Throughout his career, Pep Guardiola has often been spotted conducting one-on-one coaching sessions with his players.
Often, even during a game, Guardiola is seen delivering instructions to a player; whether that is to make slight tweaks in his approach or in an intense manner if he is seemingly perturbed.
The £378,846-a-week man tends to either use the timeframe when a player is getting treatment for a knock or after his team scores to have a chat and deliver his message.
The Manchester City boss seems to forget that several cameras are capturing his every moment due to how entrenched he is with regards to his tactical advice and the game in question.
Even as early as during half-time, Pep Guardiola has had intense conversations with some of the biggest names in his squad.
For instance, the Catalan tactician was seen telling Erling Haaland off as Manchester City were leading 2-0 against Burnley during last season’s Premier League opener, despite the star striker having already scored a brace.
Alan Shearer criticised Pep Guardiola’s public approach of berating Haaland — admitting that he would have lost his cool with the legendary manager if he was in the Norwegian’s shoes at the time.
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What Pep Guardiola has been coaching Josh Wilson-Esbrand about in one-on-one sessions
However, Guardiola comes across as a very hands-on manager.
Unlike managers like Carlo Ancelotti and Arsene Wenger who have always seemed quite calm on the whole, the two-time treble-winning coach is as animated as one can be on the sidelines.
It is likely that Guardiola’s approach is similar in training.
Gabby Agbonalhor revealed that Jack Grealish stated the Manchester City boss keeps his players on their toes at all times.
But the reason why his players seem to be able to execute a variety of roles on the pitch with ease perhaps comes down to Guardiola’s brilliant coaching and clear communication.
During City’s pre-season tour of the US, one player who has been deployed in quite a different role than usual is Josh Wilson-Esbrand.
A report by the Daily Mail has claimed that Pep Guardiola has been coaching Wilson-Esbrand on a one-on-one basis to help him learn how to better understand how to play as an inverted left-back.
It has been claimed that Guardiola and the 21-year-old have been “in deep conversation” about the workings of the role.
Against Celtic, the Englishman seemed to struggle reverting to a standard left-back’s position from midfield — as he was caught out of position numerous times.
Josh Wilson-Esbrand will become a better player due to Pep Guardiola coaching him in this role
However, it seems like Wilson-Esbrand is slowly but surely gaining a better understanding of how to play in his newfound role; which is perhaps why Guardiola continues to persist with the experiment.
During Manchester City’s latest defeat to Barcelona on penalties, the youngster perhaps had his best game in pre-season so far as an inverted left-back.
Wilson-Esbrand seemed to have found a knack of when to drift in centrally and when to stay out wide, which made it a challenge for Hansi Flick’s side to keep tabs on Grealish — who would alter his position from the left-wing to left-sided midfield based on where the former was positioned.
The latter managed to have a brilliant game where he also got on the score sheet and a key reason behind that being the case was due to the highly-rated left-back’s intelligent positioning.
Even if Wilson-Esbrand does not go on to become an inverted left-back on a long-term basis, understanding the demands of such a complex role, the positions that must be taken up and how to remain effective both defensively and offensively will help him become a better player.
