WHYPEP SHOULDSTAY
He’s a great coach facing his greatest challenge. And that’s…
PEP GUARDIOLA is being cryptic about his future and his history tells us Manchester City supporters should be mildly concerned.
He did four seasons at Barcelona and then took a year off. He then did three years at Bayern Munich.
Not the kind of manager who will remain in the profession for ever — there is too much other stuff he wishes to do — it would surprise nobody if Guardiola does not stay beyond the terms of his current City contract, which expires at the end of next season.
Currently, he is doing what he does when his team are not producing the perfection he craves. He is seeing things in the shadows that are not there.
This weekend he suggested Ilkay Gundogan’s penalty was saved at Spurs because Hugo Lloris moved too early off his line. He says they have different interpretations of the law in the Premier League as opposed to Europe.
Lloris did indeed move but Guardiola’s subsequent point was abstract even by his own standards and overlooks the fact it was just a bad penalty taken by the wrong player. Who knows? Maybe it was even his own fault. He is the coach, after all.
The previous week, Guardiola had advocated scrapping the Carabao Cup, which I am sure was appreciated by Aston Villa fans who charged on to the pitch to celebrate their thrilling semi-final victory over Leicester a few days later.
So we know what we are seeing here. We are seeing a manager feeling the pressure, a man struggling to understand why everything isn’t falling into place like it did last season and the one before that.
And that’s exactly why I hope he does stay. Into next year and beyond. It is marvellous to watch a Guardiola team play with perfect synchronicity. At their best, City remain marginally better to watch even than Liverpool. But equally fascinating in a different way is watching great managers when they are not winning. This, in some ways, is an even greater test of their talents. Sir Alex Ferguson never had it all his own way once trophies started flowing at Manchester United. But on each occasion, whether it be to the frustration of Arsenal, Chelsea or City, he found a way back to the summit. This is the challenge facing Guardiola now.
When he is struggling it is hard to take your eyes off him. His emotions are so transparent, you feel like you are looking straight into his soul. He would be an awful poker player.
It was like this in his first season, a time when the media were accused of revelling in his battle to impose his style on his City team. We weren’t revelling in it at all, merely enjoying the sight of a great coach facing a great challenge.
I hope it is the same this summer and into next season and beyond. I hope we get to witness a Guardiola reboot. I suspect I may be wrong but I hope not. People at City have moved mountains to give him the environment he demanded at the Etihad. If he does walk as soon as the wind changes, I am not sure what it would really say about him.