When Pep Guardiola spoke to the media about an hour after Kevin de Bruyne had scored one of the goals of the season, few expected the Manchester City manager to demand more from his star player. Perhaps they should have done.
City earned an important - if unspectacular - 1-0 win away at Leicester on Saturday, although there was nothing dull about De Bruyne's performance. The Belgian grabbed the headlines with his magnificent 25-yard free-kick, a strike placed so perfectly into the corner that it left goalkeeper Danny Ward with no chance as it cannoned in off the woodwork.
Goal aside though, De Bruyne was brilliant. He was the driving force behind City's ultimately fruitless attacks, and as Leicester came out of their shell as the game wore on he excelled leading City counter-attacks. He was unlucky not to grab his tenth assist of the season, Ilkay Gundogan unable to stretch a few extra inches to convert his low cross late on.
ALSO READ: Pep Guardiola explains why Kevin De Bruyne goals are not enough for Man City
When City players produce performances of such genius or when the team as a whole goes to town on their opponents, it would be very easy for Guardiola to react like the rest of us and stand open-mouthed at the brilliance of it all. Needless to say that's not in his nature.
Guardiola has not won 10 league titles as a manager and sculpted two of the greatest sides in the history of the game by being content when his players perform well. The greatest threat to success and greatness is complacency, and it's something the Spaniard simply will not tolerate.
That goes not only for himself, but for his players too. Motivating himself must at times be difficult when he's already won everything there is to win, but Guardiola always finds something new to keep him going: the chance to develop exciting young talents, a new project to sink his teeth into, the need to develop old tactical ideas to solve a contemporary issue. The list is endless.
But how do you motivate players who are already among the best in the world? That's one of the great challenges of coaching, but one Guardiola has repeatedly risen to while at City.
Erling Haaland has scored 17 goals in his first 11 Premier League games, something never seen before from a player arriving on these shores. Yet over the last couple of months Guardiola has not stopped talking about how Haaland can improve, what he needs to do more of, how City don't rely on him. Heaping praise on the striker wouldn't keep the fire burning; challenging him to get even better does.
It's the same with De Bruyne. "Kevin can do assists and free-kicks. We know that," Guardiola said as all around him drooled over De Bruyne's latest masterclass. "But he is a player who needs his dynamic.
"Kevin needs movements. He has to get the ball in movement, not stopping or being quiet in one position. And today he is back, he was there.
"Nothing is going to change my opinion of him, what he has done for this club but I have the duty in this club to say I want more. We need this Kevin. Against Brighton he scored a fantastic goal but it is not enough because he can do goals and assists blind."
When Guardiola speaks like that it can come across a bit like when he lavishes praise on an opponent before City demolish them 5-0. But don't be fooled; this isn't false modesty.
Repeatedly achieving success with elite players is not as easy as many make out. At the end of the day players are people, and people that aren't motivated don't perform at their best. To keep his players hungry, starving in fact, Guardiola demands the world.
Read more:
