Throughout Pep Guardiola’s career there have been moments in which the coach has made history. The first of them could have been that sextet with FC Barcelona, the seven titles he managed to win with Bayern Munich or the first win that made Manchester City rise after so much time and millions invested to become European champion. A path in which the achievements were counted positively, although he never encountered a situation as complex as this and perhaps that is why he is so motivated to try.
Most are capable of losing four consecutive games, but only one team has won four Premier Leagues in a row.
Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola’s biggest challenge
“You are capable of losing four games in a row, at the same time, you are capable of winning four Premier Leagues in a row,” said Pep Guardiola about the complex situation his team is experiencing. Not because it is the first team to lose four times in a row, but because it is strange that it is the first time that has happened to Pep Guardiola as a coach. Perhaps that is why he defends his work so fervently and convincingly: “The difference is that most teams are capable of losing four in a row in different competitions, but only one team has won four Premier Leagues in a row.”
Perhaps that is why it can be understood that right now Guardiola is in the most complicated situation since he has been a coach. A double side of the coin that Pep himself tells, but in which it had always come out heads and this is the first time that it comes out tails. The first defeat was against Tottenham in the EFL Cup, then followed by Bournemouth in the Premier, Sporting de Portugal in the Champions League and finally Brighton in the Premier. Four games in a row in which his team did not know defeat, a streak that could soon come to an end. And again against Tottenham, this time in the Premier.
Haaland, with GuardiolaLAPRESSE
A Tottenham that knows how to hurt Guardiola
It’s the perfect script. Even poetic. Pep Guardiola will have the opportunity to break this negative dynamic against the same team that started it and after having renewed until 2027: “I deserved to extend the contract, but we have to do it again, to be up there. If not, the club will have to find a solution.” A long-distance race that has a great test today, Saturday, November 23 at 6:30 p.m., to try to knock off Ange Postecoglou’s team. A situation that does not allow half measures since it is five points ahead of Liverpool. The margin cannot continue to grow and the poor results must end. “Everyone is under pressure, me first,” he said.
Although yes, since Sampedor has been there, he is a rival who knows how to tickle Manchester City. It was the first rival against which Pep Guardiola, already managing as a citizen, was defeated. They did so on October 2, 2016 with a 2-0 result and after having achieved nine victories and one draw until then in all competitions. A defeat that marked the third in a row against the London team, although the two previous defeats were with Manuel Pellegrini. Since that moment, there have been two occasions in which Tottenham have achieved two consecutive victories against City, in 2020, although in two different Premier League seasons, and in the 2021-22 campaign, when they won both games in the English league . And now he has another chance to do it.
What will happen if we descend? That I will be here. I don’t know which division they will send us to, but next year we will go up to the Premier League
Pep Guardiola
A match and a decision that would affect his future
The matchday 12 of the Premier League is now a clear objective to recover the greatness that Guardiola has given to Manchester City since he took over the Etihad Stadium bench. An immediate objective that is only the beginning of what the club will have to fight for in the coming months. Now that he has agreed to command the light blue and white ship, he will be the technician who can face a possible sanction for the 115 irregularities. And although there is optimism from City, it has been clear in case it ends up happening: “What will happen if we are relegated? That I will be here. I don’t know which division they will send us to, but the following year we will go up, we will go up, we will go up and we will return to the Premier League. I knew it before and I feel that way now,” he said confidently.
And those words from the leader of the Manchester City project may be the most necessary so that the main leaders and legends of the locker room trust to continue wearing the light blue. “I would love for these players, and some who have left, to stay here for 10 years.” Although that mentality that has made his team a winner has a lot to do with the demands: “If you perform well, you are young, you have no injuries, you are there, then let’s go, one or two more years, until your energy lasts. But we have 12 players over 30 years old. They will have to see what happens and then we will make a decision, if it is the best for next season.”
Pep Guardiola celebrates a victory with Manchester City.EFE
Now it remains to be seen what happens when the ball gets rolling, but what is clear is that Pep Guardiola likes the moment so much that he wants to continue leading one of the most ambitious projects of this century and that not long ago he assured that they would even win. as many Champions Leagues as necessary to one day catch Real Madrid: “Real Madrid are thirteen Champions Leagues away, we are on our way. If they get lost, we will catch them,” he said after winning the first gold medal with City. A challenge that is now further away, but that can start by winning today against Tottenham and breaking this streak, the worst since he decided to coach a professional football team.