Manchester United legend Patrice Evra has boldly claimed that two types of players will “never” emerge again after the impact that Pep Guardiola has had on football.
Pep Guardiola is widely regarded as one of the best managers of all time after his transformative influence on the whole of football.
The 53-year-old Spaniard achieved incredible success as Barcelona manager, including lifting three La Liga titles, two Champions Leagues and two Copa del Reys.
Guardiola’s success carried on at Bayern Munich and the former Barcelona boss led the German club to three Bundesliga titles and two German Cups.
Following his spells with Barcelona and Bayern Munich, Guardiola arrived at Manchester United’s rivals and has had a seminal impact in the Premier League.
The former Barcelona and Bayern manager has lifted six Premier League titles, a Champions League trophy, two FA Cups and four League Cups.
Guardiola has ushered in a period of dominance for City, including becoming the second manager in history to lead an English club to a continental treble.
City have lifted an unprecedented four consecutive Premier League titles and also reached a 100-point league tally in a single season under the influence of Guardiola.
Evra on Guardiola’s impact on football
Speaking on Rio Ferdinand Presents, Patrice Evra admitted that Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is without question one of the best managers of all time.
But Evra, who achieved incredible success under Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford, argued that Guardiola’s style of football has turned players into “robots.”
“I think Guardiola is one of the best managers,” he said.
“But Guardiola, he killed the game. And when I say that, people will say because it’s United and City.
“No! Because now we’ve got robots. Academy, everyone wants to play like Guardiola. The goalkeeper has to be a number 10.
“A defender, centre-back need to tackle, put his head, like, those kind of things. But now everyone wants to play amazingly.”
Evra on two types of players
Evra was baffled at how “everyone is copying” the possession-based style of play used by Guardiola and believes that football now lacks a certain level of “creativity.”
The 43-year-old United legend insisted that Guardiola’s style has nullified the emergence of players similar to Ronaldinho or Eden Hazard.
“This tiki-taka only Guardiola can do it,” Evra added.
“Why is everyone copying Guardiola? We have no creativity; we have no genius anymore.
“You will never see a player like Ronaldinho anymore or Hazard or whatever.
“Because when he’s going to be young, you know those coaches what they’re going to tell him, if you don’t pass the ball, I’ll put you on the bench. All football comes from the street.”
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/43rNtqO