for games in less glamorous stadiums, with all respect.”
“Barça do this every day and it’s difficult. And they’ve been doing this for years.”
“They lost it in the last round? You congratulate the rival and that’s it.”
“We know how we react to losing and to them celebrating and their pride.”
“Yes, they beat us now, but next year Ernesto will have a great team again and they’ll fight for it again.”
“When you’re so far from the winner it’s because you weren’t good enough and that’s it.”
“What matters is what you’ll do to get better. I learned from a young age that the worst thing in sport is to look for excuses.”
“There are key moments, it’s true, in the latter parts of the season, when you can win or lose things in one game.”
“But I think we weren’t good enough to compete with the rival we had in the league.”
“In the cup competitions there is a factor of luck, but in the league that’s not the case.”
“In every project now, you have to win from the first day. But it’s true that I feel very protected here at City.”
