Pep Guardiola finally opened up about one of his biggest mistakes as a manager: his poor management of players in his squads.
Pep Guardiola is probably one of the best managers in football history, but his player management skills is one of his major weaknesses. Over the years, there have been moments that became very public and left him as the villain of the story. Some players simply don’t click with what Guardiola requests from them. There is the most famous case of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, a player Pep requested personally but regretted it later.
Samuel Eto’o also comes to mind. Football superstars who simply don’t see eye-to-eye with the Catalan manager. During his time at FC Barcelona, there are still some players who also didn’t get along with the Manchester City boss. This might be one of the reasons he is refusing to return to the Catalan club despite Laporta’s return to power.
Guardiola reveals his issues with players.
In a recent interview with ESPN, Guardiola spoke about ‘Kun’ Aguero and his biggest weakness as a manager: “In Barcelona, I had a closer relationship with some players than others because many of them have a common goal. I feel closer to those types of players rather than the ones who only think about themselves. These types of players, we use them when we have to. However, we don’t use them when we don’t have to use them.
“Throughout the seasons, relationships with players can always leave scars but also a lot of learning. You learn from everything. But the players/coach relationship depends on them, not the manager. There are players who deserve having a close relationship and others a more distant one.”
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