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Cape Town - Former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel says Pep Guardiola got lucky at Barcelona, while Bayern Munich's football was 'boring' under the Spaniard.
The 45-year-old former Barca midfielder won two Champions League titles and three La Liga trophies in his four years in charge of the Catalan giants, while at Bayern he won three consecutive Bundesliga crowns, having also claimed several other domestic cup competitions at both clubs.
Guardiola is now set to take charge of his first Manchester derby this weekend when his City side meets United at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Speaking to Omnisport ahead of the match, Schmeichel questioned the Citizens manager's achievements as well as his footballing philosophies.
"He was okay at Bayern Munich. I have to say he was okay. For me, personally, he changed a really good, entertaining team to be become more boring to watch," the Dane said,
"Whereas Bayern before were very direct, they won the treble, had quick players and were exciting to watch, he [Guardiola] made them play more square. He changed the players, but you can't argue with his results."
Schmeichel, now a football presenter on television, continued: "What he did with Barcelona was fantastic, his work was fantastic, but he was also very lucky, he had the players to bring in the philosophy that he has in football.
"So whereas [former United manager] Alex Ferguson's first priority was 'we have to be able to score goals' – for most coaches that's the priority – with Pep it's possession, I want to have as much possession as possible.
"So the philosophy goes to 'I want to have so much possession that at some point we'll score a goal from that, the goals will come from possession' - and that's his philosophy.
"That's what we'll see at Manchester City or he's going to introduce that. He was very lucky he had the players at Barcelona but he was clever in what he did."
