When I leave City, the club won’t go into MELTDOWN
GUARDIOLA TAKES POP AT UNITED AND RECKONS GREAT STRUCTURE AT ETIHAD MEANS THEY ARE GEARED FOR SUCCESS... WHOEVER IS IN CHARGE
PEP GUARDIOLA is yet to make up his mind on how long he will stay at Manchester City – but insists there will be no Sir Alex Ferguson-style meltdown at the Etihad when he leaves.
Guardiola is in his sixth season at City and in that time has seen Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer pay the ultimate price for failure across town at Manchester United.
City have become the top dogs in Manchester since Ferguson retired in 2013 and are on course to finish above their rivals for the ninth successive season as Guardiola seeks to win his fourth Premier League title in his six campaigns.
But the Catalan believes that the real secret of City’s success lies in the boardroom, with chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak (below), chief executive Ferran Soriano and director of football Txiki Begiristain forging a formidable partnership.
The contrast between City and United at executive level could hardly be more stark.
Guardiola said: “You have a clear structure. When the manager is leaving, there comes another manager with a few different ideas – but when the idea is the same, you don’t have to change the players.
“After me, the club has to have a different manager, of course.
“But it will be quite similar. They can adapt the players we have. When it happens, the club will still be there. This is what Manchester City have done in my six seasons here. “The success is incredible. There is an incredible transfer hierarchy and backroom staff. “Of course, without money you don’t have good players – and without good players you don’t have success. “But I’ve had three clubs before where I’ve found this. “I had Txiki in Barcelona, Ferran in Barcelona, and the president Joan Laporta in Barcelona, with 100 per cent support. “In Bayern Munich, it was the same – and here it was the same.” Al Mubarak came in at the ground floor when Sheikh Mansour took over the club with a vision for success.
Soriano and Begiristain followed just a few months after Roberto Mancini had guided City to the title in 2012 – and a plan was soon hatched to one day bring Guardiola to Manchester.
Guardiola accepts that City’s domination has been fuelled by cash – but he points out that other teams have spent big and still failed.
Today’s derby rivals United are the perfect example.
“A lot of teams are powerful in the Premier League, not just Manchester City have money,” said Guardiola.
“I want to play a particular way and you try to buy players to adapt to the way you want to play. At Manchester City, even before I arrived, this was
the idea and that’s why we are there.
“We compete with giants and we cannot always win – but we are always there.”
City are hoping the Catalan coach will extend his contract for a third time as he enters the final 15 months of his current deal.
Sunday Mirror Sport revealed last month that there is a growing confidence inside the dressing room that he will stay. Guardiola, though, remains uncommitted – although he suggested his time in Manchester will be decided by the players.
He said: “I have to see if the players follow me and we have success, but I’m not going to say if I’ll stay. I have to feel it. That’s why I extended the contract two times here.
“When I arrived, they didn’t expect that, but I’m incredibly satisfied.
“I’m not here to move to another place.
“I have to feel that everybody, especially the players, are comfortable working with me, and we can still fight to win.
“For me, it would be easy to sign three or four more years, but we will see what happens.”