Antoine Semenyo takes us inside Pep Guardiola’s workplace – and it is nothing such as you suppose
Pep Guardiola instantly made Antoine Semenyo feel comfortable with soothing aromas and tranquil music during their initial meeting at Manchester City.
Guardiola, 55, is known for being a hard taskmaster. However, while Semenyo has witnessed that aspect of the renowned coach, he was surprised to discover his new manager was such a welcoming host. Chatting to In The Mixer, sponsored by Sky Bet, Semenyo described his first experience inside the Catalan’s office: “He was just so energetic. Went into his office, he’s got soft music playing in the background, smells so nice in his office.
“He was just like, ‘We’re happy to have you here. Continue your fine form here and hopefully [we’ll] compete for the league’.” However, Semenyo nearly stumbled in front of his new colleagues when one of Pep’s anxious habits took him by surprise. “He is generally relaxed, to be fair,” he added. “It’s when you get into the meetings, that’s where he’s serious.
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“I remember the first [team] meeting I had and he was just pacing in front of the meeting room. [I was] thinking, ‘Is this normal?’ Looking back, no-one’s laughing or anything, so I’m on my own here. But he’s just so passionate.”
Semenyo has hit the ground running at the Etihad with eight goals and three assists in 19 appearances. However, not all of his top qualities are being fully utilised.
The 26 year old was frequently utilised for long-throw responsibilities at Bournemouth to great success. Nevertheless, he has been prohibited from launching the ball into the penalty area under Guardiola.
Championship contenders Arsenal have established themselves as the Premier League’s set-piece specialists this campaign with long throws and corners wreaking havoc. Yet it’s not a tactic he expects Guardiola will embrace any time soon.
Semenyo said: “Yeah, I have got a long throw. I don’t know where, how [I got it]. Maybe it’s because I’m so strong…
“It was Andoni [Iraola] who saw it and was like, ‘Phwoar, we’ve got to use it. We’ve got to use it’. I don’t think Pep wants to see long throws, I’ll be honest.
“Some of the boys will be like, ‘You gonna take a long throw?’ And I’m like, ‘I dunno’. Because obviously Pep wants to keep it on the floor…”
Semenyo has departing Bournemouth manager Iraola to credit for much of his progress over recent seasons. And he highlighted one parallel between Iraola and new manager Guardiola, which contradicts suggestions that Pep stifles the flair out of particular players, like Jack Grealish or Phil Foden.
When questioned about the most significant influence Iraola had on his performance, Semenyo said: “Just playing more free. A lot of our training sessions were chaos and you kind of got to do what you want as a person.
“I was just freestyling, doing different things and [Andoni] was like, ‘You should do it in a game’. And I’m like, ‘You want me to do rainbow flicks and stuff in a game?’ He said, ‘Yeah, if you want to. Just play free, just be yourself’.”
“From that day, I’ve always just been free. And I still stick to what he said today with the Man City team. Just being free and enjoying myself.”
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