Pep Guardiola Quotes

Scottish football doesn't suit me perfectly, how I want to play football.

I like the idea of playing with a bit more tactical freedom, either in a deeper role or supporting the strikers more often.

Power is the main difference; it's more powerful in England. Referees are less strict than in France, teams like to play low and in counter-attack, and defenders in general are stronger than in France.

I don't want Kylian to play like Neymar and keep the ball. Kylian is incredibly dangerous in the final move, and I want him to stay that way.

Liverpool are known for this 'rock and roll' football. I think I've adapted well to this even if, as a player, I like to hold onto the ball longer.

I was adapted to European football after playing in Germany for three years, but English football is very different to the Bundesliga.

Arsenal's style of play is so smooth and easy and I hope I can adapt to their style quickly.

We have to cut out some of our mistakes, but the main thing in English football is controlling the second ball. Without that, you cannot survive.

In every country, you play a different style of football. Sometimes if it's really tactical, like it is in Spain, it seems like it slows down the tempo, but it's not really the case.

Pep Guardiola saw me as a central player in his system, which my style of play fit into perfectly.

The Swedish team plays very differently from Arsenal. There is more freedom with Arsenal and they play a passing game.

I do wonder whether the bigger the game is, the more the risks that David Luiz decides to take.

I played as a 10 and, in Sweden, they let me take as many touches as I could. All of a sudden, I come to Arsenal and I have to play one and two touches - it was a little bit alien to me.

There are teams in England who play the football I like, keeping the ball on the ground, playing a quick game with one-twos, pressing their opponents high up the pitch. If one of these clubs were interested in me, I'd adapt to them well, and they could adapt to my way of playing, which isn't so common.

I received a lot of criticism maybe because in England they are not accustomed to seeing a playmaker with my skills. Because I'm not a physical player but I think more about playing the ball.

Harry Kane is a very complicated player to stop.

My style of play has always been 'Guardiola style,' so I've not had too many problems. At the same time, he helps you to evolve and to change little things, because it's obviously not exactly the same style of play as at Bilbao.

The difference in the Premier League is that it's very competitive physically, so I'll try to improve in that aspect as well and adapt as soon as possible to the style of play.

At first I didn't think I was going to fit into Barcelona's way of playing. There was a lot of tiki-taka and I was thinking that without a lot of space to play in, I'd find it more difficult. I worried about that.

In my time at Milan, the club played with a 4-3-1-2 formation, and I was the player behind the two strikers. At Real, I play behind three. There is a greater defensive obligation, but I try to work around the area.

United are about attacking football, and everything else has to takes its place behind that.

The Premier League is a competition that suits me, which is perhaps more praise to myself. It's more direct, more rhythmic than Ligue 1.

Whether I play five or 10 metres forward or back does not change my way of playing, to be on the ball a lot.

I try to be this kind of player: the type who does something whenever he gets the ball. Sometimes in the past, I've gone through games where I've not touched the ball for 20 or 30 minutes.

I was always a little bit compared to Jurgen because my core of working is working against the ball.