Pep Guardiola’s ‘biggest flaw’ revealed by Man City icon

Robin Bairner

13 Dec 2025 11:43 GMT
3 min read

Pep Guardiola, Man City, 2025/26 — © IMAGO

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is internationally recognised as one of the best in the business, but David Silva has revealed the “biggest flaw” of the legendary coach.

Article continues under the video

Silva played for City between 2010 and 2020 while Guardiola arrived at the club in 2016, meaning the now-retired playmaker has a strong understanding of how the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich head coach works.

Together at the Etihad Stadium, they picked up a couple of Premier League titles, three League Cups and a couple of FA Cups.

Guardiola, though, was not perfect, according to Silva, who was speaking to ‘El Camino de Mario’ on YouTube.

“The worst thing about him is that he’s very particular; he doesn’t give you much freedom. But in other aspects, he’s a genius,” Silva explained.

“Working with him was on another level because he already knew everything the other team was going to do, he had everything prepared, and things just worked out for you in the match. It’s another level.”

Joining City my best decision – David Silva

Silva also explained why he turned down Barcelona to join City, and while it was a call he had some reservations over, he was ultimately pleased that he did it.

“Barcelona also wanted me. But Valencia wasn’t selling anyone at that time, then they had financial problems and sold Villa and me,” he said.

“Would I have liked to play for Barca? Who wouldn’t… but the best decision I made in my career was going to City. I had 10 spectacular years there.

“The people treated me incredibly well, we won everything, the team was constantly improving, and then there’s something different about England. I don’t know what it is, but there’s something different about football. It’s like a religion for them.”

The FootballTransfers app

Check out FootballTransfers' new app for all of football's big storylines, transfer rumours and exclusive news in one convenient place directly on your mobile device.

The FootballTransfers app is available on Google Play and in the Apple App Store. Download here:

•Google Play

•App Store