Robert Lewandowski sat down with Rio Ferdinand on the former England defender’s show to tell the story of his playing football career.
Robert Lewandowski, the 36-year-old Barcelona striker has revealed. A lot about his footballing career and some of the key figures in it. One of which was Pep Guardiola. When the pair worked together at Bayern Munich, during a segment on Rio Ferdinand Presents, part of the former England defender’s series.UFABET
Guardiola wrote a historic four-year stint as Barcelona manager before taking a year off to join Bayern Munich. Where he met Lewandowski, one of the best strikers in the world. Although his style of play initially didn’t suit the Pole.
‘As a human being, he was difficult for the players to approach. Because at that time he was so good at football tactics that he thought if they followed me, they would win. But later I found out that he had changed.’
Lewandowski said.
‘I think he realised that if he was more human and more open, his tactics could help him more.’
“I understand that if you play against teams that don’t have much chance of beating you. But if you play against big teams, tactics are important. I don’t want to say they are not important. But in my opinion, at this level. There are many things that can decide between victory and defeat.” Lewandowski said.
Lewandowski then turned the subject to Real Madrid’s Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti. Who he also worked with at the Bavarians, and former boss Jurgen Klopp at Borussia Dortmund.
‘Ancelotti is like a father or an uncle. He can come to you. He can tell you why you are not happy. And he can talk to you about everything. You know Klopp, he is an amazing guy. He can talk to you and he knows when to be strict and when to be more of a friend.’
‘From the first training session (with Guardiola) I was very impressed. He paid a lot of attention to detail in training, things I never thought about before. But for him training is very important, while I think we are playing.’
‘Sometimes tactics are too much, sometimes you have to use individual skills’
However.
it was Klopp who changed his career after Lewandowski arrived from Lech Poznan. As a nobody before being developed into one of the premier strikers in the game.
‘I lost my father when I was 16. So I was very isolated. I went to talk to him and we talked for about an hour and a half. And I didn’t understand everything because I had only just arrived in Germany. But what was said was not important, but what he said to me was.’
‘After two days we went on the pitch and we won 4-0. I got a hat-trick and an assist. I thought that could have changed a lot. But at the time it was probably my personal situation. But that unlocked something in me. I needed that at the time. Those conversations changed the trajectory of their careers.’