Here’s how the “Pep Effect” has worked: When Guardiola was managing Barcelona in Spain’s La Liga, six of his players started for the national team in the 2010 World Cup final, which Spain won. Four years later Guardiola was in the Bundesliga at Bayern Munich and six of his club’s stars played in the 2014 World Cup final, which Germany won.
That not only gives England an edge in numbers but its coach, Gareth Southgate, also plays Guardiola’s style of soccer, preaching possession and building out of the back.
"The ‘Pep Effect,’ he's definitely had it on us City boys, and we've tried to bring what we've learned off him into the England squad," continued Stones, who made his Premier League debut under Belgian coach Roberto Martinez at Everton.