Man City new boy Benjamin Mendy compares Guardiola to the manager who used to "bore" him - 7M sport

Man City new boy Benjamin Mendy compares Guardiola to the manager who used to "bore" him



Posted Wednesday, July 26, 2017 by squawka.com

Man City new boy Benjamin Mendy compares Guardiola to the manager who used to

Manchester City's newest signing Benjamin Mendy has compared Pep Guardiola to Marcelo Bielsa – a manager who the left-back once claimed "bored" him into becoming a better player.

Bielsa's influence on Guardiola's philosophy and style is no secret with the Spaniard often hailing the Argentinian coach in the past.

Earlier this year Guardiola named the 62-year-old the best coach in world football while also praising the new Lille manager's influence on football, with a number of the sport's best players owing their careers to Bielsa.

The City manager said in February: "My admiration for Marcelo Bielsa is huge because he makes the players much, much better. Still, I didn't meet one guy, a former player from Marcelo Bielsa who speaks no good about him.

"They are grateful about his influence on their careers in football. He helped me a lot with his advice. Whenever I speak with him I always feel like he wants to help me.

"It is important for me to say this about Marcelo because it doesn't matter how many titles he had in his career. We are judged by that – how much success we have, how many titles we have won.

"But that is much less influential than how he has influenced football and his football players. That is why, for me, he is the best coach in the world. I am looking forward to seeing him in Lille next season."

Indeed Guardiola has been an admirer of Bielsa since meeting the Argentinian for the first time after he finished playing. It is even said the City coach once drove the 309 km from Buenos Aires to Rosario just to meet with Bielsa for a conversation which lasted 11 hours.

"There were heated discussions, searches on the computer, revising techniques, detailed analyses and enactments of positional play which, at one point, included Trueba (Guardiola's friend) man-marking a chair," reads Guillem Balague's 2012 Pep Guardiola biography 'Another way of winning'.

Guardiola in the "same mould" as Bielsa, says Mendy

Mendy – now the world's most expensive defender after signing for City – may be considered one of the world's luckiest players with the Frenchman set to become of a select few to play for both Bielsa and Guardiola.

Man City new boy Benjamin Mendy compares Guardiola to the manager who used to
Benjamin Mendy created 25 chances in Ligue 1 last season

And the left-back admits he can see Bielsa's philosophy in Guardiola's management style.

Speaking to the club's website, Mendy said: "It is true that he likes to motivate and push his players. He is in the same mould as Marcelo Bielsa.

"They belong to the same football family and I think that can only be beneficial for me and the rest of the division as well."

Mendy has always been grateful to Bielsa's influence on his career during their time together at Marseille. The 23-year-old previously revealed how Bielsa would make him a better player by boring him during video reviews.


Speaking to Le Parisien in 2014 Mendy explained: "When he arrived, he told us: 'You have to be bored to concentrate. Because when you're bored, you have to think about what the coach tells you'.

"At the start, he sat me down in front of videos and I slept. He said to me, 'That's good, I want you to go to sleep.' I was shocked when he said that.

"But suddenly, I was happy to go to the video session as I could sleep soundly. And then after a while, I stopped sleeping. And subconsciously, I started getting interested in the videos. I said to myself: 'Come on, I'm going to watch two minutes of his thing.' And suddenly, I was sucked in."

Guardiola's first chance to get a look at Mendy in a competitive game for City will be 12 August, when they play Brighton in their first game of the Premier League season.



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