Former Juventus attacking midfielder turn coach says former Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola would face a lot of huge challenges at Manchester City.
Man City signed the Spaniard on a three year deal as they try to rebuild the team and restore it to winning ways. Laudrup opines that the move to manage the club in the English Premier League would be the “biggest challenge” of the revered manager’s career yet.
Guardiola is famed for his managerial skills when he helped complete the revolution of Barcelona after taking over from Frank Rijkaard. He made a lot of changes, giving opportunities to young, fresh but talented players that became the best team in the world for years. Barcelona won a lot of titles under him, winning the treble as well.
Laudrup played alongside Guardiola at Barcelona so he knows Pep from way back. Laudrup managed Swansea City for 20 months so he has the knowledge of what the Premier League is about. The Danish coach warned Guardiola that this would be his biggest test since the League is difficult but he believes the manager has shown a great understanding of the game. Also, he made a few insights.
“I think that Pep, due to his standing in modern football, could change things. I think that he is one of the few people who can change English football. The first thing I remember him saying as coach was that he wouldn’t tolerate any player not working hard. What Pep really hates is losing the ball. In Barca’s philosophy, losing possession is irresponsible. It’s just not good football.”
Laudrup said the coach already changed world football and would make n impact in the Premier League with City, despite the stumbling blocks. Guardiola started with a 2-1 win over Sunderland in the first game.