Top 5 successful managers who had learnt the art of coaching from Pep Guardiola

With the recent triumph of a European treble with Manchester City, Pep Guardiola has solidified his name as one of the greatest managers of all time. In fact, there is definitely an argument that he may be the greatest of them all.

The former defensive midfielder is the only manager to complete the treble twice in his career. He did it with two teams, FC Barcelona and Manchester City. He deserves all the plaudits he’s getting.

Other than this, Guardiola has also inspired many of his former players and coaches to become full-time managers. They have become successful in their own right advocating a similar style of play he does.

Related: Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta meets PSG executive Luis Campos about a possible move to the French capital

Managers inspired by Guardiola

The Manchester City manager has thus given a new clique of managers to the game. No other manager has helped in contributing these many successful individuals to the game.

With the recent appointment of Enzo Maresca, Guardiola’s assistant coach by Leicester City, we look at some of the managers currently in the game who learned under his tutelage.

Mikel Arteta

Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta first met at the Barcelona Academy where the Manchester City coach was already established as a first-team player. The pair kept talking to each other and Guardiola offered Arteta the assistant manager role in City when he retired as a player from Arsenal. They formed a great duo as Guardiola later claimed that Arteta’s wisdom made him a better coach. It was speculated that he would succeed Guardiola as the next manager of Manchester City.

But he returned to his former club Arsenal, this time as the manager. It has resulted in an exceptional appointment for the club. Overcoming initial struggles, Arteta led Arsenal to their strongest title charge in recent years against his former employers Manchester City. Although eventually he lost to Guardiola’s City, he has successfully transformed the club into a serious threat again.

Arteta’s Arsenal are one of the most exciting teams to watch in Europe boasting a very team with an average age of 25.2 years. He has also won two trophies for the club.

Erik Ten Hag

Erik Ten Hag joined Bayern B in 2013 while Pep Guardiola was managing Bayern Munich’s main team. The Dutch coach was already a promising talent by then as he led Go Ahead Eagles to promotion to the first division. There he adopted the Catalan manager’s style of play learning under him. Many in Bayern referred to him as ‘Mini Pep’.

He would stay there for only two years as he left to join Utrecht FC in 2015 whom he led to a fifth-place finish in the Eredivisie in his very first season. In 2017, he joined Ajax FC where he started becoming recognized by the casual fans. His young Ajax team shocked the world in 2018/19 when they reached the Champions League semifinals.

Guardiola answered in affirmative when a reporter asked if Ten Hag could succeed him at City. But in 2022, Ten Hag joined his arch-rivals Manchester United. He ended their seven-year trophy drought and led them to a third-place finish in his first season. In their first meeting, Guardiola smashed Ten Hag’s side winning 6-3. Ten Hag then won in the reverse fixture, the scoreline being 2-1. But Guardiola had the last laugh beating United 2-1 in the FA Cup Finals on their way to the European treble. Their newly established rivalry will be exciting to watch in the coming season.

Xavi

Initially, Xavi and Pep Guardiola were teammates. Then Xavi played under him during Guardiola’s highly successful managerial stint at FC Barcelona. Xavi learned under him being his captain, giving instructions to his teammates on the pitch. Xavi became a coach at Al-Sadd where he ended his playing career in 2019.

He became the manager of FC Barcelona in 2021 succeeding Ronald Koeman. While shortcomings have been present with failures in the European Stage in the form of early Champions League and Europa League exits, the Spanish legend has brought Barcelona’s domestic success back. He led the club to the La Liga title this season ending a three-season drought. He has also maintained dominance over Real Madrid winning five El Classicos in seven attempts. If FC Barcelona backs Xavi this summer, he could help them reclaim their past glory.

Vincent Kompany

Manchester City and Belgium legend Vincent Kompany was part of the team which build the foundation for their tremendous recent success. He played under Guardiola for four years before rejoining his youth club Anderlecht in a player-manager role. But, he quit the managerial role just three months after witnessing their worst-ever start to the season since 1998/1999.

He became their manager again after retiring in 2020. He left the club in 2022 and joined the recently relegated Burnley FC. There, he oversaw a complete overhaul of their playing style instead advocating a style similar to Guardiola’s. He helped them gain promotion back to the Premier League by winning the EFL Championship and looks destined for bigger things. Pep Guardiola has declared that he will one day succeed him as the City manager.

Xabi Alonso

The former Spain midfielder played under Pep Guardiola during his stint at Bayern Munich for two years. He also learned under other world-class managers like Carlo Ancelotti and Guardiola’s long-time rival, Jose Mourinho. He started his coaching with the Real Sociedad reverse team.

Xabi Alonso joined Bayer Leverkusen as their manager in 2022 when they were placed second from bottom in the Bundesliga table. He led them to a sixth-place finish and the semifinals of the Europa League. He was linked to Tottenham Hotspur this season but decided to stay at Leverkusen.

Enzo Maresca

The newest entrant to the list, Enzo Maresca took the role of Pep Guardiola’s assistant in 2022. It is yet to be seen what he brings to the table. He is coming off one of the greatest seasons ever with Manchester City and will be hoping that some of the success rubs off in Leicester City.

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