Pep Guardiola has coached a significant number of players during his time as Manchester City’s manager.
Specifically, having been at the Etihad Stadium since 2016, the 53-year-old has overlooked 482 matches across all competitions in total, using 90 players along the way.
Having won six Premier League trophies as well as numerous other domestic and European titles during his time with City, this shows that Guardiola knows how to get the most out of the players in his squad.
With the Blues now looking to make even more history and break their own record by becoming the first side to win five Premier League titles in a row, one player the Manchester club signed during Guardiola’s reign has now shared one thing that completely shocked him about the manager.
- Who is Kalvin Phillips? Get to know the midfielder who could leave Man City in the transfer window
Kalvin Phillips shares one thing that Pep Guardiola did that stunned him at Man City
Featuring in a recent episode of My Mate’s A Footballer as a special guest, Kalvin Phillips had this to say about what initially impressed him about Guardiola when he first joined City.
He said: “The first game we played West Ham away, when my first season there, he literally told the team in a meeting, probably two days before, how the game was going to play out.
“He literally was like, ‘West Ham are going to start well, they’re going to put us under pressure, and then we’re going to have a little bit of time, and we’re going to get opportunities to get the ball to Kevin, and if Kevin plays in behind for real, and then we’re more than likely going to score.’
“Or he just mentioned different ways that we could attack, and then how they’re going to press us, and then you’d seen it happen in real life, and I was just sat there like, this is ridiculous.
“I couldn’t believe it. At one point I was gobsmacked at how it just worked out, and I could see exactly what he was saying happening on the pitch.
“I think obviously he’s been around football for years and he’s trained some of the best players and managed some of the best players and played against some of the best teams as well.
“And I think for him to get to the point that he is now, which is considered the best manager, I think you’ve got to kind of be obsessed with something to do with football.
“I think he’s just obsessed with winning and making sure that his team, whatever team is managing, is the best team in the league.”
What else has been said about Guardiola?
Phillips isn’t the only person with knowledge of the City boss to share his praise for how the Spaniard goes about his job, as Eddie Howe recently described Guardiola as an “innovator” and shared how much he admires the way he singlehandedly evolves football with his methods.
Having won so many trophies throughout his managerial career, not just with City but with Barcelona and Bayern Munich as well, there can be no denying that Guardiola is one of the best managers of all time.
Now that Phillips has revealed that the City boss predicted almost everything that happened during City’s win over West Ham United in the first Premier League game of their Treble-winning season, this shows how intuitive and knowledgeable he is about his opponents.
