Ancelotti axe proves Pep’s coaching skills
PEP Guardiola could afford himself a wry smile yesterday as Bayern decided to part company with his successor at the Allianz Arena.
It will not be at Carlo Ancelotti’s expense of course, and - despite their inconspicuous start to this campaign - to sack one of the most respected managers in the game in September will not be universally popular.
Nevertheless, the Italian’s departure does go some way towards reminding City – and everyone else – of the talent in charge at the Etihad.
Guardiola delivered three league titles and three Champions League semi-finals during his three years in Munich (not counting other cup competitions, as Mauricio Pochettino won’t).
That included wrapping up the Bundesliga in March in his first season - a competition record by some distance. All tremendous achievements, but slightly tainted.
Having inherited a treble-winning side, he did not complete Bayern’s ascencion to the top of European football as was the hope, with the La Liga sides proving impossible to displace.
Perhaps helped by the fact that Guardiola never fully connected with the Bayern fanbase, such shortcomings fed into the idea that the manager only succeeds when he has the best players available to him.
It’s the dual-pronged ‘Stick me in charge of Lionel Messi and I’ll win the treble at Barcelona/stick Guardiola at Bristol Rovers and he won’t win the treble’ attack that is determined not to recognise the coach’s ability.
A year of underachievement at City - by far his hardest task to date - did little to discourage such theories.
But as Guardiola goes about showing he has learned from early disappointment in England, recent events in Germany also firm up his previous achievements.
PSG and Hoffenheim have shown on the European and domestic fronts both that things can be forward even if they don’t appear to be and that others can very quickly overtake you. Guardiola, at least, is always on the move. As Bayern sporting director Matthias Sammer acknowledged shortly after the Catalan’s departure was announced: “What he has achieved, also for German football, is extraordinary and we’ve got to recognise that.
“We have got to bring an end to seeing negatively somebody who works so painstakingly, as if tomorrow never comes. In recent days, Pep’s come off far too badly.
“What he does with his hard work, his dedication and his positive craziness can be discussed, but it cannot ever be questioned.”
It says a lot about his previous jobs that hardly any of the players Guardiola has coached have had a bad word to say about him.
If the same can be said when all is said and done at City, his reputation should be even better than it was when he arrived.