Pep Guardiola will follow Wenger, Pellegrini's attacking legacy - Raul

Pep Guardiola has been tipped to be a success at Manchester City by his former Spain international teammate Raul Gonzalez. Former Real Madrid striker Raul expects the new City boss to have a similar impact at the Etihad to the ones he had at previous clubs Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

Guardiola won 21 trophies in his time in Spain and Germany, although he failed to win a Champions League during his three years at the Allianz Arena. The 45-year-old has admitted it will be a huge challenge to be successful in the Premier League but is determined to play "beautiful football" at City. And Raul believes he will be able to deliver an entertaining attacking style -- building on the work of Manuel Pellegrini, his predecessor at the Etihad, and Arsene Wenger, who has played a similar way during his 20 years as Arsenal manager.

"He could culminate the process which began with Wenger and Pellegrini. It is another challenge for him," Raul told Spanish newspaper AS.

"He did not win the Champions League with Bayern, but many fans, of Bayern and the Bundesliga, enjoyed his way of understanding the game. And the German national team often copied his way of doing things.

"Pep, in the end, re-invents himself every season, every month, every game. I am convinced that Pep will make City's fans enjoy themselves."

Raul, who won 102 caps for Spain and was their record goal scorer, added that Bayern were the most entertaining side to watch in recent years. But he also believes the players should take a large part of the credit for their success.

"To be a coach is a difficult job, football is so big and so marvellous as there are so many paths to reach your destination," he added.

"If I had to choose, I would pick Guardiola's Bayern, [Real] Madrid in some moments recently, and [Jurgen] Klopp's Dortmund.

 "They could be different styles, but the three were teams who went forward, and as a fan I liked them. But having said that, I believe more in players than in systems."

However, Raul was less complimentary about Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane despite the Frenchman winning the Champions League five months after taking over the job at the Bernabeu. Madrid beat Pellegrini's City in the semifinal with Fernando's own goal the only difference over the two legs, which produced few chances.

"You must look for the emotion in the fans. The semifinal between Madrid and City was very boring," added Raul.

"Madrid played well in spells, City too, but there were moments when you said: 'They don't want to lose, they are afraid.'"

Share on Google Plus

About Dudusola Blog

This is a short description in the author block about the author. You edit it by entering text in the "Biographical Info" field in the user admin panel.