Thierry Henry has shared what Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola taught him during their time together at Barcelona.
During the Frenchman’s time at the Spanish club, he made 74 appearances under the 52-year-old across all competitions, scoring 30 goals and delivering 15 assists along the way.
Now though, the pundit has shared some details on the sort of coaching he received from the City boss.
Henry reveals Guardiola coaching details
Speaking in a recent edition of The Rest Is Football, Henry had this to say on Guardiola and what he learnt from him.
He said: “Pep is the only manager that made me understand that pressing is enjoyable. As a striker, what do you want to do? Stay as close to the goal, if I can stay in the box and close to the goal the whole game, that’s a dream.
“First and foremost, think, you don’t have to run 40 yards with the full-back. If we manage to stay here, we stay here all I have to do is sprint five (yards) because everyone is so close to each other, so you sprint five.
“Yes, the intensity has to be to the max but when you look at it, you’re telling me I’m going to stay in the half of the opponent for the two halves by the box? Where do I need to sign?”
Having scored 360 goals and delivered 177 assists in 794 club appearances, the attacker certainly had a reputation in terms of being particularly skilful on the ball and having a knack for providing goal contributions.
With City being one of the more effective teams when it comes to pressing from the front, this shows that Guardiola’s philosophy from Barcelona has travelled with him to the Etihad Stadium in terms of what he wants his players to do when they don’t have the ball.
Even though Henry played most of his club games under the management of Arsene Wenger (379), it’s interesting to hear that a concept that is so prominent in today’s game was taught to him effectively by Guardiola during their time together in Barcelona.
Earlier this month, Henry said that Wenger opened his brain but Guardiola opened his eyes in terms of understanding the game, which further showcases how much of an impact the two managers had on his career.
