Pep Guardiola is a manager who showed during his time at Barcelona and Bayern Munich that he works in mysterious ways. He takes conventional wisdom and often discards it, crafting systems that flummox opposition managers and finding roles for players most never thought possible.
Javier Mascherano, David Alaba, Javi Martinez and Philipp Lahm were all superb players before working with Guardiola, but they are now more rounded and knowledgeable about the game thanks to his contribution to their careers.
Guardiola altered their position, challenged them and tested their ability in a different area of the pitch. All of them prospered and had success under the Catalan’s guidance.