Pep says the players make him special... but who is he kidding!
AFTER a Manuel Akanji mistake that was typical of a fraught night in Istanbul, Pep Guardiola sank to his knees.
Early in the second half, the pressure had long taken its toll on a coaching genius, and had long taken its toll on a brilliant team who, at times, had looked like a scratch outfit.
Guardiola slowly made it up to his haunches but, for the rest of a night of incredible tension, he did not make it much further.
Yet when the final whistle blew, Guardiola left the Turkish turf with a leap… a leap into the history books.
But it was not a leap into greatness already there. – because he was
On the eve of, arguably, the most important club fixture in the world, Guardiola was asked what makes him so special as a coach, what is the secret of his sorcery.
His reply was unconvincingly self-effacing.
“Lionel Messi made me special, Erling Haaland makes me special,” was the gist of his answer.
Yeah, right.
This is an operator who came into this contest with 34 major trophies to his managerial name, making him fifth on the all-time list, 16 behind the 50 won by Sir Alex Ferguson.
In his seven years at the Etihad, he has now won 12 trophies – City have only won 26 in their 143-year history. His greatness is indisputable. And one consequence of that greatness is that every misstep is magnified into a giant mistake, hence the universal criticism of his decision not to start a holding midfielder in a dismal Champions League Final in 2021 that ended in defeat to Chelsea.
That one unfathomable selection became a symbol of the exaggerated idea that Pep
can be some sort of dangerous tinkerman in the biggest of games.
That notion is semi-nonsense but, all the same, it felt like he was going a touch maverick when he demoted Kyle Walker – dodgy back or not – to the bench.
Despite Walker missing training early in the week with a slight fitness issue, this was solely a tactical decision.
And it was a good job Pep was not checking social media as he watched his team line up, as plenty of City fans questioned his move.
He did not look entirely content himself in the early stages, stood on the northern border of the world’s largest technical area, hands on hips, looking even more perplexed than usual. And 20 minutes into a fairly disjointed first half, he felt the need to become a little more animated, such was the unusual lack of fluency in his team. With John Stones playing on the right of midfield – rather than joining in from a central defensive position – you could not help but think Guardiola’s tweak was having a negative effect. More likely was that the nerves that can afflict strong favourites were having an effect, hence the palms-down, calm-down gestures from Guardiola.
In fact, after Ederson had skewed another pass to an Inter player, Guardiola appeared on the Ataturk Stadium’s big screen, clearly shouting one word at his players… relax.
With the disruption of Kevin De Bruyne going off injured, it did not have much effect, and if ever the old cliche of a manager needing to earn his wages at half-time was appropriate, this was the night. To be fair, Pep had called it. When it is goalless, he said, the Italian team will think they are winning. They are not.
When it is goalless, he said, we might think we are losing. We are not.
But that is how it felt in the stadium.
Yet after the Akanji misjudgement went unpunished, Rodri struck magnificently and Pep momentarily rose from his agonised crouch.
He was soon back down but his Treble-winners saw it out to go down in football’s hall of fame.
Their manager was already there… and this was just confirmation.