
Wolfsburg's 'Gouda Guardiola' Simonis is big fan of Man City coach
Simonis, who took over at Wolfsburg for the coming season after leading Dutch side Go Ahead Eagles to their first ever Dutch KNVB Cup victory in April, said Guardiola was one of the coaches who inspired him.
He also named Paris St Germain's Luis Enrique and Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa.
"Good question," Simonis told a press conference when asked about which coaches inspired him. "I really like, not because he looks like (me), but I really like Pep Guardiola.
"He looks like me. I was already bald before he was bald. What I like about these guys is how the players talk about them. If you take good care of them, they will pay you back."
"These types are capable of doing that, besides having a good technical and tactical plan to watch the games," Simonis added.
The Bundesliga season starts on August 22.
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The Guardian
28 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Scheffler invokes comparisons to the greats with a win that rarely seemed in doubt
No sooner had the Claret Jug been lifted high above Scottie Scheffler's head than the scramble for superlatives began. With every word and exaltation there was also a sense that golf's Overton window had shifted, with his peers daring to voice opinions previously beyond the pale. It was Xander Schauffele who perhaps said it best, as Scheffler was slow‑walking up the 18th, as if trying to savour every second of a first Open Championship victory. 'I don't think we thought the golfing world would see someone as dominant as Tiger [Woods] come through so soon, and here's Scottie sort of taking that throne of dominance,' said Schauffele, the 2024 champion, having finished seven shots back. 'You can't even say he's on a run. He's just been killing it for over two years now. He's a tough man to beat, and when you see his name up on the leaderboard it sucks for us.' Scheffler is making a habit of this. This was his fourth major title in three years. For good measure, he has 17 PGA Tour wins over the same period. The majority of them have been like this, a four‑shot victory margin from Harris English that rarely looked in doubt. Rory McIlroy was another player who had hoped for a miracle on Sunday only to see golf's ultimate dementor had sucked his hopes with three early birdies. After that the result was not in doubt, with Scheffler easing to victory at 17 under par. 'In a historical context, you could argue that there's only maybe two or three players in the history of the game that have been on a run like the one that Scottie's been on for the last 24 to 36 months,' said McIlroy, who finished tied for seventh on 10 under. 'It's incredibly impressive. He just goes about his business. Doesn't do anything overly flamboyant, but he's the best at executing in the game. All you can do is tip your cap and watch in admiration.' 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Shane Lowry, who won at Portrush in 2019, was another player to evoke comparisons with Woods. But in his view the ungainliness of Scheffler's drive, which often results in him losing his balance as his ball flies 300 yards down the fairway, has taken people off the scent. 'I played with him the first two days and honestly I thought he was going to birdie every hole,' Lowry said. 'If Scottie's feet stayed stable and his swing looked like Adam Scott's, we'd be talking about him in the same words as Tiger Woods. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion 'I just think because it doesn't look so perfect, we don't talk about him like that. I think he's just incredible to watch, and his bad shots are really good. That's when you know he's really good.' If Scheffler had not been in Portrush, this would have been a thrilling final day. 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Daily Mail
28 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
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Daily Mail
28 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
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