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When Pep was at Barcelona, I was so young, 16 or 17 years old. I went to training a lot, and Pep Guardiola told me a lot of things, but I didn't stay in the first team. He is an amazing coach, and if he comes to the Premier League, I think he will win a lot of titles.
When I took the decision to join City, Pep Guardiola's call was very important. He called me, spoke to me about the project, and explained that I was going to be an important part of it. I felt very happy. The prestige of Manchester City's shirt is also very important.
The role of a goalkeeper in Pep's team is like the 11th outfield player on the pitch, in terms of the build-up, the pressing. I think it's more difficult. There is a bigger responsibility because you can't afford to make any mistakes. If you do, it probably ends in an opposition goal.
Jurgen Klopp is more the emotional one and someone who can motivate really well. Pep Guardiola is more tactical, who always takes care of details and wants to show you how to do everything. Both are world-class managers and both have their own qualities. Both are amazing personalities.
In Germany, we laugh at it. Mourinho just selects a topic to moan about - transfers, team preparation, a rival coach. But Pep Guardiola wants it all to be about the performance of his team. He's obsessed by possession, like at Bayern Munich, and will not compromise on that at Manchester City.
That is what it is like with Pep. At first, you don't understand. But then you grow up, you work, and now we understand the things he wants much better. It's not like the first season when it took him more time to make us understand his ideas. Some players didn't understand immediately what he wanted.
Pep is a super coach! He is excellent. He is the best at analysing an opponent and the concept of a game. I don't know what impact he had on German football, but he left a mark on all of us at Bayern because of how he analysed and educated the players in each position and the way he taught us to play.
I am a reserved guy and need somebody to pep me up every day, Upsi does that job perfectly. She is very vivacious and outspoken, so we blend very well. We both love travelling, and we have a thing for adventure. We love being outdoors and like to ride our own boat rather than being rowed by someone else.
I have a small circle of great friends who push me when I need it, tell me when I need to pick up my pace, and who make me want to be better. Sometimes, when I start procrastinating and just need to find that pep in my step, I think of how far I've come and how we can all be role models in our every day lives.
When you see Pep on TV or read his words in the newspaper, it is the portrait of a man who is the ultimate professional. But when you work with him, you don't just come to see him as a coach. You learn about his qualities as a man. It is that side of Pep Guardiola that the people on the outside don't get to see.
Pep Guardiola is like going to university. I spent a year with him at City, learning something new every day. On the playing field, watching videos or at any time, when he approaches you and explains things to you. He has no problem teaching someone at 34 years old, as I was, like someone who is 18. He is a great teacher.
Manuel Neuer changed the game completely, probably back in about 2010 at the World Cup. He had been playing as a sweeper keeper before but it was something completely new to see it to that extent for Bayern Munich and for Germany. Both his coaches, Joachim Low and Pep Guardiola; they utilised the fact that he was brave enough to do that.
