The City manager guided us to an historic Treble last season and has already secured the European Super Cup in the early weeks of the new campaign.
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All four trophies were on show at the Welcome Reception for the 2023 Davis Cup Finals Group Stage event at the National Football Museum in Manchester on Sunday night.
Soriano was a special guest and described how Guardiola is able to maximise the most from his talented squad.
“He’s a genius,” City’s CEO said. “He works very hard, he is the first in the office and is the last to leave. He’s also kind of obsessed so that when we lose he can be difficult to talk to.
“He’s like every top performer that I’ve met, he’s creative and really wants to win and that inspires his players.
“If I ask him ‘is there a secret?’, he’ll tell me ‘no, hard work, hard work, hard work’. But of course he has the talent.”
After eight years of success that has seen us land 15 trophies, Soriano also says that helps his squad to believe in new ideas.
Last season’s tactical move that saw a defender move into midfield as an extra player was an example of the squad being prepared to take on fresh strategies.
“It’s creativity but also very important,” Soriano added. “He gained the credibility of the players.
“When you talk to the players that played for Pep, what they say is he comes with new ideas and if you follow him, you realise they work.
“That means that when he asks for something, the players are going to follow him.”
The event came ahead of the return of the Davis Cup to Manchester for the first time since 1994.
Held at the AO Arena from the 12 to 17 September, Great Britain will compete in Group B of the competition against Australia, France and Switzerland in a round-robin, with the top two teams in each group fighting for a place in the Final Eight which will take place in Malaga in November.
Manchester will also become the fifth different UK city to host a stage of the men’s ‘World Cup of Tennis’ in the last 10 years, with Coventry, Glasgow, London and Birmingham having previously staged the event.
Tickets are still available and can be purchased here.
