“Guardiola could play with 11 Iniesta”

Pep Guardiola won three Bundesliga titles, two DFB-Pokals trophies, a UEFA Super Cup and a FIFA Club World Cup during his time in Bavaria, but that is the Catalan’s impact on the game that marked Lahm.

“I have many memories of Pep Guardiola,” Lahm wrote for El País in an article entitled “Everyone loves Guardiola.”

“He was like, ‘In big games, I only pick the best 11 I have. You have to listen carefully. This sentence contains the key to football: individual quality.”

“Guardiola is a first-rate coach who loves the skills and talents of his players. Some coaches aspire to reduce the complexity of football. Guardiola, on the other hand, wants to master that complexity.”

“His work could be compared to that of a great chess master or a director who brings out the best in each player.”

“A great coach knows immediately what each player can do and who will be his central player. Then he tells each player what his strengths and weaknesses are, as well as those of others. He adjusts the task and role of each player. Day. . “

“That is what Guardiola does with a passion that I have never seen in anyone else. Until everyone, even those who do not play much, accept that the coach is right. He gives him absolute authority.”

Lahm highlighted Johan Cruyff’s influence on Guardiola’s ideology, while saying that the current Manchester City manager would like to have a squad full of Andrés Iniestas.

“After the peak it reached in Spain, you can see Guardiola adapting,” Lahm continued. “Barcelona were a very good team, almost everyone played various instruments well. When they won the Champions League in 2009 and 2011, they drowned their opponents.” This style was possible because the whole club follows Johan Cruyff’s idea of ​​total football. , [et] Guardiola sees himself in this tradition: if they could, he would play with 11 Iniestas ”.