Ranking the 5 best Barcelona players of the Pep Guardiola era
Pep Guardiola's Barcelona team needs no introduction. After being appointed as the senior team's manager in 2008, Pep started filtering his side immediately. Guardiola offloaded some big names like Ronaldinho, Deco, Samuel Eto'o, Zambrotta and Giovani dos Santos.
Meanwhile, he recruited Dani Alves and Gerard Pique while promoting Sergio Busquets and Pedro from Barcelona's academy. The Catalan led Barcelona to a treble victory in his first season at the Camp Nou.
Pep led Barcelona to 14 titles in four years before moving to Bayern Munich. Guardiola is one of the most successful managers in the history of football. He introduced tiki-taka football to the world.
Under his watchful eyes, many players explored their own potentials. On the same note, let's take a look at
5 best Barcelona players of the Pep Guardiola era
Note: It is a very difficult task to pick top players under the Guardiola era and many big names had to be excluded with a heavy heart. Feel free to share your top 5 in the comments section.
#5 Dani Alves
Dani Alves is one of the most decorated footballers of all-time. The former Barcelona and Brazil fullback was a regular part of his club and national side's trophy hunts.
Alves, who happens to be the most successful footballer of all time (in terms of trophy counts), has won the majority of titles with his Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola. The Brazilian international was signed by Pep Guardiola from Sevilla as part of his revitalisation of the club.
Alves walked in through the doors of Camp Nou in the summer of 2008, the same year as his coach Pep Guardiola. Together they conquered Spain and all of Europe and added 14 trophies to the cabinet within just four years.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 "Buenos días" https://t.co/onrczT0xRY
Pep Guardiola considers Alves one of the best players he has coached.
#4 Sergio Busquets
Sergio Busquets is a silent player. Spain's 2010 World Cup and 2012 Euro fame, manager Vicente del Bosque once said,
“If you watch the game, you don’t see Busquets. But if you watch Busquets, you see the whole game.”
True to his statement, Sergio Busquets doesn't end up on the scoresheet quite often but he is capable of controlling the tone of the game single-handedly. The same makes him one of the most under-appreciated players ever. An integral part of national and club sides, Busquets endured most-successful tenure with Pep's Barcelona.
He was a key cog in Pep Guardiola's tiki-taka style of football. From being a traditional defensive midfielder, Sergio Busquets evolved as a clinical passer under the guidance of his boss Pep Guardiola.
📊Sergio Busquets' record for Spanish National Team #EURO2020
125 games (112 starts)
90W 18D 17L
2 goals
8 assists
21 yellow cards
0 red cards
2🏆 (1 Euro and 1 World Cup) https://t.co/bQjWhahmcj
Even after Pep's departure, Busquets remains an influential figure at Camp Nou.