Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola believes that his successes at Manchester City would be much more celebrated if he had achieved them with rivals Manchester United.
Guardiola produced a remarkable post-match interview after his side’s 4-2 win over Tottenham on Thursday, labeling his team “happy flowers” that lacked the guts and desire to win this season while also criticizing the club’s supporters.
He received a response from his players on Sunday as they saw out a comfortable 3-0 win over Wolves to move to within two points of league leaders Arsenal, who later beat Manchester United 3-2 to restore their five-point lead at the top of the table.
Guardiola’s incredible outburst earlier in the week is possibly a sign of the pressure that this season’s Premier League title race is having on the Spaniard.
He’s talked several times about City in the same vein as Bayern Munch or Barcelona and clearly believes that his side deserves more praise and respect.
Guardiola desires more.
The key takeaway from his press conference was that he remains determined to do better, even though City is arguably performing well.
Ultimately that’s why he is one of the best managers around, his desire and intensity have allowed him to be successful at the very highest level.
He will be hoping that it prompts a reaction from not just his players but from the fans as well.
There were boos from the supporters on Thursday which Guardiola didn’t like, but when you’re used to so much success it’s easy to see why the slightest blip will promote discontent amongst some.
The controversy surrounding their ownership in the past has somewhat put a dampener on their success and left fans of other clubs criticizing their spending powers.
However, Guardiola is building City’s history, and overcoming the current gap between them and Arsenal may see him receive the praise he craves.
The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager would use tried-and-tested methods to give his side an edge over their opponents. In doing so, the Spaniard turned City into one of Europe’s elite.
Nigel De Jong, who spent three-and-a-half seasons at the Etihad, outlined some of the changes Guardiola made.
“Pep took City to a different level,” he told the club’s website. “If you look at his technical abilities, the opportunities with a new training ground and the players coming in… the food, the diet, the way they live outside of football, the media that comes in and out.
As we found out from their All or Nothing series on Amazon in 2018, Guardiola has implemented a ton of ideas into Manchester City’s everyday regime.
And one of the more simple methods he’s introduced to training is an Eric Cantona-inspired training drill.
Soon, his use of a wall at The Cliff training ground would catch on like wildfire, with many youth team players inspired by the Frenchman’s actions.
“He would use his left foot, right foot, control it with the outside of his foot, drag it to his right, play it with his left,” former United defender Phil Neville said on the High-Performance Podcast.
“It was just simple drills that made him so good on a Saturday. Somebody would cross a ball into the box and he would hit volley after volley, but it was just simple.”
Thirty years on from Cantona’s simple, but effective way of improving his skills and Guardiola may well have been inspired by the former United forward.
A clip on Manchester City’s YouTube channel captured players taking part in the so-called ‘Wall Drill’.
Basically, if a team lets the ball drop then they must complete a group sprint. The coaches will count the scores based on passes completed within the set time, with the drill eventually progressing to headers.
Plenty of you reading this will have used a wall to practice, but to see a professional football club use this technique is fascinating.
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