Hleb: Wenger is better than Guardiola

Posted Wednesday, October 10, 2012 by ESPN

Former Arsenal and Barcelona midfielder Aliaksandr Hleb believes that Pep Guardiola was able to perform only because of great players at his disposal.

Hleb joined Arsenal in 2005, becoming part of the club's first team before making a €17 million move to Barcelona, where he struggled to break into the squad and made only 36 appearances from 2008 to 2012.

The Belarus international compared his experiences at both clubs and revealed that he has learnt more under Arsene Wenger's guidance than Guardiola, despite the latter being lauded for a plethora of coaching awards in the past seasons. He also added his opinion that while Guardiola is a good coach, his success was due to the stable of stars at Barcelona.

"I learned more from 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 revealed his regrets regarding his limited involvement at the Catalan club.

"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."

With Belarus' World Cup qualifying match against Spain coming up, Hleb believes that his coutnry will have a tough time against the defending world and European champions.

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