Antoine Semenyo speaks on ‘In the Mixer’ (Image: ALL OUT FOOTBALL)
Josep Guardiola made Antoine Semenho feel immediately comfortable when they first met at Manchester City, giving him a pleasant scent and soothing music, but the winger still hasn’t figured out how to utilize his long throws.
Guardiola, 55, is in a position of discipline. Semenyo has seen this side of the legendary manager and was surprised to find the new coach such a welcoming host.
In In the Mixer, presented by Skybet, Semenho spoke about their first encounter in the Catalan’s room:
“He was like, ‘We’re happy to have you here. Stay well here and hopefully be in the league.’
Nevertheless, Semenyo did not notice one of Pep’s disturbing tendencies and almost embarrassed himself in front of his new colleagues.
“To be fair, he’s generally relaxed,” he added. “He’s serious when he’s in a meeting.
“I remember the first time I had a (team) meeting, he was just walking around the front of the room, and (I was) like, ‘Is this normal?'” Looking back, no one is laughing, so I’m all alone here. But he’s very passionate. ”
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Semenyo started his Etihad career with an impressive eight goals and three assists in 19 games. Although not all of his good qualities are effectively utilized. The 26-year-old was frequently used in a long-throw role at Bournemouth and made a huge impact. However, under Guardiola, hitting the ball into the box is prohibited.
Title challengers Arsenal have established themselves as set-piece specialists in the Premier League this season, wreaking havoc with long throws and corners. But it’s not a tactic he expects Guardiola to allow anytime soon.
Josep Guardiola brought Antoine Semenho to Man City in January (Image: Karl Lesseen/Getty Images)
Semenyo said: “Oh, I have a long throw. I don’t know where or how (I got it). Maybe it’s because I’m so strong…”
“Andoni (Iraola) saw that and thought: ‘Wow, we have to use this. We have to use it.’ To be honest, Pep doesn’t want to see long throws.”
“Some of the guys are going to say, ‘Are you going to go long?’ And I’m like, ‘I don’t know. Because Pep obviously wants to keep it on the floor…”
Semenyo left Bournemouth manager Iraola, taking credit for a big part of his development in recent campaigns. And he highlighted the similarities between Iraola and new manager Guardiola, contradicting suggestions that Pep draws talent from specific stars such as Jack Grealish and Phil Foden.
When asked about the most significant influence Iraola has had on his game, Semenyo said: “Just playing more freely. A lot of the practice sessions were chaotic and it was like you had to do what you wanted as a person.”
“I was just doing freestyle and stuff, and[Andoni]said, ‘You should do that in a game.’ And I was like, ‘Do you want me to do something like Rainbow Flick in a game?’” He said, “Yeah, if you want to do that.” Just play freely and be yourself. ”
“Since that day, I have always been free and I still stand by what he said today in the Man City team: just be free and enjoy it.”
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