Ahead of the clash between Southampton and Manchester City on Saturday, Claude Puel was full of high praise for his counterpart Pep Guardiola.
This is not the first season that the two tacticians have met. They played against each other in the Champions League round of 16, when Barcelona, managed by Guardiola, faced Lyon, managed by Puel. The course of the two legs saw Barcelona proceed 6-3 on aggregate.
In the pre-match press conference yesterday, as quoted by Saints’ official website, Puel waxed lyrical over the Spaniard, as he spoke of how the former Bayern Munich boss added many more different tactics to European football.
I think Pep Guardiola changed all of football and gave more opportunities for trainers to think about their football, like recovering the ball high up the pitch.
I have a lot of respect for Pep. He has a philosophy of football that I like. I like when the team tries to have possession and to give always the good response on the game, with quality.
The last time these two sides met, a solid performance from the Saints got them an impressive point at the Etihad. You could see the different counteraction of tactics used by the two managers, who provided a great match to watch.
Saints will hope to keep up their good form on Saturday and take their third win in as many games.
