Much column inches have been spared in both foreign and local presses over the last week extolling the virtues of Pep Guardiola's Barcelona.

And with good reason too.

In a week when the former player and now legendary manager announced that he would be stepping down from the melting pot that is the Barcelona hotseat, tributes have flown in from across the world for a man who has forged with his might a team that can challenge for honours as 'the best the world has ever seen.'

Barcelona's famed tiki-taka has brought a farmhouse in Catalunya to international acclaim and in the process also fostered an almighty domination of football that just fell short of the true gold standard a repeat Champions League triumph, a feat last accomplished by Arrigo Sacchi's AC Milan team who can also lay claim to that heady accolade.

But despite that near miss, Guardiola's record of triumphs is jawdropping, almost to the edge of sanity. This is perhaps what makes questions about his legacy both so surprising, and at the same time intriguing. And so in the wake of his departure, the question of whether Guardiola will ever be as successful anywhere else was one that struck out like a sore thumb both for its fallacy and its intrigue.

There are of course many answers to that question, all of which will be drawn from subjectivity, but the correct answer in the opinion of yours truly will be short - no, Guardiola will not be as successful anywhere else as he has been with Barcelona.

Why you ask? Well it's simple. Pep's Barcelona is perhaps the most successful football team of the last two decades, one of the greatest teams the world has ever seen. Really, what odds are there on Pep repeating this trick with any other side? Almost nil, in my opinion. And even if he were to go on to manage another club with great success, he will almost always be unfairly measured against the Barcelona yardstick, rendering any future success infinitesimal next to what he has achieved with the Catalans.

But the above should in no way be seen as a slight towards Pep. Guardiola's success in revolutionizing the game of football and in forging Barcelona into a unit capable of such utter domination should not just be lauded but also revered. The blue litmus test for Guardiola's often doubted coaching career is easy. Just ask yourself would any other coach have achieved so much success with this Barcelona squad? The answer to that question should be a resounding no.

Guardiola is a football thinker of the highest mould, one for whom football often takes a position ahead of family or friends, a constant innovator, for whom philosophy is important above all. In that way, Barcelona and Guardiola are a match made in heaven. The club is in his DNA and vice-versa and no one, not even Messi or Xavi or Iniesta embodies the club spirit as well as Guardiola does.

And while that is perhaps what made him so successful, it is also why Guardiola had to give up the post. To paraphrase a popular movie quote 'his glory went hand in hand with his doom.'

So while Pep sails off to a sunset that even he knew was coming we should not aim to poke holes in his legacy or slight his achievements but celebrate the beautiful football he has provided us over the last few years. Whether it be Xavi's passing, Iniesta's vision, the metronomic tendencies of Sergio Busquets, the darting moves of David Villa or the overall brilliance of Lionel Messi, Guardiola had a hand in it all. And just for that and that alone, he deserves a spot in the pantheon of greats.