Top 10 players who flopped under Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola, a fine player during his playing days, is one of the greatest tacticians of the game.
Guardiola burst onto the scene at Barcelona despite having no prior experience of top-flight management. He became renowned for his tiki-taka style of football as the former player ushered in an era of unprecedented domestic and continental dominance at the Camp Nou.
During a glorious four-season stint at the club, Pep Guardiola delivered three La Liga titles (on the trot), and two Champions League wins amidst a rich haul of 14 trophies in various competitions. For his exploits at the Camp Nou, Guardiola won two 'World's best club coach' honors
The Spanish tactician then moved to Bayern Munich, where he delivered three Bundesliga titles on the trot, two of them being league and cup doubles, before arriving at the Etihad Stadium in the summer of 2016.
Although Pep Guardiola couldn't win the Champions League at Bayern Munich and hasn't able to take Manchester City beyond the quarter-finals in the competition, the Spaniard has transformed City into one of the teams to beat in England.
In Pep Guardiola's second season in charge at the club, a rampaging City tore the record books to shreds as they won the Premier League title with several games to spare. The next season, City withstood a determined challenge from Liverpool to successfully defend their title.
With Pep Guardiola falling short of a league three-peat at a third different club last season, his stock may have dipped ever so slightly, but he remains one of the best in business as City aim to win back the Premier League and make their much-awaited breakthrough in the Champions League in 2020-21.
Top ten players who have flopped under Pep Guardiola
During his stints at three of the biggest clubs in the continent, Pep Guardiola had the good fortune of managing some of the finest players to have graced the sport.
The likes of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, Robert Lewandowski, Philipp Lahm, Vincent Kompany and Sergio Aguero, to name a few, has made his thankless job easier. The Spanish tactician has also made a slew of shrewd signings who have massively contributed to his success at all three clubs.
However, a few players under Pep Guardiola failed to have the desired impact due to reasons ranging from their incompatibility with the club's playing style, loss of form or at times a case of the player simply not being good enough.
On that note, let us have a look at ten such players who have flopped under Pep Guardiola.
#10 Benjamin Mendy
Benjamin Mendy was signed by Pep Guardiola for £52 million from Monaco in the summer of 2017.
However, the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner has only appeared 58 times for Manchester City in all competitions, a tally that comprises a cumulative 17 appearances in the club's victorious 2017-18 and 2018-19 Premier League campaigns.
Pep Guardiola broke City's club record for a defensive acquisition, but the injury-ravaged left-back struggled to break into the first team when he was not spending large swathes of time on the recuperating table.
#9 Seydou Keita
It may probably be harsh to call Seydou Keita a failure in the strictest sense of the term, because the first Malian player to represent Barcelona was a part of Pep Guardiola's all-conquering Blaugrana team that won 14 trophies, including a continental treble, during a four-year stint at the club.
The midfielder, who was known for his versatility, probably disappointed in the sense that he could not become Barcelona's midfield lynchpin like an Andres Iniesta or a Xavi Hernandez.
Keita later went on the play in the Chinese Super League, La Liga and Serie A before calling time on his career after a season with El-Jaish in the Qatar league. The player was recently in the news for donating food items in the Malian capital to families in need.
#8 Nolito
Nolito was one of Pep Guardiola's first few signings after arriving at the Etihad Stadium in 2016.
However, he turned out to be one of those signings that didn't really work out for the Spanish tactician. During his only season in English football, the winger made 30 appearances in all competitions, scoring six goals and providing five assists, but seemed largely unsettled in the country.
A year later, the Spain international moved back to La Liga, where he now plays for Celta Vigo.
#7 John Stones
John Stones was touted as the next big thing in English football when newly-appointed Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola splashed £47.5 million for the services of the player during an expensive squad revamp.
However, the 26-year-old former Barnsley and Everton center-back has found the going tough at the Etihad. He has certainly not been a disaster during his time at City, but the player has not been able to nail down a starting berth in the center of defence.
Stones has largely failed to step up after the departure of club captain Vincent Kompany, and when Aymeric Laporte missed large swathes of action last season as Pep Guardiola's men fell well short of a Premier League three-peat.