Pep Guardiola has been speaking about a player who left the club not so long ago, calling him ‘one of the smartest players I’ve ever coached’.
Pep has been in management for a long time now, and has therefore worked with hundreds of players.
The Spaniard has had spells with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City and at each club, he has coached some seriously high-quality players, many with an incredible understanding of the game.
In 2016, Pep made one of the most important signings in the history of Manchester City.
Having just come over from Germany, he knew this player quite well, and there was no doubt in his mind that he was someone who could make a big impact under him at the Etihad Stadium.
And that player, was Ilkay Gundogan.
Pep Guardiola says Ilkay Gundogan was ‘one of the smartest players I’ve ever coached’
Gundogan joined City for a reported fee of around £20 million.
At the time, eyebrows were raised by some about that, because Gundogan had had some injury problems at Dortmund.
And then, just a few months after joining, Gundogan suffered a torn cruciate ligament, which put him on the sidelines for nine months.
It was going to be really interesting to see how he would fare coming back from such a bad injury. But Gundogan put it firmly behind him, and went on to play a crucial role in the club’s success over the next six years.
Gundogan made 304 appearances for City scoring 60 goals and making 38 assists. He won 12 major trophies.
Guardiola has given a new interview to German magazine Stern, and spoke about his former captain glowingly, describing him as ‘one of the smartest players he has ever managed. He said (quoted by Mundo Deportivo): “Ilkay didn’t talk much, but when he did, everyone listened to him, including me as a coach. It was clear and direct.
“He’s a very intelligent player, one of the smartest I’ve ever coached. It was the key to our success.”
“A player can be fast, he can have a good shot, but what makes him stand out from the others and become an elite player is his intelligence.
“Making the right decisions under pressure, knowing what the team needs at any given moment, that’s the type of player I’m looking for. I love smart players. I only had to explain everything to Ilkay once. He understood it and put it into practice immediately. That is extraordinary.”
A serious compliment
The comments from Pep about Gundogan really do show how much he absolutely loved him as a player and valued what he brought to the table.
Pep is arguably the greatest manager ever, so for him to say Gundogan is one of the smartest players he’s ever coached is a seriously big compliment.
Gundogan is without a shadow of a doubt one of the best signings in the club’s history and is most definitely a legend. He has so many big moments in the sky-blue shirt, and it was such a shame he left last season.
His contract was up and seemingly, an agreement between player and club could not be reached.
One wonders if City might have had more trophies last month had he stuck around. at Barcelona this term, Gundogan was still playing to an extremely high level, so there’s every chance he would have been a difference-maker for City.
