Pep Guardiola is already coming under criticism at Bayern Munich for the way he has changed the Treble-winner’s tactics as head coach. Even some of the players are worried, ESPN says: “I’ve never had a coach who changes so much,” Claudio Pizarro is quoted as saying, while winger Arjen Robben warned not to make “soccer more complicatedthan it is.”
Following his team’s 2-1 come-from-behind victory against Manchester City in the Audi Cup final on Thursday, Guardiola said: “Systems are like numbers inthe telephone book. They are not the most important thing. I am surprised how much the players are ready to learn and how much they have translated what I want onto the pitch. That the players want tolearn from me makes me as happy as can be.”
He added that improving players was more important to him than winning titles: “It’s not the titles that give the coachprestige,” he said. “Titles are nice, but at the end of the day it is about the players telling you at one point, ‘coach, you have really improved me, I have learned a lot.’ That makes acoach as happy as can be.”