Pep Guardiola is arguably one of the best managers of all time. His management has been one of overwhelming success, be it with Barcelona, Bayern Munich or even Manchester City. His knowledge of the game is something every manager dreams to have.
But in the past few weeks, Manchester City has stumbled themselves into dropping points after being tied up to draws Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham. The treble-winning manager was not happy with the way pundits reacted to City’s performance and went on to speak on it during the pre-match press conference for the Aston Villa match.
Pep took shots specifically at three pundits, Jamie Carragher, Gary Neville and Micah Richards, all of whom interestingly work for Sky Sports. The three pundits described the City squad as being complacent after winning 3 consecutive seasons and this complacency is the reason for their recent dip in form.
Guardiola however took offence to this analysis and asked them to show their own number of Premier League titles. Talking about Gary Neville he said “He knows how difficult it is otherwise Gary Neville would’ve won four Premier Leagues in the best period of Manchester United. But he didn’t do it, you know?”
He also took down Liverpool legend, Jamie Carragher and former Manchester City player, Micah Richards. “Jamie Carragher didn’t win one once. Micah Richards didn’t win four Premier Leagues in a row.”
Guardiola says he is extremely happy with his team’s performance, but he is baffled by the pundits’ reactions, since these draws came from matches against top teams in the league. Strong opponents always make it difficult for any team to win. Perhaps the domination of City in the past few years have set them to an impossible standard that everyone expects them to hold.
Jamie Carragher however responded to the Spanish manager’s comments by taking shots at City’s UAE ownership and the 115 criminal charges Manchester City are facing. He said he too would have won the league with Liverpool if he had the same advantages. Carragher also added that he was praising Pep’s team.
A decision about the charges would be heard next year with City facing a potential chance to lose points, be heavily fined or even face relegation from the top division. Before that, however, they will be focused on successfully defending not only their Premier League, but the UEFA Champions League title as well.
