Pep Guardiola knows exactly what it takes to coach top-level players and get the best out of them.
Having managed Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Barcelona, winning numerous trophies at all three clubs, the Spaniard has coached some of the best players football has seen over the past 15 years.
With club football now on a break to make way for the 2024 European Championship and Copa America, numerous players that Guardiola has and currently is managing for City are in action for their countries.
Ahead of the latest round of tournament fixtures, a pundit has shared a claim on how Guardiola would potentially tell a high-profile international manager to use one of his key City stars.
Darren Bent shares what Pep Guardiola would say to Gareth Southgate about Phil Foden
In a recent video shared on the talkSPORT YouTube channel, Darren Bent had this to say when asked if it would be odd if Gareth Southgate got in touch with managers such as Guardiola and Jose Mourinho to ask for advice on how to get the best out of his England players.
He said: “I’m not saying it’s a bit weird or silly but listen, Pep, as good as he is, and Mourinho, these guys are unbelievable managers but none of them have got international experience managing a nation and certainly in the latter stages.
“Yes, Pep Guardiola has been so successful in domestic football and in the Champions League and Jose the same, but international football and international tournaments are just different.
Bent was then asked about the prospect of Gareth Southgate possibly asking Guardiola how to specifically use Phil Foden and get the best out of him.
He said: “If Pep turns around and says we have to play him number 10, but Jude [Bellingham] plays there, it’s conversation over.
“He’s almost got an immovable object there because Jude, who, for me, other than the first game, hasn’t been at his best.
“He played a massive part in England getting past Slovakia, so if Pep says you’ve got to play Phil Foden in the centre but he says we’ve got Jude there, what’s said next?”
Southgate should have been using Foden in the middle for the entire tournament
Out of the four England games that Foden has started in the Euros this summer, Southgate has deployed the City star in a left-wing role, despite the 24-year-old scoring 13 goals in 15 games as an attacking-midfielder last season.
This makes it easy to see why Bent thinks Guardiola would urge Southgate to use Foden, who Stuart Pearce recently suggested has outperformed Bellingham at the Euros, in a more central position.
However, if Southgate wants to find a way to have Foden and Bellingham in a similar role in an effort to get the best out of the duo, he may be better off tinkering with his formation looking ahead to the remainder of the tournament.
