It’s hardly a surprise to hear
Most players to have been blessed with the privilege of being coached by Pep Guardiola are complimentary about his methods. The repertoire of players whom Guardiola has brought to new levels of performance through his coaching is impressive. Even those whom we consider to have reached their peak can improve under Pep: David Silva to name one.
The latest beneficiary of Guardiola’s coaching to heap praise on his coach was Manchester City legend Vincent Kompany.
Many assumed Kompany would not feature much under Guardiola, and some feared that his playing style would not suit the way Guardiola would want his City side to play. While the defender has not started as many games as he would have liked, due to ongoing fitness issues and Pep’s personal project with John Stones, he still has a lot of praise for his coach.
“I think the best way he has ever been described is he is intense and relentless,” Kompany told talkSPORT host Jim White.
He continued, elaborating on the preparation that Pep’s players go through before every match.
“You never feel satisfaction and I’m sure even today we’ll be back at it and focussing on the next game.
“Whether it’s Wigan, whether it’s Arsenal, it doesn’t really matter in the way we prepare for games.
“What he gives us is that incredible amount of knowledge he shares, and he is really good at delivering his message as well.
“We always feel we have an advantage over other teams just because he’s been very precise with the information and what he wants us to do.
“Working with him is like doing ten years of studying, I compare it with going to university, that’s the level. We never stop learning every single day.”
Constantly learning new things is a common observation from players to have played under Pep, and given Kompany’s dominant performance against Arsenal on Sunday in the League Cup final, it is clear that Kompany has continued to learn despite being the wrong side of thirty.
Who said you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?
