Guardiola always destined for coaching

Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola said he knew from an early age he was destined to become a manager.

Speaking at the Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai on Saturday, the 42-year-old Spaniard conceded he struggled to compete physically during his playing days and therefore had to adopt a more cerebral approach to playing football.

He also believes playing as a midfielder helped him to gain a better understanding of the game and assisted his transition into coaching.

“Not because you are a midfielder it must necessarily mean that you are good or you are destined to become a manager, after all football is so open that anyone can impose himself as a manager even without having been a footballer before,” he said.

“But yes it’s true that when you have to play in the middle, you have to see almost everything, every aspect of the game, more when you are a holding midfielder.

“You have to think more about the group rather than yourself. You not only must play, but also understand why certain things happen on the field.

“In my case, this is the reason why, a few years ago, I decided that I would have liked to become a manager.

“As a player, I used to struggle quite a lot on physical terms. That’s the reason why I had to use my head otherwise I would have never got there on time.

“I had to imagine tricky situations beforehand, I had to study my opponents before taking the field.”

Speaking alongside fellow coaches, Fabio Capello and Antonio Conte, Guardiola conceded a coach is only as good as his squad but said hard work and having a supportive club were also key ingredients to success.

“Eventually good players are there and they help you to win, but good and not so good players are always humans and they share the same problems,” he said.

“In my case, I’ve met several players who thought they were better than what they in fact were and those are the ones that gave me more trouble.

“As managers, we need quality in our players and of course the more, the better in order to win.

“I think I can speak also on behalf of Conte and Capello here when I say that in our careers if we have won, we have done so because we have worked very hard, but also because we had great clubs supporting us, and great players on the pitch.

“Without them, I wouldn’t be here today, let alone win trophies.”