No manager is universally loved. In fact, for the very best ones, upsetting players probably means<\/p>\n
they are doing something right. But nobody can dispute Pep Guardiola\u2019s standing as a member of<\/p>\n
the elite. He has won trophies everywhere he\u2019s been, pioneering modern ways of playing and<\/p>\n
working with some of the best talent in the world.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It would be easy to claim that because Guardiola has worked for some of the biggest clubs and had<\/p>\n
huge budgets to spend on his squads that he was always destined to be successful. He himself<\/p>\n
admits that good players make a good team, and there is little doubting that he has benefited from<\/p>\n
such an array of quality. But while every winning team needs good players, not every manager can<\/p>\n
oversee consistency just because of what is at their disposal. Guardiola makes the difference in the<\/p>\n
way he changes minds and develops players; at Bayern Munich, he walked into a treble-winning<\/p>\n
team with nothing else to prove, but maintained their success in his own image. At Barcelona before<\/p>\n
that and Manchester City since 2016, he has raised levels to a different stratosphere.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Speak to almost any player that has worked with him and he will lay out just how meticulous<\/p>\n
Guardiola truly is. But his methods, while impressive and backed up by over a decade of incredible<\/p>\n
results, are not always conducive to helping players express themselves. Personality is not<\/p>\n
necessarily high on his list of desired traits when it comes to a player; he demands a collective<\/p>\n
mindset above anything else, and often those on the pitch are seen more like cogs in a wheel, doing<\/p>\n
their individual jobs to make it turn.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
His teams may play some of the most remarkable football ever seen, but hard work is at the heart of<\/p>\n
that, the most important thing. If you don\u2019t commit fully to his approach, you don\u2019t play. That is why<\/p>\n
he is one of the greats; to work with the players and the egos he has, and seemingly never fall into<\/p>\n
the trap of a crisis, can never be understated.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
But working with Guardiola can take a toll, too, especially when a player wants more expression.<\/p>\n
This summer has seen more change at City than at any point since the summer of 2017, before his<\/p>\n
first Premier League title. Erling Haaland has arrived to give the team an entirely new focus, as a<\/p>\n
striker where there previously wasn\u2019t one. Since Sergio Aguero left the club, there hadn\u2019t been a<\/p>\n
focal point in the team, despite Gabriel Jesus\u2019 presence. Even when the Brazilian played, he did so as<\/p>\n
a wide forward, sacrificing what was once the main point of his game, box play, for the good of the<\/p>\n
team. Haaland\u2019s arrival signalled the end for him at the Etihad Stadium.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Wherever he\u2019d be going, though, it was clear he\u2019d become what he hadn\u2019t under Guardiola, the aim<\/p>\n
man. He wouldn\u2019t be joining anybody for north of \u00a340m to play a supporting role on the wing, and<\/p>\n
sure enough, when Arsenal emerged as his destination, his new role became clear. Both Pierre-<\/p>\n
Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette left the club this year, and they were lacking a real<\/p>\n
potency, but not by choice like at City. Knowing Mikel Arteta, who was Guardiola\u2019s assistant at City<\/p>\n
until December 2019, meant North London always felt like a good fit for Jesus, and he has stepped<\/p>\n
into a leadership role perfectly so far. But the pressure will be different to anything he\u2019s experienced<\/p>\n
before at City or with Brazil, where he has often blended into the background alongside so many It<\/p>\n
name players.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He looks set to be joined by another ex-City teammate, Oleksandr Zinchenko. While he has dealt<\/p>\n
with the spotlight as a key player in Ukraine\u2019s side, it is very much a similar story for him. Despite<\/p>\n
operating as a midfielder in his early career and for his national team, he has been used by Guardiola<\/p>\n
most often at fullback. The manager sees something of a relationship between the two positions,<\/p>\n
but he was never given the opportunity to flourish in a freer role like Phil Foden or Kevin de Bruyne.<\/p>\n
It will be interesting to see whether the move to Arsenal will see him given more responsibility and<\/p>\n
an opportunity to express himself.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Yet the most intriguing departure from City this summer is Raheem Sterling. Unlike both Jesus and<\/p>\n
Zinchenko, he was trusted by Guardiola and a regular in his team. Arguably, too, he embodied his<\/p>\n
coaching skills more than anyone else at City, developing from an inconsistent and flaky winger into<\/p>\n
a proven Premier League goalscorer from wide positions. Only the evolution of the side and<\/p>\n
Guardiola\u2019s desire to implement more technical players in attacking areas saw Sterling feature less<\/p>\n
before signing for Chelsea. All too often, he was told to work in a specific way to make him more<\/p>\n
productive, and moving to Stamford Bridge could give him chance to show he has learnt to<\/p>\n
contribute to teams in a more creative role, like he did at Liverpool, but maintain that consistency he<\/p>\n
gained over the past six years or so.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
All three players benefited from Guardiola\u2019s way of working, but now they face a different challenge<\/p>\n
away from the structure he implements. Pressure and expectation will be different, but so will the<\/p>\n
freedom. So will they sink or swim?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
No manager is universally loved. In fact, for the very best ones, upsetting players probably means they are doing something right. But nobody can dispute Pep Guardiola\u2019s standing as a member of the elite.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[643],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sport"],"yoast_head":"\n