Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has been an unparalleled success at the Etihad Stadium since taking the reins in 2016.
Pep Guardiola has won six Premier League titles, including four successive wins from 2019 to 2024, along with the Champions League as part of the Treble in 2022/23.
Even this season, with Manchester City having failed to challenge for the Premier League title and Champions League, they’re still on course for the FA Cup. City take on Crystal Palace in the final.
Sean Dyche, speaking about the time managers get at leading clubs, has discussed something that happened to Guardiola early on in his tenure at City that “people forget”.
Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
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Sean Dyche discusses Pep Guardiola’s first season at Manchester City
Dyche was the latest guest on The Overlap, where he discussed a number of topics along with Gary Neville, Roy Keane, Jill Scott, Ian Wright and Paul Scholes.
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The panel discussed Ruben Amorim’s tenure at Manchester United thus far, with the Portuguese under pressure after failing to turn the club’s fortunes around in the league.
Dyche spoke of the importance of managers needing to win first and then implement their style of play after they’ve got enough credit in the bank.
The former Everton and Burnley manager then mentioned how Guardiola finished 13 points off top spot in his first season before then going on to win everything.
“Howard Wilkinson had a great saying, it was ‘win, survive, succeed’,” began Dyche.
“So basically you have to win first, and then you can survive because you’re winning, and then success is when you do lay down all your principles and your playing style.
“So if he can do that, if he can win enough – which is the worry at the minute – then survive the process and then succeed, and that’s going to be better.
“Because people forget about Pep – the first season he came over, he finished 13 points off the top.
“He made more changes – tactical changes and more individual changes – than any other manager in the Premier League that season, and finished 13 points off the top.
“If you went into Real Madrid and did that you’d probably get the sack – but people forget that, it took him a season.
“Even with his knowledge, the amazing manager he is, and these principles, and the way of doing things and all the best players that he bought in – still took him a season to work it out.”
What next for Pep Guardiola and Manchester City?
Guardiola won’t be going anywhere any time soon, having penned a new contract at the club until the summer of 2027 earlier this season.
His job will be to build a new squad able to conquer the world of football once again, and the rebuild has already begun.
City signed a host of new players in January, such as Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov and Nico Gonzalez, and more are expected in the summer window.
For instance, Florian Wirtz is a key target for City as Kevin De Bruyne prepares to leave.
However, Guardiola said he would look to take a break from football once his contract with City comes to an end.
“After my contract with City, I’m going to stop. I’m sure,” he told ESPN earlier in May. “I don’t know if I’m going to retire, but I’m going to take a break.”
Guardiola took a sabbatical between leaving Barcelona in 2012 and joining Bayern Munich in 2013.