LONDON • Pep Guardiola has hinted that while his staff spied on opponents during his spells in charge of Barcelona and Bayern Munich, there was no chance of that occurring under his watch in England.
Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa is being investigated by the English Football League after Derby spotted one of his scouts spying on their training session last week.
But the Manchester City boss has not lost any of his admiration for his friend Bielsa, who helped him during the early stages of his managerial career.
"My respect remains the same," he said at a press conference ahead of their Premier League trip to relegation-threatened Huddersfield today. "I admired what he did in the past, so why should I change my opinion?
"In other countries, everybody does that (spying). It is more difficult. It is private. But, in all the countries I have been, everybody does it.
"When we were training at Bayern, there were people in the little mountains with cameras and the opponent was watching what we did.
"It is the culture of the clubs. Not because you said, 'You have to do it'. It is the leagues. (But) I am not going to send anyone to spy on Huddersfield."
Not like any advantage will be gleaned even if City employ subterfuge as their opponents currently do not have a full-time manager, with David Wagner leaving by mutual consent earlier last week.
Under-23 coach Mark Hudson will take charge until a permanent appointment is made and Guardiola admitted he "did not know exactly anything" as his counterpart was an unknown quantity.
Warning his men they have to adapt as quickly as possible today, he told reporters: "It's a little bit of a problem really because we don't know. Of course, we have some information about what he's done at the U-23 (level), but it's completely different (in the league).
"Whether they will play long or short balls, whether they will go four in the back, five in the back, one striker or two strikers? High pressing or low pressing?
"We will have to immediately adapt after five or 10 minutes, the players have to understand what is going to happen with the game."
The Spaniard also touched on additions, revealing that while City are unlikely to move for anyone in the January transfer window, the league champions will be targeting not only a central midfielder but also a left-back in the summer.
He has long spoken of City's need for an alternative to Fernandinho, given that they have no one who possesses like-for-like qualities.
But with Benjamin Mendy - who is close to returning after being out since November - having had two serious knee injuries in 18 months, Guardiola has highlighted the position as an area of concern.
He added: "We survived well last season, this season too, but we are thinking about that. At the end of the season, we are going to look at both options."
Leicester defender Ben Chilwell is thought to be on his shortlist.
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HUDDERSFIELD V MAN CITY
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