Pep Guardiola has managed a long list of outstanding young players in his career.
Having managed clubs of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City’s stature, Guardiola was bound to work with incredible batches of young prospects.
The £378,846-a-week manager also played a massive rise in their development but their natural talent gave them the right base to always have a strong chance of reaching the top.
At Barcelona, names like Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique and Pedro Rodriguez stand out.
During his spell at Bayern Munich, Pep Guardiola had the chance to coach Mario Goetze and Joshua Kimmich at young ages.
At the Etihad Stadium, the likes of Leroy Sane, Phil Foden, Cole Palmer and Brahim Diaz instantly spring to mind.
In some cases, the prospects in question hit incredible heights under him.
Man City boss makes intriguing Rico Lewis observation after Ipswich Town win
Naturally, in others, the players in question did not.
But even so, both parties had the privilege to work closely with each other.
Rico Lewis is into his third season as a first-team player at Manchester City player at 19 and judging by that being the case alone, so far, he is impressing the Catalan tactician.
The £25,000-a-week man has started in both of City’s two opening games of the 2024/2025 Premier League season.
As Lewis was once again one of his boyhood club’s standout performers in their 4-1 demolition job of Ipswich Town, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola admitted that he cannot quite fathom how he always finds a yard of space.
Guardiola told beIN SPORTS: “You know, Rico [Lewis] always has the ability to be alone. I don’t know how, the way he does but he’s alone, always, we can find him. He’s an exceptional player and yeah, we played a very good game.”
- READ MORE: Who is Rico Lewis? The Man City prodigy who is one of the best Pep Guardiola has ever trained
Rico Lewis constantly showcased this ability against Ipswich Town
Against Ipswich Town, Lewis exhibited his knack of being unmarked, especially in pockets in and around the opposition box.
Whether it was by making an astute run or taking a few steps either further back or forward, the youngster seemed like a nightmare for the visitors to pick up.
Having seemingly been handed the freedom to take up different positions on the pitch, Lewis thrived upon being given such a responsibility as he constantly seemed like one of the hosts’ biggest attacking threats.
Perhaps more importantly, the Englishman’s understanding of positioning himself in space made him available for a pass and with how technically proficient he is — this facet of the versatile defender’s game allowed Manchester City to exact more control against Ipswich.
On another day, some of Lewis’ intricate passes and flicks would perhaps not been cut out by the opposition and he would have walked away with an assist or two.
