5 reasons why Pep Guardiola is an incredible manager

By Editor |   18 April 2021   |   1:21 am  

Manchester City’s Spanish manager Pep Guardiola reacts ahead of the English Premier League football match. (Photo by CARL RECINE / POOL / AFP)


Pep Guardiola is often slated as a manager that is just seen as good, but the teams he manages are the ones doing all the work, as in, how hard can it be to coach Barca, Bayern Munich, or the best Manchester City side in a few generations?

However, while that is partially true, you don’t get to the point where the biggest teams in the world want you as their coach, you have to be someone who is leaps and bounds ahead of the competition, and here are five reasons why Pep is one of the EPL’s top managers.

Team Development
At Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and now at Manchester City, Pep has had the ability to develop each and every player into someone that not only fits into his system of play, but also grows as an individual.

While you are a coach, all you really need is for your players to play how you want them to, however, Pep just makes players shine as individuals, not just as cogs. While he doesn’t benefit from this when the players move on, there are many of them who have stated that Pep is the reason they have reached the heights they have.

This applies to youth development as while. Pep isn’t afraid to play his younger players, and play them in important games too. He wants his whole squad to improve and bond not just the starting 11 he chooses each week.

Team Selection
Pep has also become a true master at team selection. Almost without fail, he knows which 11 players to choose for each and every opponent, even if his team is riddled with injuries, he is still able to make the correct team choices.

While this may seem easy, it still takes the right eye to know which players will cause the most danger to your opponent. Pep has a serious knack for this, and it has been proven to be a skill that has won his team many games that people didn’t think they could win.

Adaptability
Much like his team selection abilities, Pep’s adaptability is incredible. You watch any Barca, Bayern or CIty game where they have gone down a goal or two just to come back and win, and you can see how Pep changes tactics at the drop of the hat, and more times than not, they are the right changes.

Pep isn’t so arrogant to this that his way is the only way, he changes when he needs to, he doesn’t stubbornly stick to his plan. There are a number of managers who just don’t change even when it becomes very clear that their plan just isn’t working out.

While this should be, and is relatively common, Pep just seems to do it better than most coaches out there.

Differing from the Norm
Pep has never been afraid to do things his own way. He doesn’t choose the players everyone thinks he should choose, he doesn’t play how everyone thinks his team should play, and he most certainly doesn’t care what people have to say about his coaching style.

This goes back to his Barca days too, where he famously decided to get rid of Samuel Eto’s, Ronaldinho, and Deco, with both Deco and Ronaldinho leaving that year, and Eto’o leaving the season after.

While most managers would shudder at that thought, considering those three players were right near their prime when they left, Pep wanted a fresh start, he wanted to put his own mark on the team. Even though Barca lost three of the best players in the world, there is no doubt that it didn’t really affect their success.

Staying Humble and Working Hard
You can call Pep a lot of things, but calling him arrogant would just be a lie. Pep is incredibly humble, not only with himself and his team, but his many achievements too. He never thinks that he has reached his true potential, and he most definitely isn’t completely satisfied with his teams performance and achievements.

If you watch his post-match interviews, win or lose, he is constantly talking about ways he and his team can improve. Watch him on the sideline of any game, and he is barking orders from the first second of the game until the last. He doesn’t sit and let his guard down for a second. He is the definition of not taking his foot off the gas, and he stays on top of his team and the game constantly.

While Pep Guardiola can’t be viewed as “perfect” considering him and his teams have had some serious slip-ups, and haven’t reached all the heights in football (not winning a Champions League with City for instance). He is still easily one of the best managers in the world, and one of the best managers of all time.

This season, barring a serious crash in form and multiple losses, City will win another Premier League, and considering their form, this season could finally be the one that Manchester City win a Champions League, only time will tell.

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