PEP: MY LEGACY WILL NOT LIVE FOREVER
PEP GUARDIOLA has responded to rock star Noel Gallagher crowning him football’s greatest-ever manager by insisting his Manchester City legacy will not Live Forever.
Gallagher, songwriter of Oasis’ classic hits, claimed after the Blues’ 4-1 evisceration of Arsenal that Guardiola has had no equal in the game – not even Sir Alex Ferguson.
But as the Catalan steps up his bid to emulate the same
Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup Treble that helped to make Ferguson’s legend, he declared he has no interest in making history.
“I have always said that the important thing is to live day by day and make people happy,” said Guardiola, ahead of this afternoon’s clash with Fulham.
“But my legacy? I honestly don’t know. I can’t say it because a friend of mine [Gallagher] said it.
“Maybe it will be in 10 or 25 years if the people in the UK, or especially here in Manchester, remember this period of seven, eight, nine years with a smile.
“The biggest compliments for me, better than any trophy, are the things you can give to the fans.
“I live in the moment – and the moment now is Fulham. The rest, it doesn’t matter.
“In life, when it’s gone, it’s gone. When you pass away, you pass away.
“They remember you, your close family, for a few days – and then it’s done. When the manager is replaced, yes, good memories. But I don’t live for my history.
“I like being here because I still have a chance to continue to do something to make our people happy.
“Not for history. You are here and when you pass, then comes another one. You move on and that’s all.”
City will go top of the table with a win at Craven Cottage and are favourites to win all three competitions, despite ‘If we don’t win the Treble or the Double, we’ll be seen as a failure’ facing United in the FA Cup Final and Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals.
This would be their fifth title in seven seasons under Guardiola and third in a row.
And, in 16 years as a manager with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City, he has already amassed 32 trophies.
Guardiola said: “Never in my life as a manager did I expect what I have lived.
“If tomorrow I have to finish my career, I cannot ask for anything else. It’s why people don’t like Pep sometimes –
because I was so fortunate. I’m so sorry. But being here, why should I stop? I know that if we don’t win the Treble or the Double or the Premier League, we will be seen as a failure.
“It doesn’t matter, but if we do everything as we have the last three or four months, we will be closer and closer to doing something exceptional.”
City’s team has continued to evolve, thanks to the arrival of players such as 49-goal Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez – and so has Guardiola as a coach.
Defender John Stones and full-back Rico Lewis are often employed in midfield.
Against Arsenal, Manuel Akanji was used as a left-back, despite never playing there for City.
Guardiola added: “For me, it’s important to have new players, definitely. New players means I have to seduce them, so it’s a challenge for me as well.
“They come to play with us and I cannot delude them – it’s part of what we do.”