Robert Lewandowski has trained under some of the best coaches in the world. The Barcelona striker has now spoken about initial problems with Pep Guardiola, “father figure” Carlo Ancelotti – and how Jürgen Klopp has changed him.
Robert Lewandowski’s big soccer career began with his move from Lech Poznan to Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2010. There he first met Jürgen Klopp, and after his transfer to Bayern Munich in 2014, he was also able to work under Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola.
In a podcast with former England international Rio Ferdinand, the Pole talked about how the three coaches influenced him and what sets them apart. The 36-year-old also raved about Guardiola, but also had a few critical words. “As a person, he was difficult for the players because he was so brilliant at football tactics back then that he thought: if they follow me, they will win,” explained Lewandowski, who trained under the Spaniard from 2014 to 2016.
But the attacker also recognized a development in Guardiola, with whom Bayern Munich won three league titles and two DFB Cups. “In later times, I saw that he changed. I think he realized that sometimes it helps him more than tactics if he is more human and open.” Lewandowski himself says that while tactics are important, when playing against a big team, ‘other things can determine victory or defeat.’
Lewandowski, who is out of Saturday’s visit from Barcelona to Vigo with a back injury, was impressed by Guardiola’s meticulousness. “He was very focused on the details in training. Things I never thought about before, but even the rondos were so important to him.”
Ancelotti “like a father or uncle”
Guardiola was replaced by Carlo Ancelotti in the summer of 2016, but he was dismissed at the end of September 2017. However, it was enough time for Lewandowski to get to know the Italian. “Ancelotti is like a father or an uncle. He can come to you, he can tell you why you’re not happy, he can talk about anything,” he enthused about the ‘soft skills’ of the Real Madrid coach.
Without doubt, Jürgen Klopp also has these skills, and he has a very special place in Lewandowski’s heart. ‘I lost my father when I was 16, so I was very closed,’ the Pole recalled. “I went to him to talk to him and we talked for an hour and a half. I didn’t understand everything because I’d only been in Germany for a short time. But it wasn’t so important what we talked about, but that he talked to me like that.”
This conversation must have taken place in the fall of 2011, when Lewandowski was in his second season in Dortmund. “Two days later, we won 4-0, I scored a hat trick and gave an assist” – Lewandowski achieved this on October 1, 2011 against FC Augsburg. “I thought: What could have changed so much?” Lewandowski continued. The conversations with Klopp had triggered something in him. ‘I needed that emotionally at the time, those conversations changed my career.’
