Pep pits wits against Pellegrini
LONDON. — Pep Guardiola faces Manuel Pellegrini - his predecessor as Manchester City manager - this weekend with his defending English Premier League soccer champions on course to smash even more records. While City go to West Ham United with only a twopoint lead at the top of the table, Guardiola’s side has nevertheless looked even more impressive than they were 12 months ago.
The statistics bear out that analysis, with City averaging exactly three goals per game and on course to better last season’s Premier League records of 100 points and 106 goals for the whole campaign.
In that context, perhaps the fact that Guardiola this week claimed he is a better manager now than at any stage of his career with previous clubs Barcelona and Bayern Munich should not have come as a surprise. “Now, I feel being here I am a better manager too, because I learned to handle this incredible league in many circumstances,” said Guardiola, speaking at Liverpool University.
“It is the toughest one, for the amount of games, for the weather and the referees saying: ‘play (on), play (on), play (on)’ and the competitors, there are many. It is the only country that five or six (teams) can win the Premier League.” Pellegrini, who spent three years in charge of City and won a league title and two League Cups in that period, will doubtless agree with Guardiola’s assessment about the difficulty of succeeding in the English game.
The 65-year-old Chilean’s meeting with Guardiola may also be slightly awkward given recent allegations in the Football Leaks reports.
German newspaper Der Spiegel reported a claim that Guardiola had actually signed a contract to manage City in October 2015 even though the club did not announce his appointment until February 2016. Since he took over for the 2016-17 season, Guardiola has led City to new heights, signing an extended contract with the club in May worth a reported 20 million ($26 million) a year that will keep him at the Etihad Stadium until the summer of 2021.
Guardiola also confirmed his desire to try his hand at international level before he retires, opening up the possibility that he could manage a team at the next World Cup, late in 2022. “Sooner or later it will happen because every three days I would like to be involved but a little bit more calm, play more golf,” said Guardiola.
“If I have a chance and some international team wants to come ‘knock knock’ we will see.” Guardiola has more mundane concerns ahead of the meeting with Pellegrini’s side, with left-back Benjamin Mendy having been ruled out for several weeks after undergoing knee surgery. With the Frenchman out, Fabian Delph, who captained England from midfield this week, is the likely replacement, having performed that role superbly for much of last season. But the more pressing concern is influential playmaker Bernardo Silva, who left the Portuguese national squad this week with an unspecified injury.
Bernardo has blossomed in the absence of another injury victim, Kevin De Bruyne, and his loss could prove problematic for Guardiola. City were awaiting medical reports on the Portuguese midfielder before taking a decision on team selection. Meanwhile, Jurgen Klopp is convinced that Liverpool are a stronger team now than they were a year ago but the next week promises to test that theory to the limit. Klopp’s side, second in the Premier League, face a trip to seventh-placed Watford today, followed by a critical Champions League visit to Paris Saint-Germain and a Merseyside derby at home to neighbours Everton. By the end of that run of fixtures, it will be a little clearer as to whether Liverpool have what it takes to maintain a challenge for domestic and European titles this season.
“There’s absolutely no reason for criticising the boys, they do a really good job,” said Liverpool manager Klopp. “So many things are better than last year – defending is better, set-pieces are better; we are much more mature in games, game management is better. So many things are better.” Back in September, former Manchester United and England defender Gary Neville, now a television pundit, suggested Klopp’s team would not be able to juggle European and domestic demands, and should therefore treat the Champions League lightly. Liverpool’s manager responded waspishly, suggesting that managing a club was significantly different from “sitting in an office and talking about football”. However proving Neville wrong is something of a struggle for Klopp at present, with the club’s Champions League progress plunged into doubt by away defeats against Napoli and Red Star Belgrade in the group stage.
Defeat in Paris on Wednesday would leave Liverpool - Champions League finalists in May - in grave danger of going out, although a victory would see them through to the knockout stages with a game to spare. Liverpool’s squad looks stronger than it did last season, and they have eight more Premier League points than at this stage of the campaign 12 months ago. English Premiership Fixtures (all 5pm unless otherwise stated)
Today: Fulham v Southampton; Everton v Cardiff City; West Ham United v Manchester City; Manchester United v Crystal Palace; Brighton & Hove Albion v Leicester City; Watford v Liverpool; Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea (7:30pm).
Tomorrow: AFC Bournemouth v Arsenal (3:30pm); Wolverhampton Wanderers v Huddersfield Town (6pm).
Monday: Burnley v Newcastle United (10pm). — AFP