Guardiola: Why can't I play my style of football in the Premier League?
Pep Guardiola says he has moved to Manchester City to prove his doubters wrong and is confident his style of play will be successful in the Premier League.Guardiola started work with his new squad on Monday, 24 hours after being unveiled to supporters at the culmination of a weekend-long fan event.
City hope his arrival heralds a new era at the Etihad Stadium, and will back him in the transfer market as he looks to reshape the squad he inherited from Manuel Pellegrini.There is also the expectation of success, delivered by deploying an exciting, attacking brand of football.
Guardiola's critics, however, suggest his possession-based game, which he perfected with Barcelona and modified at Bayern Munich, is not suited to English football's demanding calendar.
And while the Catalan says he will always adapt his approach to the capabilities of his players, he sees no reason why he cannot get City playing the kind of football that has brought success to his former clubs, and is clearly driven by the thought of making the detractors eat their words.
"People say that Pep is not going to adapt in that way, so that is why I’m here, to try to do it," he said. "Some people are confident that it will go well and some say that the way I play will not be possible in the Premier League. I said to myself: 'Why not? Why not travel there and try it.' It’s a big challenge.
"Not just for me but in all my teams I’ve been able to involve the players and so it’s going to happen here as well. When that happens, everything will be easy.”
Guardiola has already signed Ilkay Gundogan and Nolito as he bids to build a squad capable of understanding his demands.
He has also demonstrated an ability to get the best out of many of the players he inherits, as well as developing young talent, and on several occasions already during his short time as City boss he has stressed the importance of getting to know his new players."They have to know and they will realise that I am here just thinking and working for them," he added.
"That is maybe the reason why some of them – because people who don’t play hate me! – but those who try to understand the game and why we do some things and not the other situation, we have a good relationship.
"At the end our job is to convince the other guy that this is the best way to cross the road. Tactics are important, as are training and facilities but in the end it is what I have to do to convince them. Maybe with you [Noel Gallagher], we take a beer in the bar and this will convince you and with other ones maybe we talk tactics, or with others maybe we don’t talk football. It depends on the player."
Guardiola gave Pedro and Sergio Busquets their breakthroughs at Barcelona and he has also been praised for the work he did with Bayern's young talents, including Joshua Kimmich.
There is an expectation that the coach will get the best from City's burgeoning youth academy, which boasts champion teams at every level, and he will run the rule over several of the stand-out graduates during pre-season.But he says he is no miracle worker, and that he can only use young players in the first team if they already have the right mentality and raw abilities.
"When the talent is the talent and you have the quality and enough passion to become something in world football, if they show me something they will be in my hands.
"It depends on the quality of the players. You cannot create something. I’m a good trainer but not good enough to convince the players who don’t have the quality that they can play at that level.
"First of all I have to know them. All of the big talents will join us in the pre-season and afterwards they have to show me how good they are. Afterwards my intuition will help me decide if they are able or not. Sometimes I will be right and maybe I can make a mistake but it depends on them. It depends on their quality. But I’m told the academy at Manchester City compared to other places has very, very good talent."Guardiola also appears ready to renew his old rivalry with Jose Mourinho, pointing out that City's Champions League position is stronger than United's.
Mourinho will conduct his first press conference as United boss on Tuesday, three days before Guardiola will face the press.But the Catalan has landed the first blow as the two prepare to lock horns in Manchester.
Insisting he was not concerned about the prospect of City finishing outside the top four last season, he was keen to point out that they must still go through a two-legged play-off to reach the Champions League - although that is favourable to playing in the Europa League.
“I wasn’t worried. I was coming to Manchester, I was never going to stay at home. But we are not in the Champions League, we have to be clear. That situation is now in this moment better than Manchester United’s though.”
