The words “Pep Guardiola, he changed football” were emblazoned across a banner that was displayed inside the Etihad Stadium of Manchester City on Sunday. The banner included a headshot of the club’s manager and was embellished with a picture of the stadium.
After his team won the Premier League for the sixth time in the last six years, the Spaniard was not about to start bragging about themselves during the celebrations.
The fact that he has won 11 league titles in 15 seasons as a manager, split between Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Manchester City, speaks much about his abilities.
Five of those have come at City, and he has a chance to elevate them to a new level in the next three weeks by winning the FA Cup and then the treasured Champions League to complete the triple.
Despite the fact that he believes it should not degrade what he has accomplished at City by failing to capture Europe’s top with them by beating Inter Milan, he is aware that his City career could eventually be evaluated on whether or not he wins the Champions League with them. He insists that this should not be the case.
“Fifth Premier League title in six years, I could not even begin to imagine winning five in six,” Guardiola said to the press after the announcement.
“I get the impression that we’ve accomplished something truly remarkable, but in order to be counted among the all-time greats, we need to win the Champions League. Otherwise, it just isn’t complete.”
“We won a lot, but we can’t deny that it can be unfair to have to win the Champion League in order to give value to what you’ve done.”
Guardiola stated that when Mikel Arteta’s team reached the midway mark with 50 points in the bag, he believed it could be hard to catch up to them. This was the case up until a few weeks ago, when City was behind Arsenal by eight points in the fight for the Premier League championship.
But City found another gear, and they won 12 games in a row as Arsenal struggled, which was enough to clinch the title for City.
“The first half Arsenal did 50 points, and I had the feeling that they’d done something special, we were there, and they felt it,” said the Spaniard, who assumed control of the team in 2016. “We were there, and they felt it.”
“Our incessant effort and refusal to give up, as well as the knowledge that we must win every game in order to avoid an impossible situation.”
It is the third time that Pep Guardiola has won three consecutive league titles in a row. He previously accomplished this feat in La Liga from 2009-11 and in the Bundesliga from 2014-16.
HIGHEST STANDARDS
As the ultimate perfectionist, Guardiola expects the greatest standards from his players. As a result, even players who were already at the top of their game seem to improve even more while they are playing for him.
The impact that the former Spain midfielder has is best exemplified by Jack Grealish, who struggled for a while to find his footing at City and in whom Guardiola obviously did not place his complete faith in his first season with the club.
Grealish, who has been outstanding for City this year, had this to say about City’s management: “I can’t actually speak highly enough of the manager.”
“Listen, he’s a bit strange in the manner that he seems to sort of know everything, and some times I’m thinking: what’s he going to come up with today? In addition to that, he devises novel strategies for each match.
“Collaborating with him is always a pleasant experience. I adore him.”
John Stones, a player with a wide range of skills who has transitioned from defense to smooth midfielder, expressed appreciation to Pep Guardiola’s strategic vision.
The footballer from England commented on how much fun it had been to perform in a variety of roles and locations throughout their run to the championship.
“Because of him, I now see things differently.”