The current Manchester City manager has not only accumulated triumphs in the results of the teams he has managed, but also in his ability to identify the potential of talent and promote their development as new leaders. During his career, Pep Guardiola has had countless assistant coaches or former players that he has forged so that, as he himself has mentioned, they can take the course of any team in the world and lead it to success. Something that characterizes him as a coach is that he identifies, on and off the field, who can have the ability to influence the group of players to be able to take the leadership of the locker room. This is something he himself mentions as essential to achieve the results he works for every day.
As of today, Guardiola has some outstanding pupils who have led several teams to achieve various triumphs or to exert a very positive trend for the future of the teams they are currently managing. Some of the most recognized are Xavi Hernandez, who played under his guidance at FC Barcelona and now coaches the team; Mikel Arteta, who was an assistant coach in his early days at Manchester and is currently coaching at Arsenal; and Vincent Kompany, a young coach who managed Burnley's promotion to the English top flight and broke the record for points and goals during his first season as the team's manager.
Let talent fly. During Vincent Kompany's last season at Manchester City (2019), he was the captain and leader of the team. Pep Guardiola commented that in seeking to renew his contract for another year, this with the goal of achieving the Champions League, a tournament he had not won until that moment, Kompany had the opportunity to return to his native Belgium to play a year with the team in which he debuted and ultimately be the coach of the team. The Manchester board made him a very interesting offer to stay with the team, but Guardiola advised him to turn it down. The rest is history.
Who could replace Pep?
He compensates talent correctly. One of the first decisions Pep Guardiola made when he arrived at Barcelona as coach was to renew the contract of some players he considered key to the project, one of them was Xavi Hernandez, who received a substantial salary increase. The reasons were clear, he was an undervalued player in the team. With this gesture, Xavi was able to lead the best Barcelona team in history.
