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Mike Egerton

Marcelo Bielsa says Pep Guardiola's tactics are a mystery

The former Barcelona boss has called the Argentine the best coach in the world.

MARCELO BIELSA HAS admitted he is mystified by how Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are able to dominate games, and insists he had nothing to do with developing the Catalan’s philosophy. 

Guardiola has previously called Bielsa the “best coach in the world” and sought out a meeting with the now Leeds United boss before taking charge of Barcelona back in 2008.

Since then, Guardiola has become renowned as one of the best tacticians in the game and has gone onto win multiple titles with Bayern Munich and City after a period of dominance in Catalonia, most recently claiming a second successive Premier League title on Sunday.

Bielsa himself has enjoyed a strong first season in England and could end Leeds’ 15-season exile from the Premier League if he leads the club to promotion via the play-offs. 

“The argument I give to explain my respect and admiration for Guardiola is that the beauty of the play of the teams he built you can’t copy,” Bielsa told a press conference on Monday. “Guardiola builds alpha teams.

“We always said ‘what would Guardiola do without the players he had in Barcelona?’ and you can say the players of Barcelona are unique. The players of Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich are very good and Manchester City too.

“But the capacity to create a style which you only see in the teams of Guardiola is much more important than the players he has.

“I’m not saying the players aren’t important. I’m underlining his capacity to be creative. The things you can’t analyse are a mystery for those who don’t know about them.

When I watch Manchester City games I feel I’m ignorant. You have a picture where 10 players are in front of their own box and City move the ball, trying to find the space to put the ball in. I see what is well done and try to copy it and understand it. But you can’t copy Guardiola’s teams.

“When I see it I’m wondering ‘what’s the method? What do we have to repeat to do that? What are the pre-established needs to solve this compact defence?’ But you never find out. They always find a solution.”

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    Mute dRod2128
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    May 13th 2019, 8:36 PM

    Bielsa, Guardiola and Klopp – the most admirable managers in football for quite some time.

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    Mute Eoin Murphy
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    May 13th 2019, 8:43 PM

    he is imo the best manager in the world. I know he has massive funds but still his record speaks for itself

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    Mute Limón Madrugada
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    May 13th 2019, 9:18 PM

    @Eoin Murphy: Guardiola is one of the best .. but the true test is when someone like Bielsa or say the Getafe manager in Spain brings a team with a tiny budget to European football and maybe even CL . Yes Pep manages those top two inches brilliantly better that 99,9% but when he loses say David Silva he still has Sane or Mahrez etc available. Maybe some day he’ll accept the challenge , it wouldn’t surprise me at all. And I don’t mean Girona , that team battles well and killed some giants , but Man City and Guardiolas brother are the shareholders . I mean Éibar or Huesca or like Nuno de Espírito Santo at Wolves .

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    Mute Eoin Murphy
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    May 13th 2019, 9:51 PM

    @Limón Madrugada: just out of interest do you live in spain because you talk a lot about spanish football

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    Mute Hardly Normal
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    May 13th 2019, 9:57 PM

    @Limón Madrugada: Guardiola at wolves with mendes plucking the players from across the globe.
    They’d win the league next year.

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    Mute Limón Madrugada
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    May 15th 2019, 10:32 AM

    @Eoin Murphy: yes

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    Mute Stanley Baggins
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    May 13th 2019, 10:24 PM

    Klopp is world’s best manager today

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    Mute Michael Graham
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    May 13th 2019, 10:53 PM

    @Stanley Baggins: in the world but not in England

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    Mute Freddie Rincon
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    May 13th 2019, 9:40 PM

    He is great with players of ability but what would he do at Ipswich for example. He has always had more resources and usually inherited winning teams. It’s not to say he couldn’t but the dark days are few. Busby , Shankly ,
    Clough,Ferguson , they have lifted cities, survived , got players of lesser quality to believe and perform consistently and win the big trophies. His record in Europe is poor. He has no real excuse as his teams shut down on him and they had the pick of world talent. Winning with Messi Xavi and Iniesta et al..? The way he chokes poorer teams in the pitch tactically is impressive.

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    Mute Beer Belly 0476
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    May 13th 2019, 10:50 PM

    Pep and Klopp are the Messi and Ronaldo off managers.

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    Mute Andy
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    May 15th 2019, 12:25 AM

    @Beer Belly 0476: but Messi and Ronaldo have won lots of stuff.

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