Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
PEP MUST ENSURE HIS STARS PEAK AT RIGHT TIME ... LIKE FERGIE DID AT UNITED
Berg’s winning formula for City boss
PEP GUARDIOLA needs to take a leaf out of Sir Alex Ferguson’s book.
City romped to the title last season, but greater rotation could be the name of the game if Guardiola is going to follow in Fergie’s footsteps and win the Champions League next June.
That’s the view of former treblewinner Henning Berg (right), who helped City’s rivals win the title, FA Cup and Champions League 20 years ago.
Despite his success with United, Berg is full of praise for Guardiola’s side, following their demolition of the competition domestically last time out. But he believes the former Barca boss would do well to study Ferguson if the club are to blossom on the continent and win their first Champions League title.
That was something Ferguson’s side managed twice. In 1999, they pulled off one of football’s greatest comebacks against
Bayern Munich in Barcelona.
And, nine years later, a John
Terry slip handed them the trophy on penalties against
Chelsea in Moscow.
City came up short in
Europe last season, despite strolling through the group stages and hammering Basel in the last 16.
Guardiola’s men were then thrashed 5-1 over two legs by Jurgen Klopp’s (right) and his Liverpool team in the quarter-finals. They were also humbled by then League One Wigan Athletic in the fifth round of the FA Cup. Having won the League Cup – beating Arsenal 3-0 at Wembley back in February – City fans will argue that two out of four ain’t bad.
But Berg points to the example of Ferguson’s squad management as an illustration of what might be possible next time around.
“Maybe this is one thing he can improve – keeping his squad fresh all the way through,” said Berg, who also won the title with Blackburn back in 1995. “That was one of Ferguson’s strong points. When it got to March or April, you knew that every United team under Ferguson would be in top form, with lots of energy and ready to go.
“Maybe United weren’t quite so good in September, October or before Christmas, but you knew, when the season neared its end, that United would always be strong.
“United were traditionally slow starters, but Ferguson was very, very clever. He knew when to give players a break and he was one of the first to start to rotate players.
“There was always a lot of talk about it in the media – people asking why someone wasn’t playing or why this player had been given some time off.
Of course, he had a squad that enabled him to do it, but he managed it brilliantly to make sure everyone was still peaking in March and April when everything was going to be decided.”
His haul of 38 trophies in 26 years is unlikely to be matched, no matter how long Guardiola stays at the Etihad.
But, having not won the title since 2013, most United supporters would gladly settle for a single crack at English football’s greatest prize.
Failing that, they would welcome United keeping pace with City for far longer next season.
“How many points separate them at the moment? I think that’s probably a reflection of where the balance of power lies in Manchester,” said Berg. “Things can change pretty quickly – look at the turnaround between Chelsea and Manchester City this season.
“But at the moment, I would say United are far behind City. Yes, United beat City, but that can happen when you have players like (Paul) Pogba, who find their form on a given day.
“Of course it’s possible for United to compete because they should be capable of beating the other teams in the league.
“But I don’t think it’s a two-horse race now, either, because you have Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham. This season could be closer – but I still fancy City to be the best team.”