Pep Guardiola exclusive: Manchester City boss 'recognises' himself in managerial disciples Vincent Kompany, Xabi Alonso
Updated 08/03/2025 at 08:42 GMT
Aside from being one of the most successful coaches of all time in his own right, Pep Guardiola's managerial legacy extends far beyond, with the likes of Vincent Kompany, Xabi Alonso and Mikel Arteta all spending time either playing or coaching under the Catalan. The Manchester City boss opened up on inspiring those individuals, as well as what his rebuild at City could look like.
Why has Guardiola influence created so many successful managers? City boss explains all
Video credit: TNT Sports
Pep Guardiola has reflected on the remarkable managerial legacy he has created in football, as he admitted to missing his own mentor Johan Cruyff "so much".
Guardiola's coaching education had its roots in his playing era at Barcelona, working under the management of the great Dutch innovator.
He then progressed to learning from the likes of Juanma Lillo - his current Manchester City assistant - during a short playing stint at Dorados in Mexico, before bringing his learnings back to Barcelona, and similarly trophy-laden spells at Bayern Munich and now Manchester City.
His teachings have spawned a new generation of managers making waves within the game, with the likes of Vincent Kompany, Xabi Alonso, Luis Enrique, Enzo Maresca, Xavi, Erik ten Hag and Mikel Arteta all working under the Catalan in either a playing or coaching guise.
Ahead of taking his City team to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Saturday for the early kick-off - live on TNT Sports and discovery+ - Guardiola sat down with TNT Sports at Etihad Campus to reflect on this dynamic, his rebuild at City, and the standout memories that will "never be forgotten" as he closes in on a decade in Manchester.
Asked to explain why he thinks so many successful managers have come from his tutelage, Guardiola said: "Because they are so good!
"At the end they become [successful]. All of them, I have a high, high opinion of them, what they have done and what they are doing.
"I think the model was the passion that they have, to improve, their new ideas, vision, to learn, to practice.
"I recognise with them, most of them they start only for a few years, like Vinny or Xabi Alonso. I see many things that I visualised when I started.
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Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola gives instructions to midfielder Xabi Alonso, January 2016.
Image credit: Getty Images
"I’m so happy for them because most of them are friends of mine, and I’m happy that they’re doing well, really, really happy.
"In the time that we were together, they helped me a lot. They were assistant coaches, but they are the ones for the football players, they helped me a lot, all of them, Vinny or Xabi.
"Luis is friends from playing at Barcelona, and after we make miracles in Spain to take the title together.
"Our families, we are so connected. When you see it and they are successful and they’re doing well, that makes me so, so happy."
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In the same way that Guardiola used to take counsel from Cruyff or Lillo, does he field calls from the next generation of managers?
"No, they know everything already, they don’t have to ask," he joked, adding: "The influence of Cruyff was so important, I miss him so much.
"In the period like we have done in the past, or even now this season, [I think] what I should ask [him]. Unfortunately, he left us alone so soon."
As City embark on ambitious works to reshape their Etihad Stadium ground, Guardiola is undertaking a significant rebuild of his own on the pitch as the club aim to challenge again after a difficult 2024/25 season, which has seen them off the pace in the league and knocked out of the UEFA Champions League by Real Madrid.
Arrivals have already come mid-season in the form of Abdukodir Khusanov, Nico Gonzalez and Omar Marmoush, but more could be on the way in the summer.
In a league that has seen a surge in intensity over the past few years - the sprint stats below tell their own story - what type of profile is Guardiola looking for in his next great City side?
| PL season | Sprints per game, per team |
| 2020/21 | 127.4 |
| 2021/22 | 129.4 |
| 2022/23 | 133.7 |
| 2023/24 | 139.6 |
| 2024/25 | 144.1 |
"Good ones, physical ones, strong ones mentally, but it [the transfer activity] belongs to the club," he said.
"The club have an incredible scouting department and see what they can bring, what they can use with me as a manager, or a new manager, what they have to do.
"So in those terms, the club is in good hands. I don’t know if we’ll be able to achieve what we achieved in the past.
"I don’t know if City in the next seven years is going to win six Premier Leagues, get 100 points, the treble or the quadruple.
"Many things you take a little step back and review what you have done. It will be difficult to achieve, but that is not the target.
"The target is to be competitive in all the competitions every season, with the good contenders that we have challenging us.
He added: "The club will be better. The reality is that the middle class of the Premier League is rising incredibly - the physicality, the tempo, the rhythm, the quality, with the ball, in all departments.
"I’m really impressed in that in terms of what they are able to do."
Next year marks Guardiola's decade since arriving in England, a period that has seen unparalleled dominance of not just the Premier League but cup competitions too.
Guardiola feels he will take on his next stage of management in England as a different figure to the one who arrived in 2016.
"I improved a lot," he said. "I feel a much, much better manager right now than when I arrived. My first season, the treble and after the sextuple, and now I feel I’m a better manager than then.
"I’m more experienced, the opponents they challenge you – you go, 'Oh god, they cured that problem, what do I have to do to solve it'.
"But always, the manager depends on the players you have at your disposal. I had that incredible in Barcelona, Bayern Munich and here.
"In this season we could not challenge because I didn’t have the players at my disposal. Not because they were not good, but for injuries. Otherwise we would have been more competitive than we have been."
Covid approach 'defines' City as a club
Guardiola concluded by reflecting on the standout moments of his time at City - with one period in particular showing what he feels "defines" the club.
"I need two books to write the best memories," he said.
"There have been many, it’s been an incredible experience. I have a thousand million good memories in this period in Manchester City. It will not be forgotten, it has been so nice.
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Guardiola: I need two books to write all my Man City memories
Video credit: TNT Sports
"And the bad moments are absolutely part of life, and the people say, ‘What happened that season?’ What happened that season is what happened in the past, and when you compare it, it’s normal.
"One friend of mine told me, ‘Pep, you cannot win all the competitions that you are playing in for one reason – because it’s impossible.’ What happened that season sometimes happens in life. You have to just improve.
"But if you put the balance, what happened in nine years, not just the titles... how this club in the Covid times behaved with all the workers and all the community – they didn’t fire one person, they didn’t reduce the salary of one person in this club in that Covid time.
"And that happened in many, many parts and clubs. That I don’t forget. I define what that means about the club.
"That’s why I could write many, many things, not just about the titles, the relationships with the people here, it will always be in my heart forever.
"It’s been delicious, I would say, my part here."
How to watch Nottingham Forest v Manchester City
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Nottingham Forest v Man City will be live on TNT Sports 1 with coverage from 11:00 UK time on Saturday, March 8, ahead of kick-off at 12:30.
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