Pep Guardiola's pumped up and passionate pre-match speeches contain a mountain of tactical instructions, but Kevin De Bruyne revealed he often omits the line-up.
The Spaniard's approach has landed him three Premier League titles since arriving back in 2016, and his eccentric style was exposed to English fans in Amazon's All or Nothing series.
De Bruyne had spent a year in Manchester before Guardiola arrived and will go down as one of the greatest players to experience his mentorship. The midfielder is well accustomed to the manager's quirks by now.
The Belgian midfielder told the MIDMID podcast: 'We always have a meeting before a match and Guardiola will then say "we are going to do this and this and that. Let's go!"
'And then we say: "Hey, Pep, who is playing?" He forgets sometimes. For him winning is important. But his philosophy is even more important.
'Many people don't understand this. Pep would rather lose with his football principles than get a win from counter attacking tactics.
'He loves attacking football so much.'
Manchester City's first eleven games have nestled them three points behind Premier League leaders Chelsea.
West Ham, Liverpool and Arsenal are all within three points and queuing up behind, as De Bruyne and Co await the resumption of domestic football next weekend, when City will face Everton.
The midfielder was on fire in Belgium's 3-1 victory over Estonia on Saturday, as the world's No 1 team sealed top spot in their World Cup qualification group.
De Bruyne assisted Thorgan Hazard with a glorious pass, having caused chaos with his vision all match.