Barcelona: How Much Credit Does Pep Guardiola Deserve for Blaugrana's Dominance?

The football world is currently being ruled by FC Barcelona.

After all, the Blaugrana are the defending champions of the Champions League and are the clear favorites to win this season's competition (see Barcelona vs Bayer Leverkusen).

Every manager, player and supporter in Europe knows that the title goes through Barcelona.

But it's more than just dominance on the pitch: Barcelona dominates the ideals of the game.

Their open style and precision passing play is the type of stuff that every football fan loves to watch.

They are truly the type of team that every supporter wants their team to resemble.

Just ask Real Madrid supporters: despite being a group that unconditionally hate Barca, they certainly prove the love that football fans feel toward the Barca way.

If Mourinho opts to play Barcelona openly, he is lambasted as a fool for opening up too much; if he sits back defensively, he is lambasted for not playing beautiful football like Barcelona.

Basically, these fans are yearning for their team to be more like Barcelona, even though they hate the Catalans.

So what makes Barcelona such a great representative of world football?

Clearly, it's their winning and the style with which they do it, but how does that come about?

On most levels, we can put it down to the players.

Without the ridiculous abilities of Messi, the genius of Iniesta, the precision passing of Xavi and the hard-nosed defending of Puyol and Abidal, this obviously wouldn't be the same team.

But is this just a collection of great players?

Messi suggested otherwise on Monday when he proclaimed manager Pep Guardiola to be the key man for Barca.

When asked who was more important to Blaugrana's success, he or Pep, Messi said:

"Guardiola is fundamental to Barcelona's project.  Guardiola is more important to Barca.  His arrival [at the club] changed everything. Everything that has been achieved was achieved with him."

Guardiola's success as a manager is undeniable: he is in his fourth season at Barca and has a great chance to win his third championship in the top European competition.

But there is one question that is a lingering knock on Pep's managerial abilities, one that stops him from being considered as the tops in the world: couldn't anyone do this with this collection of players currently in the blue and deep red?

It's a valid question.

After all, with Messi being considered in discussions alongside Pele and Mardona; and Iniesta and Xavi leading their Spanish side to a World Cup title, the deck seems stacked in their favor.

However, it is the free rein that Guardiola gives to his players, the open style that he allows them to play with, that allows this team to flourish.

Another style would give us a different team.

Can the competitive results be duplicated with, say, Mourinho's style being employed with these players?

Probably so; in fact, more defensive-minded tactics combined with the passing abilities of the club might make Barcelona literally unbeatable.

Are they unbeatable now?  No, but that is because of the qualities that make them so fun to watch.

Sure, they could play with no risk and become as invincible as Helenio Herrera's Inter (see catenaccio), but that would leave us viewers with non reward.

Pep's results may be able to be duplicated, but the type of team he has created cannot be.

Without Guardiola, Barcelona are a group of fantastic players that would probably still be champions.

With him, they are the consummate team.