Pep is the best coach by far, says Puyol | OneFootball

Former Barcelona captain Carles Puyol believes Pep Guardiola is the best manager he ever had.

The Spanish defender was the Club captain at the Catalan giants when Guardiola stepped up to manage the first team at the Camp Nou in 2008.

During four years under Guardiola, Puyol and Barcelona won 14 major honours. That team is still widely regarded as one of the best sides to ever play the game.

Now 45, Puyol is retired and has followed Guardiola's success at Bayern Munich and City from afar.

As well as Guardiola, the committed defender was coached by the likes of Louis van Gaal, Frank Rijkaard and Vicente del Bosque.

However, he's unequivocal when he says our boss stands above the rest.

Speaking in a brand new BBC documentary, Pep Guardiola: Chasing Perfection, Puyol said: "For me, he's the best by far. I think we'll be remembered forever because of how we won.

"I think everyone who has been trained by him is very lucky.

"You see a team...if you held a match and took away the strips, you could tell which team was Pep's because they have a certain playing style, a method and you can spot them easily."

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Considered one of the most committed defenders in the game, Puyol's determination to win made him a key asset to a team largely renowned for its technical prowess.

While Guardiola's style of play rightly receives regular compliments, the former defender remembers how the coach protected his players during intense title run-ins with rivals Real Madrid.

Reminiscing on one particular press conference ahead of a Champions League tussle with the capital club, Puyol said: "We all clapped him for how he defended us."

As he revealed in the documentary, Puyol and his team-mates were devastated when Guardiola elected to leave the Camp Nou.

"Being Barcelona coach isn't easy. We'd had a very intense few years.

"I told him the players wanted him to stay but he'd already made up his mind."