MAD FOR IT!
PEP HAPPY IN MANCHESTER AND HAPPY TO SEE OUT HIS CITY CONTRACT - AGENT
PEP Guardiola is happy in Manchester and under contract at City until 2021, his agent has reiterated.
The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach faces an uphill battle to secure a third consecutive Premier League title this season with leaders Liverpool nine points ahead and unbeaten after their 3-1 victory over the Blues.
A refusal to rule out coaching in Italy sparked more speculation about the manager’s future and reports that Bayern would be interested in a reunion were legitimised by new president Herbert Hainer, who mentioned his name when discussing long-term successors to the recently-sacked Niko Kovac.
Guardiola has never spent more than four years at any of his clubs but his current contract at the Etihad would take him to five and a further renewal is not out of the question either.
The City coach’s representative, Josep Maria Orobitg, said that nobody from any club had been in contact and while he did admit that anything can happen in football - something that Guardiola himself often brings up when asked about the future - a recent conversation has been enough to put aside any doubts.
“I only spoke with Pep last Wednesday, and everything is the same: he feels good at Manchester City and also in the city of Manchester, and he has a contract until June 30, 2021,” he said.
WERE it not for a late salvo against Southampton that did not look likely, City would have been winless in their last three games in all competitions.
Failing to win regularly is not something that any top team tolerates, and you certainly can’t push 100 Premier League points by stumbling regularly.
Pep Guardiola will have pored over the footage more than anyone else as he looks to work out exactly what his team are and aren’t doing right and how they move forward to make sure the Blues return to regular, winning ways. As he looks beyond the results, there will be plenty to suggest room for optimism for the squad and manager in the future.
So commanding were City last season that they rarely went behind in games - allowing Liverpool to be firmly embedded in narratives as the comeback kids - but the idea that the Blues cannot respond to conceding first is nonsense.
It was shown on the final day of the league campaign at Brighton back in May and they were at it two weeks ago against Southampton. Goals from Sergio Aguero and Kyle Walker turned around what had looked set to be a very frustrating afternoon against the Premier League strugglers.
A strong opening 45 minutes in the San Siro gave way to a confused second period that threatened to get even worse with the score level and defender Walker having to replace the red-carded Claudio Bravo in the City goal.
The team rallied though and worked together - Benjamin Mendy advising Walker to collapse to the ground with the ball in his hands was a highlight - to see out the draw.
Anfield saw probably the best performance of the three as they gave Jurgen Klopp’s side real problems but were punished for not being clinical enough – and not being on the right side of a number of debatable refereeing calls.
Staring at another damaging defeat on Merseyside, the team kept going and Bernardo Silva earned a consolation goal - just as they did in the league game in January 2018 and should have done in April 2018 when Leroy Sane was wrongly ruled offside.
The collective spirit was also in evidence after the game as the players echoed their manager’s belief that it had been a good performance in spite of the result.
Guardiola has previously said that he will know the moment to leave a club when his squad stop responding to his methods and ideas.
In his words: “The day I see the light go out of my players’ eyes, I’ll know it’s time to go.”
Judging by the performances and reactions of his players, that day does not look like coming any time soon.