Guardiola: Messi is the greatest of all time
The Manchester City boss congratulated the Argentina national team, calling Messi “the greatest of all time”.
Pep Guardiola - remember him? - sat in front of the press before the upcoming Carabao Cup game against Liverpool. Yes, we’re back again with our usual suspects. Keep up with me here. It doesn’t stop. Argentina beat France in what many say was the best World Cup final ever played - with Messi finally lifting the trophy that had evaded him for so long. But forget that, make sure the last person turns the lights off in the Qatar media office, because we’re all scrambling for parking spaces at the City training complex.
The Manchester City manager firstly congratulated his own player, Julián Álvarez, the young striker who became Messi’s unexpected security assistant, pushing the crowd back away from the PSG player, giving him space between the lines to wiggle his magic toes.
Guardiola praises Julián Álvarez
“We are incredibly happy for [Julián] congratulations to him and [Nicolas] Otamendi, and personally to Messi.” Guardiola said. “To Argentina as a country, well deserved world champions. We’re delighted for Julián, he played a lot, his contribution was amazing for the team and the way they played.”
“We have a world champion in our team. He’ll have a week, ten days off.” (can I join, Julián?) “He played many games, lots of tension. He’ll have a break, maybe until the days before the new year.”
Guardiola on Lionel Messi
Guardiola was asked about Lionel Messi, of course. The Catalan gave an answer you might expect, putting Messi firmly in the pantheon of the greats, if not at the top, looking down: “Everyone has opinion but nobody can doubt he’s there [among] the greatest of all time,” Guardiola explained. “I’ve said many times, for me he’s the best, It’s difficult to understand a player can appear and compete what he’s done in the last 15-17 years.
“The people who saw Pelé or Di Stéfano or Maradona can say they are their favourites. The opinions are often sentimental, but the other side, if he wouldn’t have won the World Cup, the opinion of what he has done for world football and my opinion wouldn’t change.”