Owen Hargreaves has said that Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is the most ‘innovative’ manager of all time.
Speaking to talkSPORT, the well-known pundit gave his two cents on the Catalan coach.
Owen Hargreaves lauded Pep Guardiola, after he became the first manager in history to have won two trebles in his career.
Owen Hargreaves calls Pep Guardiola the most ‘innovative’ manager the game has ever seen
Branded as ‘amazing’ by Mateo Kovacic, the Spaniard commands respect from those that understand the sport and appreciate greatness.
Last season was testament to Guardiola’s tactical genius and unique ability to adapt his gameplan, as he adopted a more pragmatic approach, which led to his side winning the lot.
As Owen Hargreaves heaped praise on Pep Guardiola, he broke down what makes him such a special manager.
“Pep’s the greatest innovative coach I think we’ve ever seen almost in any sport. The reason they won the Champions League was maybe their downfall before, was the fact that they’re a little bit open, they play this beautiful football. Every time they got knocked out, they were the better team”, he said.
Owen Hargreaves also explained why Manchester City’s previous exits from the Champions League was not down to Pep Guardiola, saying, “Whether it was Monaco, whether it was Tottenham, whether it was Real Madrid, they were the better team. But football at that level is one moment, that’s it. And I think Pep found a way to minimise those moments last season by playing a back four. Getting rid of the full-backs, playing four centre-backs and thought, ‘right, if I keep a clean sheet, I know we score.’ And what happened?”
“And I think Pep is the greatest at finding solutions, in-game solutions and being creative and you can almost guarantee he’ll have a surprise for this season.”
In terms of an innovator especially, it is impossible to disagree with Owen Hargreaves and go against Pep Guardiola being top dog in this respect, as the manner in which he has influenced football as a whole is unprecedented.
