Sunday, September 27, 2009

Gudjohnsen praises Guardiola

Gudjohnsen praises Guardiola

Former Barcelona striker Eidur Gudjohnsen has praised old boss Pep Guardiola for his training techniques.

The Icelandic star hardly featured on the field for the Catalans under Guardiola last term, prompting him to leave for Monaco in the summer to secure first-team football.

But Gudjohnsen can still appreciate the way Guardiola prepared his team which led to an unprecedented treble for the Catalans.

The former Chelsea hot-shot told France Football : "Just like (Jose) Mourinho (whom he played under at Stamford Bridge), Guardiola is the tactician that impressed me the most.

Difference

"What allowed us to make the difference with Barca was less individual talent than meticulous studied and repeated work during training sessions, and strong discipline.

"On that point, Guardiola has been really impressive."

Gudjohnsen was a target for West Ham in the summer but says he chose to switch to Monaco to get regular football.

He said: "I could have earned more money signing somewhere else or just staying at Barca as I had one year remaining on my contract.

"I am not ashamed to say I earned a lot of money. But believe me, if I could choose, I would have wished for a little less money but more titles.

Fed up

"For one year, I was not in Guardiola's plan anymore. I was a little fed up to fight to get a position in the team, so I understood it was better for me to leave.

"At Monaco, motivation doesn't come from the outside and the fans, you have to find it deep inside of yourself. It is a big change, but it is up to me to adapt."

The former Chelsea player lists Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink as his best-ever team-mate.

"We could find each other even with eyes closed," he said.

"We scored more than 50 goals together in one season at Chelsea. With Jimmy it was really great. He is still a friend, as is (Frank) Lampard and (John) Terry."