Four things we learned from Man City's Amazon Prime documentary | OneFootball

All or Nothing: Manchester City launched on Amazon Prime on Friday and if you haven’t seen any of it yet, you’re really missing out.

It is a beautifully produced piece of television, it looks fantastic and whether you’re a huge City supporter or just a general football fan, it really is a must-see.

And more importantly, it offers an unprecedented level of behind-the-scenes access to one of the world’s leading professional football clubs, and we could still be looking back on it years from now as the benchmark of modern sport documentaries.

We’ve watched four episodes of the eight-part series so far, and here are four things we learned …

WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM EPISODES 1-4

Pep Guardiola swears … a lot

As well as being arguably the world’s best football coach, Guardiola is a highly intelligent individual.

The Catalan famously picked up a pretty strong grasp of German just a few short weeks into his tenure at Bayern Munich, and his English has steadily improved during his time in Manchester.

English football has taught Guardiola a lot about the game, and it also appears to have taught him a whole range of English curse words too.

All or Nothing features lots of brilliant footage of the City boss talking with his players in the dressing room and on the training pitch, and let’s just say he’s not afraid to drop the occasional F-bomb if it helps him get his point across.

He’s not alone either. Quite a few of his players – most notably Fabian Delph – are pretty coarse with their language too, and we only hope they don’t kiss their mothers with those mouths.

The way Guardiola talks to his players is one of the most interesting aspects of the series. At times, the former Barcelona boss is an inspirational orator who’d make you want to run through a brick wall, whereas there are other times when his brain seems to working too fast for his mouth to keep up, and it’s difficult to understand what exactly he’s asking his players to do.

He absolutely loves the word “guys” and the similarities between him and David Brent from The Office have not gone unnoticed.

He’s basically just a not very chilled out entertainer.

Footballers really do care

One of the worst things about being a football fan is the nagging feeling that none of it matters nearly as much to the players you’re watching every week as it does to you.

It’s easy to imagine footballers treating the sport like a very well paid job which they can easily just switch off from as soon as they’re safely tucked away inside their leafy mansions after the game.

But it turns out footballers really do care whether they win or lose, if this documentary is anything to go off.

In February, City were dumped out of the FA Cup at the hands of League One Wigan Athletic. At the time, the result was painted by supporters and the media as disappointing, but pretty insignificant in the context of the season as a whole.

In reality, the Blues were really determined to make history by chasing down an unprecedented quadruple last season and when that dream died with defeat at Wigan, they were absolutely crestfallen to the point that it looked like some of them were close to tears in the dressing room after.

It might not be the case with all footballers, but these players are genuine professionals and it’s reassuring to be reminded how much winning and losing means to them.

Raheem Sterling is such a good guy

One of the most brilliantly revealing moments from the first half of the series is the footage of a quiet conversation between Guardiola and assistant manager Mikel Arteta.

In early February, City were held to a 1-1 draw away at Burnley. The Premier League leaders went 1-0 up in the first half through Danilo and should have made it 2-0 in the second half only for Sterling to miss an open goal from point blank range.

A few days later, Guardiola recounts a conversation he had with Sterling to Arteta.

“I said: ‘Were you pissed off? He said: ‘Devastated’,” Guardiola tells his assistant, in reference to the miss.

“We didn’t lose because of you,” he continues.

“And he said: ‘Fuck it’.

“He said: ‘We lost because of my fault, of my shit.

“‘It would have been 0-2. It’s over. The game is over’.

“And it’s true. The game went downhill after that.”

Guardiola goes on to talk about how he told Sterling that he was substituted in that game as a result of that miss, and the whole scene is a great insight not just into the way managers interact with their players, but also into what Sterling is like as a person.

There might not be a more unfairly maligned player in world football than the 23-year-old winger. If he isn’t being criticised for his performances in an England shirt, he’s being panned in the papers for his expensive taste in interior design.

But what this documentary reveals is that Sterling is just a humble young man who is aware of his limitations and eager to learn and improve.

He netted 23 times in all competitions last season and after getting this small glimpse into his relationship with Guardiola, it’s easy to see why he shows his best form at club level.

The true stars of any club are those who work in the shadows

Some of the most heartwarming moments of the series aren’t those which show Guardiola geeing his team up before a game, or the multiple examples of the players celebrating in the dressing room after big victories, but those which focus on the day-to-day lives of the club’s unsung heroes.

One of those heroes is kit-man Brandon Ashton, who pops up throughout the series and is always funny and likeable.

“Brandon is kind of the heart and soul of the dressing room really,” says City captain Vincent Kompany at one point.

“He has this ability to take pressure off.”

“I would say the players are more close to the kitman and the physio,” adds Kevin De Bruyne.

“I’m very good with him, since day one. Sometimes, for me, it’s nice to be with someone who’s not a football person.”

When you live and work under the intense spotlight that comes with being a Premier League footballer, it must be nice just to hang out with somebody normal for a change and behind every successful football team is an equally dedicated team of physios, sports scientists, kit-men, laundry ladies, caterers etc. who often don’t get nearly as much credit as they deserve for what happens on the pitch.

Now if you’ll excuse us guys, we’re off to devour the last four episodes. Guys.