Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is widely recognized as a master tactician, and now Pep supports the claim by stating to be a fan of former Juventus coach.
Author and journalist Marti Perarnau, of Pep Confidential fame, has released excerpts from his new book – Pep Guardiola: The Evolution, which happens to be a follow-up to the hugely successful bestseller, Pep Confidential, tracing Pep’s journey or rather ‘evolution’ since 2014 until his early days as Manchester City manager.
Marti Perarnau enjoys an unprecedented access to the day-to-day happenings of the current Manchester City boss, which makes his new book arouse the curiosity and a must read for every football lover worldwide, irrespective of the club they support.
From the recently released excerpts of the new book, published by Daily Mail, it is revealed that Pep Guardiola sees Antonio Conte in a very positive light, stating the Chelsea head-coach has the potential to become the best manager in football in near future along side Borussia Dortmund manager Thomas Tuchel.
In Marti Perarnau’s words, “I remember asking Pep in 2015 to name two coaches with the greatest potential and, without any hesitation, he said Antonio Conte and Thomas Tuchel.”
And that’s not all, as Pep continued to state he sees shades of himself in the former Juventus manager; in terms of intensity, drive to succeed, attention to detail and philosophy to dominate possession. One can certainly see the similarity in their passion for the game with their animated responses on the touchlines, barking out orders to the team throughout the 90 mins.
Guardiola also praised Conte for his variation of positional football and ability to adapt to the constantly changing world of football, stating, “Conte plays positional football too. It’s very different from my own but it’s a game of position and he does it very well. Look at Conte’s Italy. They used positional play. Imagine that! Italy playing positionally. And I really admire Conte for it.”
While Chelsea would have probably liked a better start to the season, currently lying at the fourth place with a clash against Manchester United next, an endorsement of such an high order for their manager from one of the best coaches in the world should ease some fears for the Chelsea boss, if there are any.