Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti believe smaller teams are now ‘creating their own identity’ as football evolves around Europe.
Guardiola and Ancelotti, currently managing Manchester City and Napoli respectively, are two of the most revered managers in modern day football and, along with legendary AC Milan manager Arrigo Sacchi, were speaking at the Festival dello Sport in Trento, Italy recently.
And both managers agreed that smaller teams in Europe’s top leagues are now leaving behind the ‘defend and counter’ systems they used to employ when combatting the top sides, now favouring more exciting styles.
“We’re now seeing football that is well-organised both in defence and attack,” Ancelotti said (via Football Italia).
“It’s a positive football, because even the smaller sides, who once were tied exclusively to defensive play, now try to create their own identity. We’re seeing that around Europe now.”
“It’s happening in the Premier League too, the smaller clubs are evolving,” replied Guardiola.
“If I see Sassuolo now in Serie A, they give me the sense of being a very attack-minded and positive team.”
Ancelotti also believes playing good, attractive football is important but the best side doesn’t always win and what really counts is getting the ball past the goalkeeper.
He said: “Playing good football does give you better odds of winning, but it remains an unpredictable sport. There is so much talk about statistics, but you need more than that to explain it.
“The only real statistic that counts is the number of goals, not how many shots you had on target.”
Meanwhile, having played in Serie A with Brescia and Roma, Guardiola was then asked if he would one day like to manage in Italy as well, to which he replied: “Why not? I didn’t see myself in Germany or learning German, and yet that’s what happened. Now I am in England, who knows where football will take me?
“I am convinced that in Italy there are the players to start winning again. As a Coach, I take on the Italian teams and say: ‘Wow, they really made us suffer.’ Perhaps we learned some lessons from that in Spain. We took a path and did it well.”
How have Guardiola and Ancelotti’s teams started this season?
Only three managers have won a title in at least three of Europe’s top five leagues:
Carlo Ancelotti
Jose Mourinho
Pep GuardiolaElite club.
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Guardiola’s Manchester City side currently sit joint-top of the Premier League, unbeaten with 20 points, having drawn 0-0 with title rivals Liverpool at Anfield most recently.
Meanwhile, Ancelotti’s Napoli beat Sassuolo 2-0 in their last game to lift them to second in the Serie A table, although a recent 3-1 defeat to league leaders Juventus means they are six points off top spot.
The post “Smaller teams are evolving” – Guardiola and Ancelotti explain how club football is changing appeared first on Squawka News.
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