By any standard, Pep Guardiola is an A-lister football manager. His resume reads coaching jobs at Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Manchester City, and the Catalan won titles and honors with these European giants, Guardiola, however, has been missing out on Champions League trophies lately and Felix Magath has an explanation.
Magath himself once managed the Bavarians and he is convinced Guardiola failed to lead the Bundesliga side to the European title during his time due to a coaching style that is now rendered ineffective. Tiki-taka, which is Guardiola's tactical signature, typically leads to wrong decisions, which Magath said translate to failures most of the time.
"In my opinion, Guardiola generally too often gets lost in trying to win a game in advance. That tactic often ends in wrong decisions, which prevent success," Mirror reported the German as saying.
Magath's observations seemed supported by the fact that while Guardiola won two UCL titles while holding the top job in Barcelona it has been a disappointing run for him in Europe since 2011. The Spaniard brought his tactical skills to Bayern in 2012 but the farthest he advanced to the Champions League was the semifinal round.
Also, Guardiola has failed to reach the Champions League final so far with City. The best that the club boss can afford was a quarterfinal finish, which happened twice for the Premier League club under the Spaniard, and the last of which happened last season.
It cannot be said, however, that the City boss is a failure as a coach. In La Liga, he won 14 titles with the Catalan side and scooped up three Bundesliga crowns leading Bayern. And in the Premier League, Guardiola is a proud owner of two championships that the club won in consecutive years.
The competition at the UCL, however, is different and according to Magath, Guardiola's style emphasizes the skills of players who are technically superior over their opponents. The German said such an approach is boring and should be shunned by elite football clubs.
That's because tiki-taka is usually effective with a club that includes somebody like Lionel Messi on the roster. Minus a player in Messi's mold, the rate of success is low, Magath claimed.
"Without Messi, this system has never worked as successfully for Guardiola, otherwise he would have won the Champions League with Bayern or Manchester City long ago," Goal reported the German as saying.
He added that essentially, it was Messi who won the Champions League titles for Barcelona and not Guardiola.
Indeed, the Spanish boss' handling of City in the ongoing campaign is far from impressive. The club only scored a win in three Premier League matches so far and the inconsistency only highlighted the fear that this season's results will not be any better than the last.
Guardiola failed to retain the Premier League title he won in 2019 and his side exited in the final eight of the Champions League last season. He, however, is expected to sign an extension with City next summer with the possibility that Messi will join the English club.
