Pep Guardiola, Manchester City coach, dressed as a speaker this Monday in Cuneo (northern Italy) before 3,500 secondary school students and in a relaxed talk he reflected on the importance of defeat and the value of victory, on his unlikely arrival at the Juventus and about the talent of Italian football.
Guardiola traveled to the city in the Piedmont region to speak at the Cuneo sports hall at the event called 'How to use talent and teamwork to better face and overcome life's challenges'.
"People say that you learn more from defeat, but with victory you live better. Above all, balance is important. You have to stay calm when you win and not think that everything is a disaster when you lose," he declared. the current champion of the Champions League, the Premier League and the FA Cup.
"Look at Allegri (Juventus coach) and De Zerbi (Brighton coach): do you think one wants to win and the other doesn't? De Zerbi doesn't play for aesthetics, he plays to win. Everyone thinks his method is the best to win "It's that easy. Everyone wants to win. I have never met a coach or a player who doesn't want to win, nor one who doesn't want to play well," he gave as an example.
"Now we (Manchester City) are seen as phenomena, but if Lukaku (at that time with Inter) had scored from two meters maybe things would have been different, that's why even after a defeat you have to stay calm and get back to the game. work," Guardiola reflected in relation to the Champions League final in which he beat Inter with a goal from the Spanish Rodri.
The coach urged the thousands of young people not to sit still waiting for things to happen and advised them to pursue what they want from this moment in their lives.
"You don't get strong by staying in bed or on Instagram. If you want to be a photographer you have to take a thousand photos. Now the problem is that we think about what others say and not about ourselves," he said.
"All of today's players think they played very well. They read some criticism and go home sad. And vice versa. Young people need to think about their opinion, which is what really counts. Talent is developed by practicing and making mistakes. ¿ "Do you like to play soccer? Play a lot. If you stay at home or on social media you won't be able to be successful, it's more difficult," he said.
"It takes talent to do something special, but it is clear that it is not enough if there are not hours and hours of sacrifice behind it, which is not sacrifice when you do something you like," he added.
The one from Sampedor also commented on how football has changed and its evolution into a much more physical sport and praised the figure of the Argentine Julián Álvarez.
"He is an extraordinary player. City made a top-level signing when no one knew him yet," he highlighted about his world champion striker.
"Today we eat and train better, but I believe that tactics serve to help players perform better, it should not be separated from technique. Tactics are a way of making it clear that we are all going in the same direction, it is not an aesthetic thing, it is at the service of the players," he explained.
Guardiola denied that Juventus wanted to sign him and dodged as best he could the question of whether he would like to coach the 'Vecchia Signora' in the future.
"Juve never looked for me," he revealed. "Would I train her? In Italy the food is very good. I like it a lot and I often come on vacation," she concluded amicably.
The former player of Italian teams such as Roma or Brescia also acknowledged that although he still does not feel "tired" of training, he will be honest when "the passion goes out": "sooner or later that moment will come because in life there are phases in which you have to "say enough."
Furthermore, the former Barcelona coach reassured the Italians regarding the concern that resides in Italy due to the lack of young talent, exemplified in the numerous nationalizations made by the now former Italian coach Roberto Mancini.
"There is talent everywhere, I don't think there isn't in Italy. I don't follow Italian football much because I don't have much time but I'm sure it's there," he said.
