Pep Guardiola, it was reported earlier this week, agreed in December to stay on at Barcelona for another year. Yesterday, though, he insisted he was undecided. He even, weirdly, added to the speculation about who his successor might be, talking up the Athletic Bilbao coach Marcelo Bielsa, the idiosyncratic genius whose philosophy has shaped the thinking of both Guardiola and the Universidad de Chile coach Jorge Sampaoli.

This is all very odd. Since taking charge in 2008, Guardiola has won 13 of the 15 trophies it was possible for him to win. Barca lost by a single goal to Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final last season, and they lost in the Champions League semi-final two years ago to Mourinho's Internazionale. But only after a volcano had forced them to travel to Milan by bus, after being denied a clear penalty in the San Siro and having what would have been a last-minute extra-time winner wrongly ruled out.

In other words, they've been frighteningly close to winning everything. They play football widely hailed as some of the greatest ever seen. They have a young(ish) side and a youth set up apparently producing an endless torrent of brilliant players (of course even la Masia will have a dry patch because youth production is not an exact science, but when you can offload the likes of Oriel Romeu, it suggests a confidence about what is to follow).

There's not a hint of them going stale [they are 1.9 to lift la Liga again this season], with Guardiola tweaking and teasing his formation, both preventing his own players becoming complacent and thwarting those who look to work out strategies to defeat them. There is a protean brilliance to Barca that might make them not merely the best in two decades, but one of the three or four greatest sides of all time. So why on earth are we talking about whether Guardiola will stay on next season?

There's pressure, of course. In 2008, Guardiola was a fresh-faced 37 with hair; now, as he approaches his 41st birthday, he is all but bald and his eyes sit above gloomy bags. The job has taken a toll. But greatness should take a toll. Barca are favourites this season 2.62 to become the first team in 22 years to successfully defend the Champions League - and so make Guardiola only the second man to win three European Cups/ Champions Leagues as a manager. If they do that, why would Guardiola not want to try to make Barca only the fourth side to win three in a row? Why would he not want to become the most successful manager in the tournament's history?

It's surely not money. For one thing, Guardiola doesn't seem that bothered by cash and, for another, it's surely worth Barca giving him whatever he wants. He is smart, charming, articulate in four languages, somebody you'd appoint to be an ambassador for the club - and he also happens to be a brilliant manager. Tactically he won the battle against Mourinho in the last clasico, and he also has a ruthless streak, as the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Bojan have discovered.

There are only three apparent threats to Barca's domination. One is that Xavi will be 32 later this month. When he starts to deteriorate, he will be sorely missed. And although Cesc Fabregas has been brought in with half an eye on replacing him, Xavi's ability to keep the ball moving and to retain possession in the tightest space won't easily be replicated.

What sets Barca apart from Spain [3.7 to win Euro 2012] is Lionel Messi. If a game is threatening to become bogged down, he has the capacity to produce something remarkable, suddenly to beat two men in a whirr of feat and conjure space from nothing. No matter how great the team, it helps to have such an astonishingly gifted individual. Were he to leave or suffer serious injury, Barca wouldn't be the force they are.

And the third element is Guardiola. It's easy to overlook the coach when the players are so gifted, but he is the one who gives them structure. Barca have got to do what it takes to keep him.

The race is shaping up to be one of the most exciting in Republican history. In the mean time, here are some of Michelle Bachmann's best moments.