Not many managers in the history of the game have coached as many world-class players as Pep Guardiola has throughout his career.
At Barcelona, the likes of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez and David Villa were some of the many absolute greats Guardiola closely worked with.
During his time at Bayern Munich, the £378,846-a-week man managed stalwarts such as Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Mueller, Philipp Lahm and Manuel Neuer.
While at Manchester City, elite players like Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva, Rodri and Bernardo Silva have played a massive role in his success.
Aside from simply being incredible players, all the aforementioned players have been unique in their respective approaches on the football pitch.
Perhaps the players’ uniqueness has also played a crucial role in Pep Guardiola’s constant evolution as a manager.
Guardiola makes “not normal” claim about Man City star
Erling Haaland would certainly up there amongst the most unique players the Catalan has ever managed.
Unlike the diminutive and supremely technically gifted players Guardiola seems to usually prioritise, Haaland’s primary strengths are his merciless finishing, remarkable athleticism and astute movement.
The £51 million man’s nigh-on brutish approach to dominating games makes him a rarity amongst the kind of players Guardiola has managed in his career.
Yet, Pep Guardiola hailed Haaland as “the best striker in the world” last season.
The Manchester City boss, who evidently admires the Norwegian has now admitted that it his tremendous goalscoring record is anything but the norm.
Guardiola via HaytersTV: “It’s not normal. It wasn’t normal in Salzburg, in Dortmund, it’s not normal here. This guy, I don’t know how many games he’s scored how many goals.”
“Always, my duty as a manager, his mate is try to [create] better, better [situations] to create more chances. And after that, we have a blessed guy [gestures to the sky] with us that help us to put the ball in the net.”
Pep Guardiola concluded: “So, in a game that was 1-1 and fairly because we played really good, we had to make 2-0, 3-0, own goal, game went like this, ciao, 1-2.”
“The big players define these kinds of situations. We have to bring the ball there, why we have to try to play better and better.”
Pep Guardiola reveals interesting Erling Haaland plan
Firstly, as Pep Guardiola stated, Haaland’s goalscoring prowess is not only extraordinary in a Manchester City shirt but the same was the case when he was playing in Austria and Germany.
Haaland is four hat-tricks away from equalling Sergio Aguero, who set the all-time record of 12 in Premier League history.
But perhaps even more interestingly, Guardiola emphasised the need for City to continue to find different solutions to ensure they can create chances for the star striker.
It seems like Manchester City have thrown caution to the wind to some extent to supply Haaland; an approach that is suiting Haaland to the tee so far this season.
The frightening prospect for other teams in the Premier League is how Pep Guardiola seems to be plotting on how to find more ways to boost the 24-year-old’s output.
Perhaps this seeming approach is why the Leeds-born marksman has scored the variety of goals he has in his three starts in the league this season.
As Manchester City continue to feed Haaland, he will continue to set the bar for goalscoring at unprecedented standards.
