Sean Dyche says Pep Guardiola needs learning time in Premier League
Sunday 1 January 2017 14:08, UK
Pep Guardiola may have won trophies in Spain and Germany, but will need time to adapt to shine in the Premier League, according to Sean Dyche.
Guardiola lifted 21 trophies across seven seasons with Barcelona and Bayern Munich before bidding to emulate his success on these shores when he joined Manchester City this campaign.
City will begin the new year with a home clash against Dyche's Burnley 10 points adrift of leaders Chelsea at the Premier League's halfway point.
Having spoken with Guardiola at Turf Moor after City's 2-1 win in November, Dyche said: "I only saw him briefly after our game and shared a couple of minutes with him, and I think a man of his footballing intelligence will be working out the reality of the Premier League.
"It's not easy to work that out over one game, he'll be learning all the time. He did say to me it's different, compared to Spain and Germany, and this idea of working on second balls, rather than just building play.
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"I'm sure him and his staff will be looking at that and how to add that to their game. They're still a fine group of players with a top-class manager, whichever way you look at it. It still makes for a good mix."
A trip to the Etihad Stadium will hold little fear for most of Dyche's squad, given they emerged from there two years ago with a point having battled back from 2-0 down at the interval against a team on a nine-game winning run.
The Clarets have only taken one point from eight games on their travels this year, though Dyche does not expect his team to be daunted by the prospect of visiting Guardiola's side.
"There's a massive gulf between us and them, but it is the marvel of football," he added.
"We're here to take on these challenges and mostly we do take them on. If that gets us something, fantastic, if it doesn't, I don't think anyone will bat an eyelid. It's one for us to go there with freedom to take it on, and a big challenge.
"There was a good mentality to our performance second half two years ago, first half they were super strong and we gave a very strong second-half performance and upset a few coupons."
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