Hleb: Guardiola is not the best coach, he had the best players

Posted Wednesday, October 10, 2012 by YAHOO Sport

BATE Borisov midfielder Alexander Hleb said he does not consider Pep Guardiola to be the greatest coach in the world, offering that his success was a product of him having the best players at his disposal during his time with Barcelona.

The Belarus international, who played all 90 minutes of his side's recent shock 3-1 victory over Bayern Munich in the Champions League group stage, spent four years with the Catalan giants between 2008-2012 following four seasons with Arsenal.

"I learned more from (Arsenal manager Arsene) Wenger than Guardiola, but Pep is a good coach," the 31-year-old told Esports en Xarxa. "Guardiola is not the best coach in the world, because he coached the best team in the world, with the best players, and that's why he won.

"It's hard not to win with a team like that and [Tito] Vilanova will have the greatest success The best coaches in the world are [Jose] Mourinho, [Sir Alex] Ferguson and [Arsene] Wenger."

Hleb also spoke about his country's upcoming World Cup qualifying match with Spain on Friday.

"I will strive to do my best. Spain's team is almost unbeatable. They play brilliant football, like Barca," Hleb said

Speaking on his time with the Blaugrana, the well-travelled star added, "I was very ambitious and wanted to play more, but Barca played each player for a certain amount of minutes. For me, that was not enough. I was angry and wanted more, which was why we had some conflicts with Guardiola, but now I understand it was the nonsense and tantrums of a little boy."