Martinez: Guardiola´s shown me 200 videos

Javi Martinez has revealed the extraordinary level of detail of Pep Guardiola’s tactical guidance for his Bayern Munich players.

The former Barcelona boss has won back-to-back Bundesliga titles at the Allianz Arena and his side lead the standings at the halfway stage of the 2015-16 season, while their hopes of Champions League and DFB-Pokal success remain very much alive.

Guardiola, who will step down from his post at the end of the campaign, was branded “a tactics freak” by former Bayern boss Ottmar Hitzfeld this week but Martinez insists his approach makes every player in his squad improve.

“Pep makes a player better. He’s helped me to understand football better,” he told Ara.

“We work a lot on tactics, he’s taught me with 200 videos. He taught me a completely different role as a central defender than I was playing under Marcelo Bielsa [at Athletic Bilbao].

“He dared to ask [Philipp] Lahm to play in the middle, he made [Jerome] Boateng the best central defender in Europe with the ball at his feet.

“He hates it when players get hurt, because, first of all, he appreciates you as a person. He makes you feel important. That’s crucial for us on a mental level.”