BARCELONA captain Carles Puyol has backed new coach Pep Guardiola to return the club to winning ways and insists the players are all excited to start working with him.
Guardiola wore the armband in his time with the Catalan giants and, along with Puyol, is one of only two Barca captains to have lifted the European Cup.
He will become only the third Spanish ex-player to take over as coach at the Nou Camp and Puyol believes his knowledge makes him the perfect man to take the Blaugranes back to the top.
"He's a good choice. He's very clear on things and we just have to let him get on with his work." Puyol told Spanish newspaper Sport.
"We all really want things to change after two difficult, bad years and there's nobody better than him to do it.
"Obviously the objective is to get back to winning ways. All I want is to win and for the Barca fans to be happy. That's the most important thing.
"He knows the club better than anyone and he knows perfectly well what the problems are.
"Everything is in his favour. We're really excited that Pep is going to be the coach."
Puyol played alongside Guardiola for two years before the now coach left to join Italian club Brescia in 2001.
Other Baraca players including Xavi have also lined up alongside the former midfielder, but Puyol does not believe the relationship the players had then will affect how they treat Guardiola now he is coach.
"(Having played alongside him) won't be a problem. Quite the opposite," he said.
"We know him well and he's a great worker. I already knew that, but the people from Barca B have also told me what a great worker he is and that he has very clear ideas."
Guardiola and the Barcelona directors have wasted no time in ringing the changes since his appointment was announced at the beginning of May.
Gerard Pique, Martin Caceres, Seydou Keita have all joined the club with Brazil defender Daniel Alves set to follow shortly.
Other names, such as Alexander Hleb, Emmanuel Adebayor and Karim Benzema, have also been linked with the club, and Puyol asked for calm to allow the coach to continue bringing in good players.
"I hear a lot of things but we've just got to let the technical secretary (Txiki Begiristain) and the new coach keep working," he continued.
"At the moment, those who have signed we know well and we know that they're great players."
He will become only the third Spanish ex-player to take over as coach at the Nou Camp and Puyol believes his knowledge makes him the perfect man to take the Blaugranes back to the top.
"He's a good choice. He's very clear on things and we just have to let him get on with his work." Puyol told Spanish newspaper Sport.
"We all really want things to change after two difficult, bad years and there's nobody better than him to do it.
"Obviously the objective is to get back to winning ways. All I want is to win and for the Barca fans to be happy. That's the most important thing.
"He knows the club better than anyone and he knows perfectly well what the problems are.
"Everything is in his favour. We're really excited that Pep is going to be the coach."
Puyol played alongside Guardiola for two years before the now coach left to join Italian club Brescia in 2001.
Other Baraca players including Xavi have also lined up alongside the former midfielder, but Puyol does not believe the relationship the players had then will affect how they treat Guardiola now he is coach.
"(Having played alongside him) won't be a problem. Quite the opposite," he said.
"We know him well and he's a great worker. I already knew that, but the people from Barca B have also told me what a great worker he is and that he has very clear ideas."
Guardiola and the Barcelona directors have wasted no time in ringing the changes since his appointment was announced at the beginning of May.
Gerard Pique, Martin Caceres, Seydou Keita have all joined the club with Brazil defender Daniel Alves set to follow shortly.
Other names, such as Alexander Hleb, Emmanuel Adebayor and Karim Benzema, have also been linked with the club, and Puyol asked for calm to allow the coach to continue bringing in good players.
"I hear a lot of things but we've just got to let the technical secretary (Txiki Begiristain) and the new coach keep working," he continued.
"At the moment, those who have signed we know well and we know that they're great players."
Copyright (c) Press Association
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