Pep Guardiola is often praised for producing entertaining football but the Manchester City boss is arguably the best defensive coach in the world too, writes Adam Bate.
It is almost two years ago now that Pep Guardiola risked ridicule with his remarks following Manchester City’s 4-2 defeat to Leicester City. “I am not a coach for the tackles so I don’t train the tackles. What I want is to try and play good and score goals. What’s tackles?”
It was the sort of comment that serves as a red rag to fans of rivals in red shirts. But even to the wider public it helped to fuel the image of Guardiola as a naïve figure who not only underestimated English football but fundamentally misunderstood its nature.
That opinion was not restricted to these shores. The great Argentine defender Roberto Ayala once accused Guardiola of damaging football by taking the emphasis away from defence. There were those at Bayern Munich agitated by his commitment to a certain style of play.
Andre Villas-Boas, a man not exactly renowned as a savvy pragmatist himself, said upon his arrival in England that the Barcelona approach would not work in England because of the higher risk of losing the ball. As Yaya Toure put it: “His way is to attack, not to defend.”
But there is a risk here of missing the point. Not coaching tackling does not mean not coaching defending. Focusing on how to construct attacks doesn’t mean ignoring how to defend the opposition’s attacks. It is all part of the whole. Guardiola’s way of attacking is a way of defending.
Firstly, let us acknowledge the blindingly obvious. Guardiola’s way works. In each of his first seven seasons in top-flight management – four of them with Barcelona followed by three more with Bayern – his teams had the best defensive record in their league.
His Manchester City side repeated the trick last season. The result? Guardiola has had the team with the best defensive record in the league more times than he has won the league. Think about this. He has had the best defence more times than he has had the best attack.
It might be counter-intuitive, but on these numbers alone, it would not be outrageous to regard Guardiola – the man who doesn’t coach tackles – as a defensively-minded coach.
Even in his initial presentation upon being named as Barcelona coach back in the summer of 2008, he spoke of the desire to build a “solid and balanced” team. Privately, in his first meeting with the players he talked of “order and discipline” as being his priorities.
It took some time for that control to become apparent at City but it is obvious now. Guardiola’s team have gone eight-and-a-half hours without conceding a goal. It’s not luck. The underlying numbers reveal how the opposition have been starved of opportunities.