Guardiola’s intensity has a downside: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg

Pep Guardiola’s obsessive attention to detail has brought much success but could also be the reason Manchester City have suffered a slump in form, claims Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg who played under him at Bayern Munich. Hojbjerg will captain Southampton when they host Guardiola’s side today with City arriving on the back of three defeats in four matches leaving the champions in third place, seven points off leaders Liverpool ahead of this weekend’s matches.

The 23-year-old Danish international midfielder -- who joined Saints in 2016 for a fee believed to be £12.8million ($16.2million) -- admires Guardiola but thinks sometimes his analysing of a match is too intense even for the Spaniard. “He is the most demanding person, not only coach, that I have ever met,” Hojbjerg told The Times. “We sit on the bus after we have won and he sits on the bus watching the game and then he is in his office with two laptops and television and he is analysing. “Maybe that’s what makes him the greatest. “But also maybe that is what makes him lose because it is too much, he drowns.