Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola has said that he is not being carried away by the current success that the team is enjoying. Guardiola has been the best manager over the last few years, while Barcelona have undoubtedly been the best team in one of the world.
It is something that has been aptly reflected by their second Champions League title in two years and second Club World Cup title in the same time as well. However, the former Barcelona midfielder has said that he is very much aware of the fact that football is a very fickle business and that things can change very quickly.
Guardiola has put an emphasis on young players after he took over in 2008. It is a philosophy that has been rewarded quite brilliantly with hat-trick of la Liga titles and two Champions League titles. Perhaps, the most successful year Guardiola has had at Barcelona was in his initial year. It has been followed up with successful, but not in the same league, years. Now, there have been many suggestions that Barcelona should have parted ways with Guardiola at the end of the third year because it is usually the time frame when the performance starts to slip away from the players.
“In football a team’s success or failure hangs by a thread. It might seem that because we’ve been successful in the past and we’re very young this is going to last, but you have to take things very carefully. It’s extremely difficult to build something good and strong, but letting it slide is much easier,” Guardiola told FIFA’s official website in the awards ceremony, in which Lionel Messi was crowned as the Ballon d’Or winner for the third time. Barcelona have already lifted two major trophies this season and are in contention for three others as well.