Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has changed football in England for the better, claims Watford head coach Quique Sanchez Flores. 

Ahead of their meeting at the Etihad this afternoon, the Hornets' boss suggested that the former Barcelona man had made an important impact on the way football is played in the Premier League and that it was clear from the start of his managerial career he would go on to be one of the best. 

"The philosophy I think is really new," said Sanchez Flores.

"When he arrived in England, English football was changing, it was in the middle of some big changes.

"Many good coaches are coming here, introducing this idea to touch the ball, but we know the English fans they don't like to touch horizontal, they like to touch forward, so it's completely different.

"Pep is putting the stamp for this change, this kind of big change, so of course finally he defined a little bit the change.

"When he was coaching Barcelona you could see that he's a clever guy and he's thinking very well and really passionate with football.

"If you look like this, you have the possibility to change a lot. If you have very good players like he has, you have more possibilities to change things, so the ingredients they are really good for him."

Another important part of Manchester City's recent rise to the top of English football has been midfielder David Silva, who Sanchez Flores coached as a teenager at Valencia. 

The Watford boss described him as an almost irreplaceable asset for the Citizens and claimed, like Guardiola, his talents were obvious from very early on. 

"I know David Silva because I coached him when he was 19, 20 in Valencia," he said.

"He's one of the best players I coached in my life - he was amazing 15 years ago, 16 years ago, he was a kid, he was amazing, he's the same player and it's very difficult to find a replacement.

"There are players in the world who it's very difficult to find replacements, for example [Santi] Cazorla, Silva, Xavi, these are players it's very difficult to try to replace.

"They will find another player because for them it's really easy to find players, but I think it will be different to Silva."