'Always you have doubts' - Guardiola admits being 'nervous, insecure' when taking City job

Pep Guardiola has admitted to feeling "insecure" in his early days as Manchester City boss, as he reflected on his arrival at the club back in 2016.

Guardiola came to the Premier League with a sky-high reputation after his successes at Barcelona and Bayern Munich, but his settling in period at City was not without teething troubles.

Speaking to TNT Sports ahead of City's UEFA Champions League tie with Young Boys on Tuesday night, Guardiola said, however, that these "doubts" served their purpose.

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On his biggest challenge as he arrived in England, Guardiola said: "To prove myself, with what we wanted to do, with the way we wanted to do it in this country.

"I was curious, nervous, and a little bit insecure. We worked so hard in the first years and months.

"Always you have doubts. It's good to have insecurity or doubts, because it makes you alert."

One of the reasons for Guardiola's success has been his ability to employ players in innovative ways as part of his meticulous tactical approach to the game.

At Bayern Munich he was famous for moving Philip Lahm from a full-back role into central midfield, and for experimenting with a false nine at Barcelona and elsewhere.

He has had several similar situations at the Etihad but perhaps the most influential recent decision was to use John Stones in central midfield in order to help his team play with greater control.

Of the England defender, Guardiola said: "Without John, I could not play that way. I feel secure when I have a lot of players in the middle, and John can do that. He's so intelligent and smart, and making clever runs up front. He's a good defender.

"So that's why I figured out he was able to do it and he can do it."

Asked about the emergence of Rico Lewis, aged just 18 years old but already accustomed to playing regularly for City, Guardiola said: "That position, we started with Fabian Delph.

"We have incredible memories, [Oleksandr] ZInchenko played there, but Rico helps us do some incredible movements we've never seen before. Smart, intelligent player."

BERN, SWITZERLAND - OCTOBER 25: Rico Lewis of Manchester City gestures after the UEFA Champions League match between BSC Young Boys and Manchester City at Stadion Wankdorf on October 25, 2023 in Bern, Switzerland.

Ultimately, Guardiola thinks that as the number of attacking players at his disposal dwindles, Lewis will get his chance further up the pitch.

"I think his position will be attacking midfielder but for now we have a lot of intelligent players there," he added: "With him inside, we always had the opportunity to make our process and our game much, much better.

"Fantastic player, at this early age, he settled really quick and played really good."

The Spaniard also suggested that Lewis would already be seen as one of the best the country has to offer if he was more imposing than his 5'7" frame.

He saId: "I was always having the feeling that the only problem of people having an opinion of Rico is because if he was a little bit taller he'd be considered one of the best players in England."

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