7 players Guardiola has struggled to get the best out of: Phillips, Ibrahimovic…

There's no denying that Pep Guardiola is one of the best managers of all time, but that's not to say that he's always got the best out of every player he's worked with.

The Spanish coach has won 38 trophies throughout his illustrious career and he has undoubtedly had a positive impact on the vast majority of players that he has worked with throughout his time with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City.

However, for varying reasons, some players just don't seem to click under Guardiola. We've picked out seven examples who Guardiola has struggled to get the best out of.

It usually takes players a good 12 or so months to settle into life under Guardiola, but one year on from Phillips' £42million move from Leeds United, we aren't seeing much progression.

The England international had to play second fiddle to Rodri in Man City's treble-winning campaign and he's only managed 645 minutes of first-team football since making the move to the Etihad.

“Marcelo [Bielsa] got the best out of Kalvin in his career,” Guardiola told reporters. “I would love to have done with Kalvin what Marcelo had done with him, but it is what it is.”

The German midfielder became Guardiola's first signing for Bayern Munich as they snapped him up from Borussia Dortmund in 2013. While Gotze did get his hands on seven trophies with the German giants, Guardiola never managed to unlock his full potential.

Despite delivering 36 goals in 114 appearances under Guardiola, Gotze struggled to replicate his best form while playing under the Spanish coach.

“Technically, [Guardiola] was a tremendous asset,” Gotze told DAZN in 2018. “But he is very focused on the game and doesn't think about players outside of his plan. He didn't have much empathy, and empathy is part of