Pep Guardiola provides hilarious response after fan calls him out for tactics ruining ‘flair’ players during public Q&A session in New York
Pep Guardiola recently answered a fan who claimed that the Spaniard is ruining flair players because of his tactics. The fan said that the manager is always looking for passing rather than asking the players to take their man on.
There has been a discourse recently that football has become too robotic and even boring at times. It was further accentuated after dull performances from some of the biggest teams at Euro 2024. Uruguay manager Marcelo Bielsa also spoke about it in a press conference, saying (via Sport Bible):
“Football has more and more spectators but is becoming less and less attractive. What made this game the best game in the world at the time, is not prioritised today.
“If you don’t ensure that what people watch is something pleasant, it will only benefit the business. Because the business only cares about how many people watch it.”
Many people blame Pep Guardiola for this because of the sheer dominance of his Manchester City side. They are known for high possession-based but still a bit conservative football.
The Spaniard was recently at a Q&A session in New York with basketball legend Clyde Frazier, God Shammgod, and Chris Brickley. In a video shared online, he said that football is "not pass, pass, pass". A fan then asked him:
"What happened to flair players? People tell me you have to pass, pass, pass. Like, they blame you [for it]."
Pep Guardiola responded sarcastically:
"They blame me? That's good, yeah blame me. No problem."
The fan concluded:
"I need the flair."
Guardiola has notably won six of the last seven Premier League titles, including the last four.
What Pep Guardiola said about his playing style in the past?
Pep Guardiola highly popularized the tiki-taka style of football while at Barcelona, which was quick passing and movement. He then implemented a slightly different style of possession-based football at Bayern Munich before moving to Manchester City.
With the Cityzens, the Spaniard again has a possession-based football but arguably less entertaining. It is focused on complete control and hence, some aversion to risk-taking in the final third.
In an old interview, Guardiola has pointed out that his sides don't like to keep possession just for the sake of it. They use it to disrupt the opposition. He said (via Sport Bible):
“Move the opponent, not the ball. Invite the opponent to press. You have the ball on one side, to finish on the other. Possession of the ball is only a tool to organise yourself and cause disorganization in your opponent.”
Regardless of the style of implementation, Pep Guardiola's success has seen many clubs trying to replicate this possession-based style in modern football.