Quotes on Josep "Pep" Guardiola; a thread.

“We had a great time when Pep was here (Barcelona). We won a lot of titles and I grew a lot – that was the time when I grew most as a footballer. We had a fantastic relationship when he was here.”

– Lionel Messi

“If Pep told me to throw myself off the second tier at the Camp Nou, I’d think: ‘There must be something good down there.’”

– Dani Alves

“He doesn’t give himself a minute’s rest. He’s pig-headed, football is his everything and he puts so much intensity into everything. Pep’s almost got a sickness for football.”

– Xavi

"Pep is the secret weapon of this group. Leaving aside the sheer quality of players, he is a very special talent, along with the rest of his coaching staff. Pep Guardiola is one of the best secrets and the most important member of the team."

– Victor Valdes

“Pep doesn’t just give you orders, he also explains why. That makes you a better footballer because you learn the reasoning behind his instructions.”

– Gerard Pique

“There is one thing you can be sure of — he wants to dominate. People associate his teams with the number of goals they score but his teams also don’t concede a lot. He always wants to be on the front foot, having the ball, possession, and he wants to dominate.”

– Thierry Henry

“He gives you so many solutions for when you are then in the middle of a game, and nearly all of them turn out to be the right solutions when you apply them.”

– Andres Iniesta

“Guardiola is one of the greatest coaches in the history of football and I feel proud to have worked with him. His style is to have the ball, try to be offensive and attack, and when you lose the ball you have to recover it as soon as possible.”

– David Villa

“I have always said there are just two persons who could make me change my decision to stay at Barcelona. One of those two persons is my wife. On a sporting level, that other person is Guardiola."

– Sergio Busquets

“Intelligence is often expressed in how well you adapt to where you are, to your circumstances. And he is very, very intelligent. If Pep Guardiola decided to be a musician, he would be a good musician. If he wanted to be a psychologist, he would be a good psychologist.”

– Xavi

“Guardiola is a guy that I really admire and who I would love to work with.”

– Neymar

"With Pep it’s more than just about winning trophies. You’re always measured by the number of trophies but he developed a lot of players with the way he thinks about tactics, the way he analyses games and prepares teams for particular opponents.”

– Phillip Lahm

“Pep thinks about football 24 hours a day. He covers every angle to the smallest detail and he always demands 100 per cent in training and in games.”

– Robert Lewandowski

“I can learn more from him in an hour than from others in one year. He not only lifts you to the next level on the pitch, but also in your mind. He has revealed totally new options to me. I did not know that was possible when I got to Munich.”

– Douglas Costa

“Since he came I think I’ve improved my game — especially technically. I think we’re all really thankful that he was here for three years and he made everybody better in the game and us as a team.

– Jerome Boateng

“We have one of the best coaches in the world. As many of our players have said, we all want him to stay. It is a lot of fun working with him. Tactically he [Guardiola] is maybe the best. And I don’t say that just because he is our coach at the moment.”

– Arjen Robben

“He’s the world’s best in terms of analysing the opposition, game preparation and coming up with solutions.”

– Toni Kroos

“It’s really amazing to train with him. It’s like he reinvented football. He thinks about football 24 hours a day, he’s always explaining to us on the screen what’s the best way to attack, best way to defend, the best way to play with the ball."

– David Alaba

“Pep brought greater emphasis on putting value on possession and controlling the game. He changed the concept of German football in general and they found a harmony that saw them go on to become world champions.”

– Thiago Alacantra

“We all wanted Guardiola to remain. He is the best coach I’ve ever worked with.”

– Xabi Alonso

“I value more my friends than my enemies. Pep is a good friend of mine. I always thought that he is the best manager."

-Luis Enrique

“For me, Pep Guardiola is the best manager in the world. So, from a coaching aspect, I learn more from Guardiola than anyone else. He’s an inspiration to loads of coaches, including myself, because he’ll do things a lot of other managers wouldn’t dream of doing.

– Craig Bellamy

“[Pep] helped me so much. I can say he changed my game completely, I improved so much with so many issues, and he still tries to be perfect and to give me pressure. He reminds me all the time to work more, work harder, and think about what I’m not so good at.

– Leroy Sane

“He is more like a genius who reads the game and covers every situation imaginable. He is always showing us how to create space and find solutions and there is no manager like him, which makes him probably the best in the world.”

– Ilkay Gundogan

“I had been told really good things about him and he has lived up to them. He’s the best manager I have ever had. He’s really duro [hard, driven]! He pushes everybody. But if you want to get to the very highest level, it’s good for you.”

– David Silva

Working with Pep was sensational. We played the best football out there both in the Champions League and in Germany, better than all other teams. Guardiola has moved Bayern forward in all aspects. I have learned a lot from him both as a footballer and as a human being.

– Neuer

“I hope he becomes England coach one day and bring us his style. He can still succeed in England. He could improve in defence because at every ground you come under pressure, but everyone in England loves the way his teams play.”

– Paul Scholes

"He had some incredible players at Barcelona who were already there and that he went to Bayern Munich to train in the best team in the league, but City was not the best team and now he’s very ahead of the others and playing in a way that we had never seen before"

– Frank Lampard

We beat Dortmund 3-0 last month. We were on the plane, very happy as we’d beaten our biggest rival, but he sat at the front, opened his laptop and started preparing for the next match. He is obsessed with football.”

– Karl-Heinze Rummenigge

One thing I have noticed about Guardiola is that he has been very humble. He has never tried to gloat, he has been very respectful and that is very important. As a coach, whether they win or lose he is always the unpretentious individual.”

– Sir Alex Ferguson

“You shouldn’t make comparisons with me and Guardiola. He has achieved incredible things. Guardiola is a fantastic coach and what he is doing is very impressive.”

– Zinedine Zidane

“He is a coach with a lot of experience and a great game philosophy. Therefore he always has a great influence on his team. You only have to look at him and you want to learn from him. I’ve heard that he improves every player. He is a football icon.”

– Paul Pogba