Guardiola is definitely an influence on England, says Scholes

Despite never having managed a national team, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has had a rather surprising influence on the national teams of countries he had managed in.

During his tenure at Barcelona (2009-2012), where the Catalans won numerous titles with home-grown players, Spain won the 2010 World Cup in South Africa while boasting talents such as Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets to name a few. After that he moved to Germany to coach Bayern Munich. The German club also had home-grown players who had featured for the Germany national team and Guardiola’s move to Bayern coincided with the national team’s triumph in 2014 World Cup.

Now that Guardiola has moved to England, fans had been making jokes at the start of the Russia World Cup that England will win the showpiece event. What started as a joke is close to becoming a reality however as England made it to the semifinals of the FIFA World Cup 2018.

Former England and Manchester United midfield general Paul Scholes has said that Guardiola’s influence has been pretty clear on England as well.

Scholes suggested that England manager Gareth Southgate never made any secret out of the fact that he went to see Guardiola to discuss how he can apply certain tactics. Manchester City have played the most brilliant football last season and won the Premier League with a huge 19-point lead over second-placed Manchester United.

“He is definitely [an influence on England],” Scholes said on Bein Sports.

‘Especially when you see the way they’ve got the back three, the way they’ve got the goalkeeper playing.

“I don’t think Gareth [Southgate] has made any secret of that. He’s been to see Pep and he’s picked his brain.

“He wants to know how he produces that type of football. As an England fan and ex-England player, we want to see the best possible football.

Southgate admitted before the start of the tournament he has studied Guardiola closely at City and spoke at length with the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager. The England manager decided soon after taking on the reins he wanted to deploy three-man defence, with full-back Kyle Walker being asked to play at centre-back in the current system.

John Stones has been heavily influential in how England play the ball out from the back. He is a key component of Guardiola’s City and now England are enjoying his services.

“Spain played the best football, Manchester City played the best football, so why not try and copy that type of play?” Scholes asked.