Guardian interview with Guardiola

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ric
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Seems so humble and plays down what he has accomplished whilst giving praise. Very different to another 'elite manager', you can clearly see why he is everyone's first choice. I have read a lot on Pep and although we will never be his club, he is a true Barca man and we can never compete with that. We do have the ability that our club can be run in the way that allows him to enjoy his work, the time at Barca seemed to be too much with the change of presidents, power struggles etc. At City I have noticed he is always keen to stress he is the coach and seems to want little to do with anything else, I believe if he is given this freedom then we will see the best of Pep and possibly become the club he manages for the longest time, here's hoping!!
 
Pep: "I am not here to change English football. I will try to get my players to play with the style and the ideas which come from Johan."
Pep: "To be champions, I need my team to have possession. You can lose with possession, but more likely you will lose with less possession."
Pep: "He (Cruyff) was unique. Without him I wouldn’t be here. I know for sure this is why I am, right now, the manager of Manchester City."
 
I hope he is right about the possesion... It didnt do it for us last year, we need clinical and confident finishing too. Interesting read though, I wasnt that much aware of his links to Cryuff.
 
FCBarca said:
He does & has emulated his mentor by what was done at Barcelona, also why he'll indeed be back at some point

Great read
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Don't know about that. Looking at what Pep achieved at Barca you would have thought he would stick around there for a long time but things can quickly change in football, just like they did for Cruyff at Ajax. Towards the end of his time, Pep had had enough and looked more under pressure than at any time during his managerial career. The wrangling behind the scenes with the likes of Rosell obviously had an effect on him.

In that article, Pep says of Cruyff, "He created something from nothing and you have to have a lot of charisma and personality. Everybody knows about football but you need the charisma to say: ‘You must go in that way’ and everybody follows. That’s so difficult to find". With City he more or less has a blank canvas to impose himself on the club and create something new. Pep realises that much of what was put in place at Barca was done so by Cruyff. I get the feeling he wants to be a trailblazer, not a follower, and he has the help of a couple of his best mates in place to help him do it. I can understand why you're nervous though.
 
tramazi said:
I hope he is right about the possesion... It didnt do it for us last year, we need clinical and confident finishing too. Interesting read though, I wasnt that much aware of his links to Cryuff.
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Possession did fucking wonders for us last year, our high possession and keeping the ball away from the opposition was the only reason we finished in the top 4.

It's also not really a question of "I hope he's right", apart from Leicester, when was the last time a team who didn't play possession football won the league? At least a decade ago.

Then look at Italy, Spain, Germany and France and ask the same question.

Then look at the Champions League and ask the same question.
 
domalino said:
Possession did fucking wonders for us last year, our high possession and keeping the ball away from the opposition was the only reason we finished in the top 4.

It's also not really a question of "I hope he's right", apart from Leicester, when was the last time a team who didn't play possession football won the league? At least a decade ago.

Then look at Italy, Spain, Germany and France and ask the same question.

Then look at the Champions League and ask the same question.
Click to expand...

You could also argue (Like many others have said) that possession doesnt do any good unless you stop thhe opposition and score the important goals. We didnt last year.I guess I mean to say Possession isnt the only thing.
 
tramazi said:
You could also argue (Like many others have said) that possession doesnt do any good unless you stop thhe opposition and score the important goals. We didnt last year.I guess I mean to say Possession isnt the only thing.
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Possession does stop the opposition. You can't score without the ball.
 
That's a truly brilliant interview.
Whilst Pep might be a Barca man, I’ve no doubt he can become a blue. Cruyff was an Ajax man that went to Barcelona and passed on his knowledge and philosophy of football. Pep idolised him and recognises that without him he wouldn’t have had the career he had, playing wise or managerial wise. His time at Bayern was a success but didn’t deliver CL glory and a club of Bayern’s size and stature makes that look a real disappointment. It cannot be argued that he made them an exciting team and improved them though. Three consecutive semi-finals is impressive and though they didn’t make it all the way they were a brilliant side.


He’s now got the opportunity to do with City, what Cruyff did with Barcelona. Barcelona have of course been a huge club for decades, but their first European success was under Cruyff in 1992. They won two more under Pep and now have won it 5 times. The style of play instilled in their academy has arguably led to Spain being the best team in the World between 2008-2012 and not many teams could get near them, they couldn’t get the ball for starters.


City remain on the start of their journey when you compare us to the likes of Barcelona. Our academy has been transformed and Pep can ensure it finally becomes a conveyor belt to our first team. He’s already improved individual players and our all round game in the little time we’ve had with him. He could be our Cruyff and in that regard I think there’s potential for him to develop a deeper love of our club than many might expect. He will never put himself on the same level as Cruyff and perhaps rightly so, but it’s early days in his managerial career and he’s already tried things that Cruyff hadn’t and he’s shown to be an incredible man manager and tactician in an age where often it’s one or the other. He puts his success down to Cruyff but potentially players like Raheem Sterling, John Stones, Aleix Garcia, Brahim Diaz could be saying in 20/30 years time the exact same thing about Pep. Let’s hope so.
 
supercity88 said:
City remain on the start of their journey when you compare us to the likes of Barcelona. Our academy has been transformed and Pep can ensure it finally becomes a conveyor belt to our first team. He’s already improved individual players and our all round game in the little time we’ve had with him. He could be our Cruyff and in that regard I think there’s potential for him to develop a deeper love of our club than many might expect.
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Exactly.

"The best managers win lots of titles because we are at big clubs with big players. But it is about how they influence the new generation, how they influence their players."
 
No doubt in my mind the start Guardiola has made, we look far more ruthless now than under Pellegrini's reign and he is getting the best out of our top players that didn't perform last year (Sterling). His style of football is always gonna win over the fans. Last week at Spurs was a one-off hangover from that tough game at Celtic mid week.

Guardiola is discussed as one of the topics in this video, worth a watch!
 
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When I read about pep or Johan or even Wenger to a certain degree, I always end up thinking about how little they're thought of by the British press and general fan in this country.

Slur Alex and Jose Mourinho in general get lorded due to the amount they've won and rightly so in many respects but have any really changed the face of football or left a legacy that can be carried on at their clubs?

Man Utd fans surely must think that Slur Alex should really have left them in a position where when he eventually left that a new manager has the best platform possible to carry on that reign of success. Same can be said of Mourinho but I imagine ego has a huge part to play with the pair of them.

Pep when he eventually leaves us will leave behind a certain way of playing, a certain way of managing and a certain way of winning which will only assist whoever comes in after him and I believe that he'd probably see that as more of an achievement than actually lifting trophies.

Pep coming to England has probably opened they eyes of many a journalist and football supporter. To read about who influenced him and why is really interesting and a total pleasure.
 
Great article and a real insight into how the great ones leave a legacy that lives on. Hopefully we'll feel the same about Pep's reign for many years to come as he influences those that follow!

I can't help feeling giddy every time I read an interview with him.
 
domalino said:
Possession did fucking wonders for us last year, our high possession and keeping the ball away from the opposition was the only reason we finished in the top 4.

It's also not really a question of "I hope he's right", apart from Leicester, when was the last time a team who didn't play possession football won the league? At least a decade ago.

Then look at Italy, Spain, Germany and France and ask the same question.

Then look at the Champions League and ask the same question.
Click to expand...

Chelsea won the Champions League 4 years ago playing negative shite with no possession against better sides, to be fair.
 
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