Pep Guardiola is the most influential coach I've had, says Kingsley Coman
Kingsley Coman has played under Didier Deschamps, Jupp Heynckes and Massimiliano Allegri, but feels Pep Guardiola has been the most influential.
Bayern Munich's Kingsley Coman has described his former Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola as "the best coach a winger could possibly have". Coman was brought to Bavaria, initially on a loan from Juventus, when Guardiola was in charge of Bayern in 2015 and became a key part of the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal double-winning team in his first campaign.
Coman's previous coaches
The France international has worked with some of the game's most respected coaches - including Didier Deschamps, Massimiliano Allegri, Jupp Heynckes, Carlo Ancelotti and Laurent Blanc - yet the 23-year-old identified Guardiola as the one who has had the most profound effect on his career.
"I would say Guardiola," Coman told Eurosport. "He is the one who made me start playing a little more regularly even if I had played a few matches at Juve. For a player in my position, a winger who likes to hit and provoke, he is the best coach we can have because that is what demands us the most. He creates systems to have one-on-one situations and it's the system where I can flourish the most. He didn't ask me to have stats. He just asked me to take, hit and centre. And that was what I appreciated very much."
Injuries have blighted Coman's career in recent years and he only returned in February from a two-month absence due to a knee problem. A thigh injury then meant Coman missed Bayern's three games before their campaign was halted by the suspension of competitions due to the spread of coronavirus.
Bundesliga aiming to return next month
The Bundesliga is eyeing a return to action in early May and the Bayern squad was back training in small groups this week, much to Coman's delight. "We had not touched a ball on a football pitch for almost a month and even if we're split in small groups it's a pleasure to play again and step onto a field that has goals," Coman said. "We're doing technical work, at a safe distance from each other. It's a bit like the end of the close season when you resume training individually."
Before football was put on hold, Bayern were top of the Bundesliga and had beaten Chelsea 3-0 in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie. "We work, we work, and I hope we can finish the season otherwise all that work will have been for nothing," Coman ended.