Manchester City defender Josko Gvardiol has revealed what Pep Guardiola did during the team meeting before his side’s 3-1 win against West Ham United.
Managers tend to give tactical instructions to their players in the lead-up to a big game.
However, Pep Guardiola had a different trick up his sleeve ahead of City’s title decider on Sunday.
Gvardiol reveals what Guardiola did to motivate City players ahead of West Ham clash
In his post-match interview with Optus Sport, Josko Gvardiol revealed how Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola motivated his players ahead of his side’s win against West Ham.
Manchester City’s number 24 said: “Even before the game, we were at the meeting and we didn’t talk about tactics, we talked about…actually, he put a video of the whole season, us playing and scoring goals.”
“He’s just different and I believe everyone in the dressing room loves him so much.”
In the week leading up to the game, the City boss must likely have drilled his instructions into his players.
Furthermore, ahead of such a big game, overburdening players with information might not be the wisest ploy.
The nerves must have been sky-high at the CFA [City Football Academy] ahead of the contest.
Guardiola showed his world-class man-management skills
As a result, Pep Guardiola perhaps felt it would be best to give Josko Gvardiol and his Manchester City teammates a confidence boost ahead of the game against West Ham.
Ultimately, football is as much a physical as a mental sport and confidence plays a huge factor in how any team performs.
Once the City players had a look at how well they have played throughout the campaign, they must have been driven to get the job done against the Hammers.
It seemed like the Manchester City team at the Etihad Stadium were fired up to put on a display for their home support from the get-go.
Phil Foden’s second-minute strike was an indicator of the fact that City were looking to lay down a marker.
Pep Guardiola’s ploy to showcase Josko Gvardiol and Co. a video in the team meeting is a reason why Manchester City comfortably defeated West Ham.
Tactics and man-management are equally key components for any manager to succeed and Guardiola exhibited the latter while preparing his team for the contest.