GUARDIOLA ALWAYS HAS THE BEST SIDES
SOUNESS INSISTS PEP IS NOTHING SPECIAL FULHAM v MAN CITY
Roberto Mancini had won the Premier League with.
“He took over an exceptional group of players in every case.
“City are the richest team in England, and they only needed the slightest bit of tweaking when he took over.
“He obviously manages players very well, but there is no genius there. It is just about having the best players.”
The former Scotland midfielder, who won five league titles and three European Cups during his time at Anfield, reckons even the most average of managers can win silverware if they have great players at their disposal.
Speak
“If you have the best manager in the world with an average group of players, then you won’t win anything,” added the former Newcastle boss.
“If you have an average manager with great players, then you have a chance at being successful.
“I’ve been in dressing-rooms where everything had been set in stone for the squad by the players that came before us, so the manager barely had to speak to us.
“I’m not exaggerating when I say team talks at Liverpool were sometimes as simple as, ‘today you’re playing a team in the bottom three, we’re top of the league. If you don’t match them for effort they might beat us, but if you do match them for effort, then we’ll win’.
“But for that to work, you’ve got to have top players.”
Guardiola is one of five nominess for the Premier League’s Manager of the Season award, alongside Arsenal boss Mikel
Arteta and Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola.
The two title protagonists were certainties to be included on the shortlist having led Manchester City and Arsenal impressively, with both teams still hoping to be named champions in a matter of weeks.
Award
Liverpool may have tailed off in recent weeks but Jurgen Klopp is still in with a shout.
The German, who has won the award previously in 2020 and 2022, has announced he will leave Anfield in the summer and landed the League Cup several months ago. Liverpool had been in a three-way fight for the title, but recent results have seen them lose touch.
Aston Villa are close to landing a top four finish — something they haven’t done since 1996.
That is largely down to the impressive work of Unai Emery, who masterminded a clubrecord home winning run that saw them down the likes of Arsenal and City this season.
Iraola, meanwhile, took over the Cherries in the summer and was something of an unknown quantity.
He took ten games to record his first win with Bournemouth sat in the bottom three, but since beating Burnley in late October the south coast outfit have won 50 per cent of their games.
That included a stunning 3-0 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford in December and the Cherries currently sit in the top half of the table with Iraola named Manager of the Month for March.
Month
Guardiola is the only man nominated not to have picked up a gong for the best manager in a month during the season.
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou, the man who won the opening three Manager of the Month awards, has been overlooked.
The destination of the Premier League trophy could go a long way to deciding who wins the gong.