‘It is not fair when a team can’t qualify’
PEP Guardiola has criticised the principle of automatic qualification which was at the heart of the European Super League.
The Blues manager appeared before the media yesterday just hours before City confirmed they would be pulling out of the Super League.
The whole concept is now expected to fold.
And Guardiola is likely to be pleased as he wasn’t happy with the plans for the new competition.
He was quick to condemn the most controversial aspect – that six English clubs, and other top clubs from Italy and Spain, would get an automatic place in the 20-club contest.
“It is not sport when the relation between effort and success doesn’t exist,” said Guardiola, whose side face Aston Villa in the Premier League tonight.
“It is not a sport if success is guaranteed or if it doesn’t matter when you lose. I have said many times I want a successful Premier League, not just one team at the top.
“These teams have been selected, I don’t know the reason who is going to play this competition in the future.
“I said many times, I want the best competition.
“It is not fair when one team fight, fight, fight at the top and cannot be qualified because it is just for a few teams”
Guardiola said he had yet to be told the details, saying in a statement which became even more relevant late last night: “It is an embryo that is not yet breathing.
“That is the reality. We’re going to play the Champions League next week and try to reach the final and next season we’re going to play in European competitions because we deserve it and won it on the pitch.
“The right people have to clarify, they have the obligation and duty as soon as possible to come out all around the world and clarify what the situation is and why they took their decisions.”
But Guardiola clearly felt the format was unfair.
“Ajax have four or five Champions League (titles) but will not be there?” he said. Don’t be cynical.
It is not a sport where success is already guaranteed or it doesn’t matter when you lose
Pep Guardiola
Everyone makes their own interests. When you talk about the Premier League and UEFA, they look after their interests. UEFA have also failed.”
Guardiola was the first and only City official to be quizzed on the matter, as he was bound by Premier League rules to give a press conference ahead of the game against Villa.
And he did not appear happy that none of the executives, or owner Sheikh Mansour, who initially took the decision to throw in their lot with the ESL clubs, had not borne the brunt. Asked how he felt about being asked to comment on City’s behalf, he said: “It is an honour! I am a good spokesperson!
“We speak six times a week in a press conference.
“We speak about the virus and the NHS and Covid. Ask whatever you want, I’m going to say what I feel but, honestly, we are not the right people to answer these questions.
“There is a president that can talk
more clearly what the idea is for the future about where football wants to go.
“It is uncomfortable for us because we don’t have all the information.
“I can give you my opinion on what I know today but there is just a statement and no more than that.
“I would love the president of the committee to go all around the world and explain the reason why.
“I support my club, I know the people and I am part of this club but I also have my own opinion.
“I would love to be clear when we have all the information. That’s why for all of us managers in the six teams it is uncomfortable.”
Guardiola also revealed that he only knew about the plans shortly before the announcement late on Sunday night.
“A few hours before the statement was released, I think like my other colleagues,” he said when asked when he knew.
“They told me it is going to release a statement.
“The statement is still there but no-one speaks clearly with more details what is going to happen. We are still in this position.”
■ FAN power seems to have worked, with the European Super League seemingly crumbling in the face of opposition.
And our online survey certainly showed the strong feeling of supporters. More than 100,000 responded to the questions posed by M.E.N. Sport and our sister titles – 85 per cent of participants said they disagreed with the concept of the ESL, echoing the nationwide fury that has engulfed the game over the past 36 hours.
For fans of the six clubs involved with the plans, a mere five per cent said they were ‘supportive’ of the plans, while over a third described themselves as feeling ‘angry’ or ‘embarrassed’. Elsewhere, supporters of clubs outside of the Premier League’s Big Six also made their feelings clear, with 83 per cent of those fans admitting they are glad their team wasn’t involved in the proposals.