Former Everton and United States men’s national team goalkeeper Tim Howard says that Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and his tactics have had a negative impact on the sport. The Tim Howard Pep Guardiola comment has garnered plenty of attention.
Howard shared his opinion during an appearance on the new podcast “It’s Called Soccer” with Rebecca Lowe, Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville.
Carragher asked Howard what some of the first decisions new USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino should make. The latter suggested avoiding the style and tactics seen with Pep and Manchester City.
Tim Howard Pep Guardiola comment
“What Gregg Berhalter did (with the USMNT) was — you look back at my generation, we were just a bunch of tough, rugged guys. We had a couple of match-winners. He got this team to believe they could compete and be expansive and play well in the forward areas.
“I think what happened was in all ways Pep Guardiola has ruined football. Pep Guardiola has taught everybody that they can play expansive football. They can’t. Not everybody can do it. Three teams in the world can do it really well,” Howard said.
Howard instead wants to see Pochettino utilize his past strategies with Tottenham with a larger focus on defending and striking on counterattacks.
“I think you have to be resolute at times. And when you look at Pochettino's best teams, I think of his Tottenham teams it was two banks of four plus two at the top. And then when they broke, they broke with four players, they allowed them to express themselves. Ultimately, they were rock-solid defensively, or at least tried to be.
“I think if he [Pochettino] starts to instill that resoluteness defensively, they have enough players in the forward areas where they can be dangerous,” Howard said.
Pochettino’s first game in charge of the USMNT will be a friendly vs. Panama on Oct. 12 followed by a friendly in Mexico against El Tri on Oct. 15.
USMNT fans will be extra curious to see what tactics the Argentine implements with the squad.
