The City boss believes a good scouting department is vital if you’re to achieve success on the pitch because the demands of the playing schedule mean it can be difficult to rectify the issues caused by signing a player who is not ready or suited to a team’s style of play.
READ | City v Southampton: Injury news
READ | Silva and Gundogan up for Premier League awards
Guardiola admits you can never fully understand a player until you work with them, which is why he says it is crucial his scouts learn as much as they can about any potential signing.
“When you buy players, you can discover the skills but not the mental approach,” he said.
“You should talk a lot with old team-mates or old managers who have been with the player to anticipate some things you believe he has, or he hasn’t.
“I think the most important department in the Club is the scouting department. Much more than managers and players. When they choose well 80% of the job is done.
“When we don’t choose well, or they don’t choose the players we need for the way we want to play or the quality they have, you spend a lot of time and energy and sometimes you don’t have enough time, with the number of fixtures, to improve.”
Guardiola also revealed where his incredible desire to win comes from and how this has shaped the demands he makes of both himself and his players in a bid to achieve success.
It was something that struck England Rugby Union head coach Eddie Jones when he spent time with Pep at Bayern Munich, with the Australian impressed with how the Catalan maximised his players’ efforts.
It is a trait, Guardiola says, he developed from the earliest days of his playing career.
“I learned from where I came from,” he added.
“I was in the academy at Barcelona at 13-years-old and they taught me you have to win, win and win again. And if not, that’s no good.
“When you feel this pressure that it is never enough and you can do better, after you learn from that.
“After as a football player and when I started as a manager I followed the instinct to do that. I think most managers think that way.
“I have not watched Eddie Jones but I am sure he demands a lot. If not, you cannot be in a World Cup final.”
