Pep Guardiola revealed that former Liverpool star Xabi Alonso advised him to “adapt” to the second balls ahead of his move to Manchester City in the summer.
Guardiola was announced as Manuel Pellegrini’s successor back in February, but didn’t arrive at the Etihad until the summer once his spell at Bayern Munich had ended. The Catalan spent big-money in that transfer window to improve his City squad, and subsequently made a formidable start in the Premier League.
The Citizens won their opening six top flight games on the bounce, including impressive victories over Stoke City, Manchester United and Bournemouth, but their form started to stutter after a thrilling 3-3 draw at Celtic in the Champions League.
City’s unbeaten record came to an end a few days later at Tottenham Hotspur, sparking a run of just four wins in their next nine Premier League fixtures, while suffering back-to-back defeats against Chelsea and Leicester City earlier this month. Guardiola has now lifted the lid on how he’s needed to adapt to his new surroundings this term.
“Many times the ball is more in the air than the grass, and I have to adapt,” the City boss told Thierry Henry in a Sky Sports interview. “I was in Munich and spoke with Xabi Alonso, and he said: ‘You have to adapt, it’s the second ball, the second ball!’
“But really, you have to adapt to the second ball, and the third ball, and the fourth! I never before was focused on that, because in Barcelona or in Spain, more or less the players try to play for the culture.
“That’s why they won World Cups, and they won the Euros, won the Champions Leagues, the Europa Leagues, all the time, all of the years, Spanish teams are in the latter stages, all of the teams. In Germany it was more physical, but not like here.
“Here it is all the teams, except maybe Chelsea because Antonio is playing really well and having them build up [with the ball], but the other teams are taller, stronger, physical, and you have to adapt and build from that.”
City have scored 34 goals and conceded 19 in their 16 Premier League games this season, with a shot accuracy of 47%, as they sit fourth on 33 points, seven behind leaders Chelsea.
Next up for them is a home clash with Arsenal this weekend, before taking on Hull City on Boxing Day.
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