Belief and No Doubt in the Game Plan
Pep Guardiola on inspiration, leadership and creating winning teams
September 24, 2026
Pep Guardiola is one of the most successful and influential managers in the history of football. His superpower? Belief.
Speaking to a crowd of PUMA employees at an event in Herzogenaurach, Pep took the time to answer questions and give his vision on leadership and how to win as a team.
“As a manager, I have to work on creating something I believe in, that I can communicate,” the former Manchester City manager said on stage. “After that: No doubts in the game plan. I will be able to convince you in two seconds if I believe in something.”
Players read a manager’s body language and tone of voice, he said, and they can tell whether he means it. When he does not yet feel convinced about a message for his team, he does not deliver it. When the conviction comes from the heart, he said, it works: “How can you inspire if you don’t like what you do? Impossible.”
“As a manager, I have to work on creating something I believe in, that I can communicate,” the former Manchester City manager said on stage. “After that: No doubts in the game plan. I will be able to convince you in two seconds if I believe in something.”
Players read a manager’s body language and tone of voice, he said, and they can tell whether he means it. When he does not yet feel convinced about a message for his team, he does not deliver it. When the conviction comes from the heart, he said, it works: “How can you inspire if you don’t like what you do? Impossible.”
Pep Guardiola,
Former Manchester City head coach and one of football’s most influential leaders
EVERYONE HAS A BUTTON
A central idea in how Pep manages people was the lesson that every player had a button, and the manager’s job is to find the right one.Some players respond best to being criticised in front of the group, Pep said, because it makes them want to prove the coach wrong. Others need praise in front of their teammates. Some need a private conversation in the office, and others a dinner where tactics are never mentioned.
He recalled his first season at Barcelona, when a forward who had arrived was struggling to fit into the team. Pep invited him to a hotel for a glass of champagne. They talked about the player’s life, his wife and his children, but not football. Pep said that player then went on to score a hat-trick.
Pep’s success with this method proves him right. He is one of the most decorated managers in football history. Among the many trophies he has won, there are 12 league titles across three countries and three Champions League titles.
His approach was to always set the bar higher once his vision and belief had ignited a team and turned it into a winning one.
“We won the trophy, we put it in the cabinet and we clean it sometimes,” Pep said. “But after that I always asked myself: what’s next?”
WHAT CRUYFF TAUGHT HIM
Pep said he learned a lot from legendary Dutch player and manager Johan Cruyff, who was also a PUMA athlete.Pep, who played under Cruyff at Barcelona, said the Dutchman’s influence could not really be put into words. “What is charisma? That is Johan Cruyff,” he said.
Cruyff’s gift, as Pep described it, was belief. When Cruyff arrived in Barcelona, he found a club that was doubtful it could compete with Real Madrid. Cruyff’s message was simple: we are the best. And over time, Pep said, players started to share this vision.
Cruyff also kept him grounded. Whenever the press called the young Guardiola the best player around, Cruyff brought him back to earth. When the criticism came, Cruyff was the one who picked him up. That balance between praise and criticism is something Pep has carried into his own management style.
In Cruyff’s later years, the relationship became almost like one with a grandfather, Pep said. When he took over Barcelona’s second team at 36, he would spend hours at Cruyff’s home discussing how to deal with players. The decision was always Pep’s but Cruyff gave him valuable advice.
“Johan was a really, really special person,” Pep remembered. “I miss him so much.”
Cruyff also kept him grounded. Whenever the press called the young Guardiola the best player around, Cruyff brought him back to earth. When the criticism came, Cruyff was the one who picked him up. That balance between praise and criticism is something Pep has carried into his own management style.
In Cruyff’s later years, the relationship became almost like one with a grandfather, Pep said. When he took over Barcelona’s second team at 36, he would spend hours at Cruyff’s home discussing how to deal with players. The decision was always Pep’s but Cruyff gave him valuable advice.
“Johan was a really, really special person,” Pep remembered. “I miss him so much.”
