'The dominance': Ilkay Gundogan picks whose style of football he prefers - Pep Guardiola's or Jurgen Klopp's

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Very few footballers have been lucky enough to be coached by both Liverpool legend Jurgen Klopp and Manchester City’s visionary boss Pep Guardiola.Between them, Klopp and Guardiola defined the Premier League era of the late 2010s and early 2020s, striking up a brilliant rivalry built on total respect.Although City and Guardiola often came out on top in terms of winning titles, Klopp‘s Liverpool ran them close time after time after time.Join our newsletter for news & smart analysis. The two managers coming up against each other often saw two very different styles of football battling for supremacy on the pitch.It takes a special kind of footballer to be able to adapt to both Guardiola’s passing approach and Klopp’s more ‘heavy metal’, pressing game.One of the select group to have been successful under the two coaches is former City captain Ilkay Gundogan, who won league titles with both Guardiola and Klopp.

Now plying his trade in Turkey with Galatasaray, Gundogan has picked which style of football suits him the most.Photo by Michael Regan – The FA/The FA via Getty ImagesGundogan recently showed that he still has it when coming up against Liverpool in the Champions League earlier this month.The 34-year-old ran the midfield in a manner not seen since his heyday as Guardiola’s tempo-setter.READ MORE: Ilkay Gundogan says he’s read something recently which answers Florian Wirtz’s Liverpool criticsBefore he even joined City, though, Gundogan won a Bundesliga title with Klopp at Borussia Dortmund.But when asked by The Athletic to name which manager’s ‘vision of football’ aligns closest to his own, the German admitted it had to be Guardiola.“I need to be honest and answer Pep because of what we achieved together, the dominance,” Gundogan answered.“We had enormous success at Dortmund and I loved the type of football. I appreciate Jurgen so much as a manager and human being.

Every time we saw each other, even with Liverpool, we hugged strongly like a father and son. Both had a big influence on the way I turned out, but with Pep I feel the tactical point of view, the possession game, is a bit clearer to me than transitional football.”Which other players featured under Klopp and Guardiola?As the player to have played the most under Klopp and Guardiola, Gundogan is well-placed to give his opinion here.Two other players featured in over 100 games in both, those being Robert Lewandowski and Mario Gotze with Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich.Two of Guardiola’s former Bayern team also joined Klopp at Liverpool, although Thiago Alcantara and Xherdan Shaqiri never hit the 100 appearance mark at Anfield.You can understand why, as a ball-playing midfielder, Gundogan may prefer Guardiola’s more patient approach.It would be fascinating to hear the thoughts of these other four stars of the game.