The amazing record-breaking teams who have been coached under Pep Guardiola are seen as the best teams in the world. However, there is a massive problem with this, he ruins some amazing talents.
Pep’s style of play
Pep Guardiola is seen as a revolutionary in the world of football. He transformed teams such as Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Mancheater City. He is seen as a world class coach, but when he coaches players he makes them better team players and not better individuals.
This is obviously amazing on a team level. This is seen with all the trophies he has won with all the different clubs. This includes five Premier Leagues with Man City, three League with Barcelona and three more league titles with Bayern Munich. He’s also had success in the UCL winning it twice with Barcelona and once with Man City in 2023.
Cole Palmer
Now one example of how Guardiola ruins players is by looking at Cole Palmer at Chelsea. While at, City Palmer was playing within a system that limited expression but it helped to win titles. However, at Chelsea, he has been let off the leash.
So far, he has 11 goals and 8 assists in the Premier League this term. At Chelsea, he has been their most important player, coming alive in important moments.
Peter Drury described it best whilst on Sky Sports Commentary saying “City’s boy is Chelsea’s man.” This shows how as much as Cole Palmer would have been the a great player for the Cizyzens. He would never been able to become the main man for them like he is for Chelsea. This is because he has now been allowed the freedom to play the way he wants to.
Jack Grealish
Another player one can see this happening in is Jack Grealish. He became a Man City player in 2021 when he joined form Aston Villa for a then-British record fee of 100 million pounds.
When he was at Aston Villa, he was an amazing player who would take people on all the time and was Villa’s main player. However, at City, he never takes players on and always goes for the simple option.
Looking at his stats he only does 2.4 dribbles a game while Cole Palmer does about 3.4 a game while being in an underperforming Chelsea team and Grealish playing for City. This shows how Guardiola ruins these amazing players.
Why does this work?
Well the answer to this question is pretty simple and it is because it stops Pep’s teams from losing the ball. This means that they can control games to help them win trophies and titles.
Man City has an average possession of 64 percent and earned them an average of 2.29 points a game so far in the 23/24 season. This helps massively in their goal to win the Premier League again. Yet, the reason why Guardiola ruins his players is so they can play the perfect team game. This does make football more boring to watch, limiting joyful expression but winning titles.