Pep Guardiola didn’t let Jack Grealish get away with failing his bizarre new drill during a Manchester City training session.
Grealish looks right at home in this City team now, although sometimes he still struggles to get his head around Guardiola’s training methods.
A recent episode of Inside City – City’s in-house behind the scenes show – shows part of a bizarre training drill Guardiola gave his players.
The title-winning squad gathered in a circle with each player holding a ball. Each player had to pass the ball – with their hands – to the person on their left or right depending on Guardiola’s instruction.
The drill was intended to work the players’ coordination skills, something Grealish struggled with. The England star ended up passing the ball the wrong way, and when Pep realised he was the culprit, he instructed the winger to perform a set of push-ups in-front of his teammates.
The video captured City defender Dias mocking the attacker, with Grealish explaining to the centre-back: “I don’t understand what’s going on!”
To be fair to Grealish, he wasn’t the only one to struggle. 20-year-old winger Oscar Bobb, who bagged his first ever Premier League goal with a 91st-minute winner against Newcastle on Saturday – had to perform two sets of push-ups after messing up.
Guardiola is arguably the greatest manager in history, credited with changing football tactics forever and developing some of the best players of all time.
The Spaniard has coached era-defining teams, including his all-conquering Barcelona team and his current Manchester City side.
He hasn’t achieved what he has without pushing his players to their limits on a daily basis in training, as Ruben Dias and Kyle Walker alluded to during The Best FIFA Awards 2023 ceremony in London on Monday.
Jack Grealish is just one of the top players who Guardiola has moulded and shaped to fit his system.
The £100 million star struggled during his first season at the Etihad Stadium, but last season he played a key role in City winning a historic treble.