Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola changes his players’ lives through his meticulous training methods and unique perspective on football.
Ranked at no.1 in FourFourTwo‘s list of the best managers in the world right now, Guardiola has won every single trophy possible in the last 17 years of his managerial career, which has taken him from Barcelona to Manchester City via Bayern Munich.
In that time he has worked with some of the best players in the world. For one of his former Manchester City players, Danilo, working with Guardiola offered him so much information he believes helped transform his game.
Manchester City boss provides an ‘education’ to his players
Danilo, now 33 and back playing in his native Brazil for Flamengo, spent just two seasons with Guardiola in the Premier League, but he made 60 appearances in all competitions in total before leaving for Juventus.
He attended football university everyday while playing for the Catalan boss, which eventually yielded two Premier League titles, two League Cups and an FA Cup during his time at the Etihad Stadium.
“Pep Guardiola educates his players,” Danilo told The Guardian. “That’s the most important thing about his work. He makes all players think about football in the same way. Time, space, movement, possession, taking care of the ball.
“He makes you understand the spaces on the pitch like no other coach and he lives the game emotionally like no other coach.
“I was brainwashed by Guardiola, but in a good way. It was like I was at university. What I experienced with him allowed me to raise my level and keep that level to this day. It’s not that I was an idiot before I arrived at Manchester City but I realised that I played football in completely the wrong way.”
Danilo started playing for Guardiola at Manchester City when he was 26, having already established himself in Europe with Porto and Real Madrid. For the Brazilian, it was still far too late in his career.
“If I had met him before, he would have made my life a lot easier. I’m so glad I was able to play under him and was able to learn from him.”
Guardiola is set to continue having that same level of influence at Manchester City until at least 2027, having recently signed a contract extension keeping him at the club for another couple years.
