Pep Guardiola introduced 'The Wall' training drill at Man City, it's so simple but effective

Pep Guardiola brought culture-changing innovations to Manchester City soon after he arrived ahead of the 2016/17 campaign.

The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager would use tried-and-tested methods to give his side an edge over their opponents. In doing so, the Spaniard turned City into one of Europe's elite.

Nigel De Jong, who spent three-and-a-half seasons at the Etihad, outlined some of the changes Guardiola made.

“Pep took City to a different level," he told the club's website. “If you look at his technical abilities, the opportunities with a new training ground and the players coming in... the food, the diet, the way they live outside of football, the media that comes in and out.

"He’s bringing City to the stage of really competing internationally with the big teams."

Image credit: Alamy

As we found out from their All or Nothing series on Amazon in 2018, Guardiola has implemented a ton of ideas into Manchester City's every day regime.

And one of the more simple methods he's introduced to training is an Eric Cantona-inspired training drill.

Cantona, who took Manchester United to the next level when he arrived from Leeds in 1992, would regularly practice his technical skills by kicking a ball at a wall.

Soon, his use of a wall at The Cliff training ground would catch on like wildfire, with many youth team players inspired by the Frenchman's actions.

"He would use his left foot, right foot, control it with the outside of his foot, drag it to his right, play it with his left," former United defender Phil Neville said on the High Performance Podcast.

“It was just simple drills that made him so good on a Saturday. Somebody would cross a ball into the box and he would hit volley after volley, but it was just simple."

Image credit: Alamy

Thirty years on from Cantona's simple, but effective way of improving his skills and Guardiola may well have been inspired by the former United forward.

A clip on Manchester City's YouTube channel captured players taking part in the so-called 'Wall Drill'.

Basically, if a team let's the ball drop then they must complete a group sprint. The coaches will count the scores based on passes completed within the set time, with the drill eventually progressing to headers.

Unfortunately the losing side must pass through a 'slap tunnel' at the end of the session. Check out the routine below.

Plenty of you reading this will have used a wall to practice, but to see a professional football club use this technique is fascinating.