Former Arsenal, Manchester City, Marseille and Sevilla playmaker Sam¡r Nasri has opened up on the experience of playing under Pep Guardiola. The former Barcelona manager has been in management for 15 years now, almost always at the top of the game, and Nasri has explained how he has managed to remain there.
“Guardiola is arrogant, but in the good sense of the word,” Nasri told Le Equipe, in an interview carried by Marca.
“Guardiola knows that he is the best coach and he makes it clear to you. Pep knows what he brings to the club and he knows that when he arrived at City he had carte blanche. So, for him, it is quite easy to impose his law. Afterwards he is a frank and honest person.”
Nasri and Guardiola did not get on initially, with the Frenchman thought to be on his way out at the start of Guardiola’s time. Nasri ended up at Sevilla that same season.
“Little by little I managed to make him change his mind. He got angry with me many times. He told me that I was a waste of a player, that I shouldn’t be playing there but at Barcelona. He wanted me to stay and play there. But I told him that he couldn’t guarantee me a start and I needed to play. He told me that he thought I was wrong, but that in any case I would have two years left on my contract.”
He then explained how Guardiola forced him to train alone until Nasri reached the ideal weight that he had set for the French playmaker.
Later he would also detail the advice Guardiola gave to his players about have sex.
“On a day off, Guardiola told us that anyone who wanted to have a sexual relations should do so before midnight because they need to have a good night’s sleep. He says he did it with [Lionel] Messi and since then he hasn’t had a muscle injury…”.
Guardiola has publicly spoken to that idea too, stating that he had no intention of preventing his players from enjoying themselves.
“It’s impossible to play good football if you don’t have sex with your partner. I would never forbid that. If you’re doing it, you play better.”
Guardiola has a reputation as a disciplinarian, whereas Nasri has more of the maverick streak in him, which was bound to create tension between the two. However Nasri’s words are neither critical nor do they contradict a lot of the character that is seen in public.
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