Pep Guardiola’s latest pledge of loyalty to Manchester City made supporters adore their boss even more, but it should make them worried about their future.
It’s nearly a year since Liverpool’s former head coach Jurgen Klopp announced his farewell.
A lack of “energy” was the prevailing reason offered for Klopp’s shocking decision, which is understandable given the immense effort needed to keep pace with – and occasionally beat – Guardiola‘s relentless Man City winning machine.
The Klopp-Guardiola rivalry defined the latest era of the Premier League. Fans and neutrals alike have the two iconic managers to thank for providing us with an unbelievable product; they certainly benefited from the intense competition and pushed their counterparts to even greater heights.
Eventually this would take its toll and Klopp accepted enough was enough as he called time on his unforgettable stint at Anfield.
At the time of Klopp’s announcement, Guardiola had 18 months remaining on his Man City contract. It then felt inevitable that the 53-year-old would follow his great rival in saying goodbye to the Premier League once his deal expired in 2025.
Guardiola did not stick to the script, though. After months of will-he-won’t-he speculation, he committed his future to Man City by penning a one-year contract extension (which includes the option for a further year) at the end of last month.
The timing of this announcement in the international break was puzzling, though it was presumably made to galvanise Man City at a time of need as they headed into this period on an alarming winless run.
The naive presumption was that Man City’s growing list of issues – headlined by Rodri’s long-term absence – would subside in the immediate aftermath of Guardiola’s extension and they would emphatically return to form at home to Tottenham Hotspur.
That did not quite come to pass. Spurs’s 4-0 demolition of Guardiola’s side preceded their embarrassing collapse vs Feyenoord and one-sided loss to Liverpool. The 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest provided brief solace before their latest disappointment: a 2-2 draw against lowly Crystal Palace.
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It’s foolish to put Man City’s dramatic collapse solely down to the absence of Rodri; his untimely injury has just made their underlying issues come to the surface quicker than they otherwise would.
Man City are facing a season-defining week with key stars out of form, suffering from severe fatigue or just past it. A trip to European giants Juventus (with a top-eight spot not close to being secured) comes days before an impossible-to-predict Manchester derby against Ruben Amorim’s Man Utd at the Etihad on Sunday.
Ahead of these vital matches, Guardiola has dropped a pretty huge reveal about his post-Manchester City plans:
“I’m not going to manage any other football club after Manchester City. I don’t have the energy.
“The thought of starting somewhere else, the whole training process, etc. No, no, no! I’m not talking about the long term. Something I’m definitely not going to do is leave the club or go to another country.
“Maybe a national team managership, but that’s different. I want to leave the profession and play golf, but that’s not possible. There will come a time when I think it’s enough and then I’ll definitely stop.”
For Man City’s fanbase, this statement will largely be met with positivity as their messiah remains insistent on putting them first. From this perspective, the goodwill exercise has worked before two huge tests in a few days.
But really, Guardiola’s words should make Man City supporters even more concerned about their immediate and long-term future.
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For a football team that prides itself on being the best-run club in the world**, it reeked of desperation when Man City extended Guardiola’s contract by just a year** as they turned a blind eye to the dark road stretching ahead without the Spaniard.
It also seemed that Guardiola was doing a club he loves one last favour by sticking around longer than anticipated to make their transitionary phase more seamless.
But while Klopp reached the end of his tether at the perfect time for Liverpool’s refreshed squad and new head coach Arne Slot, the same cannot be said for Guardiola and Man City.
Barring the odd upgrade in a couple of positions, Liverpool’s rebuild is near completion – especially with two players expected to sign new contracts. They are well-set to compete for the Premier League and Champions League for the foreseeable; Slot presumably can’t believe his luck at his inheritance.
Meanwhile, Man City look miles off in virtually every position and the biggest task of Guardiola’s managerial career awaits as he attempts to build a whole new team.
As foolish as it is of us to write off Guardiola, that’s what we’re about to do…
The extreme difficulty level of the head coach’s job at Man City requires a boss with unrelenting grit and determination. But as remarkable as Guardiola obviously is, he “doesn’t have the energy” for it.
Guardiola’s prolonged stay of execution was one favour too many and these latest comments add to the suspicion that his storied time at Man City will end on a dour note before he rides off to the sunset… to “play golf”.