Even FC Barcelona's Golden Boy Pep Guardiola can be wrong

There is no doubt that Pep Guardiola is a great manager. Or that his success with FC Barcelona is both unparalleled and unprecedented. Though taking into account the response to certain articles on this site, both by our Editor-in-Chief, there is one thing that must be said:

No man is safe from criticism.

Moreover, no man is exempt from criticism, and no matter how well you do, criticism is always justified. After all, there is no such thing as perfection, and to borrow the new maxim of the San Francisco 49’ers, "You are getting better or you are getting worse. You never stay the same."

Such is true for any sport, as success is cyclical, and Guardiola knows this better than any other.

When you are successful, people clamour to be around you. In "real life" we see that the more money you have, the more popular you are likely to be, and the same can be said of football. Barcelona is successful, people jump on the Blaugrana-coloured band-wagon.

What I object to is not this glory-hunter attitude, as that will pass with time; but instead, I despise how some Barcelona fans put Guardiola on his own pedestal.

"He would be no ordinary king: he would be a saviour king, the apotheosis of all kingly, godly qualities"

In the eyes of some people, Guardiola can do no wrong. Signing Dmytro Chygrynskiy was excused, swapping Samuel Eto’o for Ibraflop alias Zlatan Ibarahimovic was unlucky, and keeping Gabriel Milito is fine. The continued and immoral approach of Cesc Fabregas is Arsenal London’s fault, and no doubt the same fans that support Thiago will applaud Guardiola if Fabregas does sign.

They have decided that Pep has created a utopia, and while they say that Guardiola should not consider anyone else’s opinion, I am of the opinion that it is an absolute necessity. Guardiola may not be resting on his laurels now, although, with the continued adoration of most Barca fans, he may well start to slip up.

In the worst case scenario, he listens to the yes-men, who swoon at his every idea, and Barcelona suffer, much like Ronaldinho did at the end of his spell in Cataluña.

Best case, he keeps in touch with the real world, considers the criticism and Barcelona continue to succeed. Like Messi remembers every time he plays for Argentina, even the best are susceptible to a bad day at the office.