PEP: I’VE MISSED JOSE

‘We are wiser now’ says Guardiola ahead of meeting with rival Jose

PEP Guardiola says his rivalry with Jose Mourinho mellowed in Manchester because they are both ‘older and more experienced.’

But the City boss indicated the poisonous relationship was all onesided.

“Always I had incredible respect for what he’s had in his career, always. Sometimes a situation happens and it’s part of our job and that’s all,” said Guardiola ahead of his meeting with the former United boss tomorrow when the Blues take on Tottenham in London.

Their relationship in Spain – when Guardiola managed Barcelona and Mourinho Real Madrid – was terrible, with the Catalan perpetually trying to keep a lid on his feelings under constant goading.

The Spanish media called it ‘The Disease’ and there were fears that it could, if resurrected in Manchester, have fuelled problems between the two sets of fans.

That did not happen, with both men refraining from stirring the pot, and keeping it respectful – much to the disappointment of the English media! “I’m sorry for you,” grinned

Guardiola, when asked about it, before saying why he thought they both steered away from goading each other.

“Maybe we are older and more experienced, I know every time we played people weren’t talking about who is going to win, just my performance or his, and after that they’d be happy. It didn’t happen.”

Now they meet again, with Mourinho in charge of Spurs, for the first time since the Portuguese was sacked as Reds boss just over a year ago.

Many have expressed the idea that Mourinho was yesterday’s man, his tactics and philosophy outmoded and exposed.

Guardiola, who was once a friend of the Spurs boss when they were on the staff at Barcelona, begged to differ: “The value of Jose, a manager with all that experience, is not one season, you look at his career, 15 or 20 years, we get judged for the last game, something we do.

“But I try to judge my colleagues not for one season, that gives more value, periods for managers – everyone has it.

“You have seasons with good and bad periods, and have to rebuild things. For 15 or 20 years he’s been there all the time and that must be respected, it’s the most difficult thing to be there all the time.

“When you win a lot of titles and then don’t, people think it’s not good. In sport you lose more than you win.

“Michael Jordan won six NBA titles, they lost more than they won but he was the greatest athlete – you keep going and work hard.”

Guardiola went toe-to-toe with Mourinho when he first arrived at City, and won that battle, but he said he was not sure that having such an intense rivalry spurred him on in any way.

“I think with him or without him I try to do my best, at Madrid and here – it’s a top team so I have to learn what he does with his team,” he said.

“Without him it would be the same.

“I’ve faced incredible opponents, he doesn’t just fight against my team.

“Against big managers you pay more attention but there are many. In Germany there are top managers, in Spain and Italy.

“You discover things in new leagues that you learn, not just from him but a lot.”