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Pep Guardiola is arguably one of the best football managers in the modern era. The Catalan tactician burst on to the scene with Barcelona in 2008 and introduced a new dimension into the sport with his revolutionary ideas. Pep Guardiola's devotion to the legendary Johan Cruyff and his obsession with the finer details make him one of the best coaches in football history.
Guardiola's rise to the top, however, has seen several superstars of the game fall by the wayside. Pep Guardiola's passion and intensity have resulted in clashes with big names in his teams on several occasions and the outcome is often as ugly as it can get.
Pep Guardiola is not the easiest coach to work with
Since his incredibly successfully managerial debut season with Barcelona, Pep Guardiola has launched several careers and manages to get the best out of the most talented players in his side. The likes of Lionel Messi, Raheem Sterling, and Kevin De Bruyne owe a large part of their extraordinary success to the Catalan visionary.
Pep Guardiola often prefers a specific type of player, however, and football players that do not adhere to his requirements often struggle to see eye to eye with the Manchester City coach. Guardiola's rise to fame has earned him several critics over the years and several superstars have their fair share of words for the Catalan manager.
#5 Joe Hart
For a significant portion of the decade, Joe Hart was one of Manchester City's most important players. The English goalkeeper has excellent reflexes and was on his way to becoming a Manchester City legend and was a fan favourite at the Etihad Stadium.
The arrival of Pep Guardiola, however, threw a spanner in the works for Joe Hart. Guardiola's style of play necessitates a goalkeeper who is excellent with the ball at his feet and Hart did not fit the bill. While the English goalkeeper never had a spat with his manager, he did acknowledge that Guardiola's expectations resulted in his departure from the club.
"Ability-wise, he saw what he needed to do for the future and that wasn’t me. It is what it is. I think it’s been kind of dragged on, it was a long time ago."
Joe Hart left Manchester City in 2018 and joined Burnley in search of first-team options. The English shot-stopper currently plays for Jose Mourinho's Tottenham Hotspur.
#4 Mario Gotze
Mario Gotze's career is filled with extraordinary highs and surprising lows. The German forward broke into the Borussia Dortmund team in 2010 as a teenager and was widely regarded as the German version of Lionel Messi.
Gotze secured a controversial transfer to Bayern Munich in 2013 and spent several years under Pep Guardiola at the Bavarian club. While Bayern Munich dominated the Bundesliga with Guardiola, Mario Gotze remained on the fringes of the squad.
"Technically, Guardiola was a tremendous asset. But he is very focused on the game and doesn’t think about players outside of his plan. He didn’t have much empathy, and empathy is part of being a world-class coach."
Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp are currently the two best managers in the Premier League and have contrasting qualities. For Mario Gotze, however, choosing between the two is not particularly difficult.
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#3 Samuel Eto'o
Samuel Eto'o was one of the many casualties of Pep Guardiola's revolution at Barcelona in 2008 and 2009 and it is safe to say that the Cameroonian striker did not take his forced departure particularly well.
Eto'o remained a pivotal part of Barcelona's treble-winning campaign in the 2008-09 season but never got along with his young manager. Pep Guardiola sold Ronaldinho and Deco immediately upon arrival and oversaw one season with Samuel Eto'o before deciding that he was surplus to his requirements.
"Pep Guardiola has lived his whole life in Barcelona, but in the years I spent in Barcelona, he didn't understand the squad. He didn't live the life of our group."
Samuel Eto'o left Barcelona to join Inter Milan and won the treble yet again under Jose Mourinho in the 2009-10 season. The legendary striker has publicly revealed his animosity with Pep Guardiola and has claimed that he had a much better relationship with Jose Mourinho and Spanish legend Luis Aragones.
#2 Yaya Toure
Of all the accusations that have been levelled at Pep Guardiola, Yaya Toure's claims are arguably the most serious. The Ivorian midfielder played under Guardiola at both Barcelona and Manchester City and was roundly ignored by his manager on both occasions.
While the presence of Xavi and Andres Iniesta may have hampered Yaya Toure's first-team chances at Barcelona, the powerful midfielder was one of Manchester City's most important players before Guardiola arrived at the club.
"He was cruel with me. Do you really think he could've been like that with Iniesta? It got to the point I asked myself if it was because of my colour. I'm not the first, other Barça players asked the question too."
Pep Guardiola is a well-respected figure in the football world and Yaya Toure's serious accusations remain a stain on the Catalan manager's record. While it can be argued that Guardiola has never discriminated between his players on the basis of anything other than tactical nous, it is no secret that there is no love lost between the Manchester City manager and Yaya Toure.
#1 Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is famous for his constant and consistent refusal to keep his particularly controversial opinions to himself and his statements on Pep Guardiola and his personality have already been etched into football folklore.
Ibrahimovic joined Pep Guardiola's Barcelona in 2009 and was initially quite successful at the Catalan club. With Lionel Messi's star rising to astronomical heights, however, the Swedish superstar lost his central hole at the club and was forced to play on the wing. To say that Zlatan Ibrahimovic did not take kindly to Pep Guardiola's tactical change would be the understatement of the century.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was visibly furious after Barcelona's loss to Inter Milan in the 2009-10 Champions League semi-final and made his interesting choice of words public in his tell-all autobiography.
"I yelled: 'You haven't got any balls!' and worse than that, I added: 'You can go to hell!' I completely lost it, and you might have expected Guardiola to say a few words in response, but he's a spineless coward. He just left, never to mention it again, not a word."
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is arguably the most high-profile enemy Pep Guardiola has made in the world of football. The Catalan manager's trophy cabinet is difficult to argue with, however, and Guardiola will always be remembered as one of the most successful managers to grace the beautiful game.
Also Read: 10 Greatest Football Managers of all time
