0:00; - Rio meets Pique 0:04; - How has Pique been spending him retirement? 0:40; - What is Pique’s ‘Kings League’ all about? 1:37; - Was difficult was it for Pique to retire from football? 2:16; - What are Pique’s hopes for Barcelona this season? 3:36; - What are Pique’s memories of Manchester United? 4:50; - What was Pique’s relationship like with Sir Alex? 5:26; - Was Barcelona’s golden era evident from day 1? 7:19; - How good was Sergio Busquets? 8:26; - The only game where Rio felt embarrassed 9:18; - Barcelona’s 2009-2012 team or their 2012-2015 treble team? 10:04; - Pep Guardiola or Sir Alex Ferguson? 10:38; - Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi? 12:09; - Xavi or Paul Scholes? 13:06; - How would Pique defend against Erling Haaland? 14:34; - Toughest striker Pique has EVER played against 15:38; - Outro
Rio You can't ask Pique on how to defend Haland because Pique was never good 1v1 player. You can ask Puyol that question, or your former teammates such as Lucas Radebe, Vidic, or Evra, Ashley Cole or Gallas or Desailly or Canavaro, or Nesta, Even yoursself if you want to be honest you will handle haland easy in your best days.. But I think your former teammate Lucas Radebe would handle him easy. I don't know why you forget about Lucas Radebe at leads united. He was unbelievable. the way he handled players like Figo in their prime it was unbelievable. Haland is easy for a real world class defender with good 1v1 capacity.
Wow. In 15 minutes Pique gave us an insight about Gurdiola’s coaching style, player preference and more, n reveal techniques of how to stop Haaland. This guy knows football man...
One of few players that played with Cristiano and Messi, Xavi and Scholes, and under both Pep Guardiola and Sir Alex Ferguson. All his opinions are legit
@Spork99753 and he was pretty average during them 12 games. He was young and raw, you could tell he was good but if someone was excited about what he'd become back them, I'd be amazed.
@@mg3554The very next year after he left he won a record of trophies on one year-SIX‼️ The thing is Pique is not a pace and power player,like what is coveted in the Prem.Pique is technician,like the rest of his La Masia graduates,which is more suited to Barcelona & La Liga….Also the continental game in Europe/Champions Lge….Im certain that he hasn’t regretted going back to his roots.The rest is history‼️‼️‼️
I was sad when Pique left for Barcelona. You could see the potential and was a great back up for Rio or Vidic. Can fully understand why Pique left and what a great player he became in THE ultimate team of Barcelona
usually Sir Alex was ruthless, but at the time in the summer of 2008, I was surprised he sold Pique to Barcelona. Without Pique, Pep would not be able to play his style of football. Pique was key to that Barcelona team playing out from the back.
To say "this man is ambitious" is an understatement. Such a businessman through and through. I can't imagine the kind of money he will make and the amount of impact he will have had in 10, 20 years time. He was making moves well into his playing days and now he's free to really let loose.
@@joegrinefineyou're du-mb. Getting involved in that politics would not be a good move. Growing and marketing a new game and starting other sports ventures is far more lucrative
For non Manchester United fans it's only now they are beginning to realise what a talent Paul Scholes was and how as a nation we totally messed up by not utilising the most talented English playmaker we've ever had!! To hear Pique who played with Messi, Iniesta and Xavi speaking so highly about Paul Scholes, should be all you ever need to recognise how unique he was!!
@justinsm It was where they played and what they were asked to do. Can you ever imagine a Spanish manager saying, " Okay, then Mr Xavi, you're playing left wing today."
I like how he compared Guardiola and Sir Alex. They are completely different times and different requirements. Managers like Sir Alex and Wenger are from a different era than Guardiola.
Yeah, when people calling out Sir Alex's 2 times lost in UCL final that make him retired well Guardiola are young rising star manager at that time while Sir Alex is already a legend himself. Heck, even Sir Alex already managing when Guardiola was just 3 Y.O
Gerard Pique. What a legend. Super rich yet humble and knowledgeable. I've always liked him because he's a super brainy guy. Can't fool around w this guy. His comments about those great individuals are on point. But shouldn't have left Iniesta from Xavi and Scholes. These three were the most complete midfielders during their era. And I'm happy to hear when he called out Drogba as well. That guy is absolutely a machine, probably the closest comparison ever next to Cristiano though. But deep inside Pique and myself, Messi wins all the debate! He is the best player of all generation.
What I like most about this interview is that it's a conversation and not just a question-and-answer. In a cool, natural and light tone. As someone below mentioned with nice chemistry. Congratulations for this cool atmosphere for Rio! If someday there could be another part, more detailed and with fuller anecdotes (e.g. with questions from the comments), I will be happy to look forward to it! I love Pique, he's not a crystalline character, but that makes him more human than people who seem to be perfect. I admire that he never gave up and came out stronger from every hole. And it can be heard in his statements when he talks about the past or other people (the tone in which he speaks about opponents, he focuses on their positives) you can feel the experience he has gathered over the years. He seems to be clean of the bad tiring memories and resentment that might have lingered in him towards the players who won against him. In another interview (Ibai's twitch on August 10), he said that there is something good to be learned from every failure. And that's what I admire about him. That's also what helped him become this great player with so much success. Ah, and maybe he doesn't miss the pitch anymore, but this passion and joy that breaks through his words is an undeniable and endless love for the ball. And I recommend watching at least one full day of KingsLeague (preferably with a program before or after a round of games) what Gerard has created is a new world of entertainment and friendly competition. I love KL!!! Mi Presidente para siempre!
I think it's hilarious that the English appear to place Scholes behind Gerrard & Lampard. England should have built their team around Scholes. You might have won something.
The ones that know don't. Scholes, Gerrard, Lampard.. in that order. Sven was too busy playing 1970's 442 tactics and sucking off David Beckham to understand what was going on.
10:04 The way Pique answered that question about the difference between Pep and Ferguson is what most people need to listen to and understand. Pep is a tactical genius, a true student of the game while Ferguson is more of a manager that oversees both on the pitch and off the pitch matters and generally how the club is ran. Like Pique described it, Pep and Ferguson are completely different.
@@pobo6689 Depends on the type of Club, if there is No structure then Ferguson, otherwise if there is structure in the club behind head coach then Pep.
@@hayychh well that's the point of choice - if you don't have variety there are no options. I hate when people try to cop out by saying stuff like ah they're different, let's appreciate them both, it depends etc. The primary job of a coach is to tactically out-smart the opponent with the resources you have pep did it twice against fergie and he is better period!
But you have to understand that Pique was at United in the mid 2000s. Ask that same question to an Aberdeen player in the 1980s or a United player in the early 1990s, and you'd get a different answer that Sir Alex used to take training sessions, go into tactical details, and also oversee the entire club. It's only in the mid 2000s that Sir Alex delegated the coaching aspects and tactical aspects to Carlos Queiroz and Rene Meulensteen (i.e., when Pique was there).
Big up Pique... especially for naming Drogba. man don't name Drogba eventhough he literally won every header and 1v1 in the air or to feet in his Prime.. legend
@@mashwork6615 Most called him the smartest. Like what Vidic and Ferdinand said before, that guy can fall down very easy but if he want to score goals, he suddenly become so strong and challenge 2 defenders with his physique.
Love the vibe in this interview! Definitely is a conversation between two legends of their clubs and their position!! It's amazing that both of them have been working in cool stuff since their retirement!
I think Pique didn't get enough credit for being the first to apply the idea of a modern defender who controls the ball well and builds the attack from the defense.
@@keinguyen3380 He must be a young boy, LOL. Beckenbauer is the father of all ball-playing defenders. He was so elegant and technical. Don't forget Nesta :)
@@keinguyen3380even before Pique was in Barcelona, they already had a defender who could move the ball forward in Rafa Marquez. I would even argue that Marquez was not just a better defender but a better person on moving the ball forward. It's why Guardiola also used Marquez as a CDM. No one ever gives him the credit but I guarantee that if he were Spanish, Argentinian, Brazilian, etc. would people recognize him more for his contributions during his time at Barcelona.
@@keinguyen3380 What clowns! What I meant was a defender who controlled the ball, and what you mentioned, they are just defenders. I don't care about a legendary or an average defender. There was only Beckenbauer who started this style, then no one used it for a while, and Pique returned with same style, so at his beginnings they called his style Beckenbauer. I bet you kids don't remember . Rio cannot control the ball even with his hands 🤣.
Men I would like to ask Pique several questions too, 1) like Rio vs Vida? 😂 2) who did he look up to when he was young? 3) Did Rio had some influence to his game? 4) How his playstyle evolve during his early, peak and end of his carrer? 5) best CB partnership?
Shows you how legendary Pep is.. he made all these youngester world class talents in thier first year. Somehow they say he met a world class team. Definitely the greatest ever
Not just the youngsters, but Xavi and Iniesta too. Rio said it perfectly, nobody was expecting them to become that good at the time. Now historical revisionists are trying to say Xavi and Iniesta were seen as world class before Pep arrived.
Pique has more Premier League medal 🏅 Than Gerrard, Carragher, Skrtel, Hypia, Kuyt, Suarez, Riise, Pepe Reina, Mascherano, Luis Garcia, Raphael Benitez, Torres and so many more of the scousers legends 😂😂😂😂😂
This was great to see. The conversation felt very relaxed and enthusiastic. Like both genuinely want to talk about these things, and are not just answering questions for the sake of it. Since the two of them knew each other it's all the more interesting to hear their insight on these topics.
@@TriforceRich yeap i agree - but still. He did that on his own really. In a physical demanding league of the prem that requires a lot of different attributes. its a testament to him that he was the player he was in the prem but had he come through barca and played there his whole career he would hve been even higher regarded.
@@TriforceRich "studied his game" lmao, making up stuff as we go are we? there is absolutely no point in time where La Masia students studied any english player, ever. It's a completely differnet style and it was even more so at the time. Scholes is great, but he is the opposite of Xavi and the opposite of La Masia style.
I hate it when people say Ronaldo is all about hard work. He’s extremely talented! You can’t achieve what he has without being blessed with serious talent
Well, I think Messi's talent is more specific about football, I means the height of Messi, the proportions of his upper and lower limbs make his focus changing more flexible. On the other hand Ronaldo's talent,his height, strength, jumping height seems more general for all sport. And for those crazy fans who only focus on football, they may more highly praise the former and regard Messi as a phenomenon in the field of football. And also few people realize that the ability to working hard all the time and the strong desire to takeover a competition is also a rare talent, which with those more general talent contribute to Ronaldo's success. And sometimes people would say that hard working and cooperate is the best virtue, but in fact they always prefer those show more talent than hard working. This may explains why Messi beat Van Dijk, Lewandowski and Haaland in 2019/2021/2022 in Ballon d'Or, who had amazing achievement in those years, it's because people believed that the talent Messi showed is more valuable than those who get achievement through hardworking.😂
Ronaldo Messi Iniesta Rooney Carrick Scholes Xavi Berbatov Busquets Vidic Alves Puyol Evra Pique Ferdinand Valdes (GK) Eto'o Van der Sar Combined 11 from that era.. Imagine what this team would have done to people. I put some subs but it would be over by half time anyway.
It's good to see players like Pique and Dani Alves once out of Barcelona give Cristiano the respect he deserves. Both have now said he was their greatest opponent.
Of course, they have said opponent and not player. Only a fool or a biased person or a hater or a jealous person would rate Ronaldo better than Messi. Messi is the most unique player in history, the likes of which we can hardly see in our lifetime.
@@dc7896 It's very difficult but is possible. R9 and Van Basten were slightly better than CR 7 but didn't have the longevity which is one of the yardsticks that separates the greats with the greatest. CR 7 is a archetypical goal scorer but Messi is different, he combines goal scoring with playmaking ability. Hence, his position is unique, since none in history has done that at the highest level with such consistency and for such duration. So, in my view, seeing another player like CR 7 is very difficult but is possible, but seeing another player like Messi is impossible.
@@critical_analysis with all due respect it sounds like either you just started watching Ronaldo play in 2016 or you forgot what a player he was pre 30. Ronaldo from 2007 to 2014 was unplayable....some of the nastiest dribbling you will ever see from about 2004-2009 not to mention the insane free kicks, speed, power, both feet, head, excellent passing because he played deeper. People who say Ronaldo is just a scorer and try and make him Gerd Muller 2.0 just have not watched his entire career. R9 and Van Basten were greats but could not do all the things Ronaldo could do (and I won't even mention longevity). I will just come out and say it, you will never see another Messi again but you better believe you sure won't see another Ronaldo either.
We sold Pique and Evans, the successors to Rio and Vida and spent millions on signings like Smalling, Jones, Rojo, Bailly, Maguire, Lindelof trying to replace them.
Rojo😂 Before he came I remember an article by an Argentinian journalist saying the man was a liability.. he'd also been booed while playing for the national team because he kept making mistakes. Still signed him. I'm not sure if Rojo and Bailly ever played together but that would have been hilarious!
Oh, yes, i remember that time watching Barcelona to see Messi and watching Chelsea in the same time to see Drogba What a good old times man, when football was so intense and full of talented players. Believe me or not, today, we cannot compare those times, like Messi,CR7, Drogba, Ibra or Becham’s era, they were just insane and incredible
