The Sports Buff ⚽️ ⚾️ 🏈

Hello, good afternoon sports fans, I hope you’re well, looking after yourselves and are in good health. Sports fans we need to talk about football and to be more precise current Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.

Guardiola, who has managed his beloved Barcelona, Bayern Munich and currently Manchester City in his time as a manager divides opinion. Some think he’s the best thing since sliced bread, the new coming of Sir Alex, others think he’s a fraud, Pep Fraudiola the cynics mockingly call him.

Love him or loathe him, one can’t begrudge the man who knows how to win trophies. The lack of Champions League trophy without being able to call upon Lionel Messi will hurt Pep.

In famously methodical, Guardiola is of course one of the students of the great Johan Cryuff, the Dutch legend was Mr Barcelona. Spaniard Guardiola, as one can see has been clearly influenced by the late Dutch legend’s methods.

Pep has also been inspired by Maverick Argentinian coach Marcelo Bielsa just like Bielsa’s compatriot Mauricio Pochettino has been. Poch did of course play under the former Leeds boss.

Current Rayo Vallecano boss Andoni Iraola who was his captain at Atletico Bilbao was another whose coaching has been inspired by Bielsa. Sceptics who will purely look at El Loco’s accolades will doubt his credentials, but there are some ringing endorsements from some very big names in the game.

In a similar vein, former Manchester United manager Ralf Ragnick, helped German managers Thomas Tuchel, Jurgen Klopp and maybe even Julian Nagelsmann into the household names they are today, but if you look at the current Austria manager’s achievements they appear modest.

As respected as these two managers should be, one manager who may be overlooked for helping usher in a new era of talent is Pep Guardiola. At face value, I am a fan of the Catalan manager, but I do feel he’s slightly elevated in his status as a top football manager.

The man has a club that has an open cheque book and they continuously buy up the talent. This is true to an extent. Let’s look at Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland to support my point.

Julian Alvarez and Nathan Ake, show evidence for a counterargument, however. Upon further research, I have realised that Burnley manager Vincent Kompany, current Manchester City boss Mikel Arteta and Barcelona boss Xavi Hernandez have all benefitted from the guidance of Pep.

In the world game, it’s rightly so that Marcelo Bielsa gets the plaudits he does as it would be right for Ralf Ragnick to get plaudits too, but if those three managers do well as they seemed destined to, then thanks and recognition do deserve to go to Pep.

There was me thinking this guy works on ways of beating himself sometimes. Clearly, he’s doing something right.

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