Pep Guardiola has probably never been so intense during a press conference. He is regularly captivating, particularly at times like these, and he is an adept rabble-rouser, but even in his ninth season in charge of Manchester City, there was something new on Friday.
He had already sat and answered several questions about the new two-year contract he signed the previous day, no doubt inspiring City’s fans along the way as he insisted, yet again, that even if the club are given a serious punishment as a result of the Premier League charges, he will stay.
“I said six months ago or one year ago — ‘What happens if we get relegated?’. I will be here,” he said, in the defiant way that has long since replaced the, “If they (people at the top of the club) have lied to me, I will be out” quote that many still recite.
There was also time for the classic Guardiola beeline towards a topic he wanted to get off his chest — even if nobody had asked about it.
In recent weeks, the subject of his ire has been international managers’ perceived lack of care for his players, which is no surprise given the amount of injuries in City’s squad during that time.
And on Friday lunchtime, he cited the unexpected example of 19-year-old centre-back Max Alleyne, who he said had been asked to train for England’s under-21s and under-20s before playing a game in which he got injured.
So it was perhaps inevitable that all of these ingredients came together in the second half of his press conference when he was asked a casual question about Kyle Walker’s participation for England during this international break that sparked a four-minute tour de force.
With an acknowledgement that this is not ideal for a written article, it was not so much what Guardiola said but more how he said it. He has talked about this stuff before: a few weeks ago, he claimed he had never been so angry as last season when Walker and John Stones came back from England’s March friendlies with injuries, at a time when City were gearing up for their run-in.
He has covered all the other topics, too. But in the week when City released a documentary which revolves heavily around the manager’s interactions with his players and his efforts to motivate them, this felt more like the energy he uses when he speaks to those in his dressing room rather than to us on the outside.
You would have been forgiven for thinking that he was talking alone with just the journalist who had asked the question concerned if he had not turned to the rest of the room halfway through to deliver his favourite line: “I’m sorry guys, I won six Premier Leagues.”
(Zed Jameson/PA Images via Getty Images)
“Kyle has a dream to make 100 caps for the national team,” he said, as he began to warm up. “Do I want to cancel this dream? Absolutely not. I would love that and I understand it. But I don’t want them to play when they are not in the right conditions.”
He linked Walker’s injury (the 34-year-old is now on 93 caps, after playing against both Greece and the Republic of Ireland in recent days) to others, like Ruben Dias, having to play too much and getting injured.
“I am not blaming Kyle — you understand me? You know the message I am saying,” he was careful to say.
“People talk about without Rodri and of course we miss him, he is the best player in the world. Imagine at Barcelona when (Lionel) Messi was the best player. Without him, that season (2008-09), would I have won the treble? I don’t win the treble. Win six trophies without Messi? I don’t win six. Rodri is out, but also four central defenders. You know how important Ruben is? And John when he is fit? Tell me. And Nathan (Ake) and the other ones?”
It was a stream of consciousness at this point.
“One game a week… the top teams in Europe play another competition,” Guardiola continued. “It’s another competition, another history. Bournemouth play one game a week, Brighton play one game a week; six or seven days to prepare for one game. Give me that! Gimme, gimme! Give me that.
“The Premier League is real? No, no, no, no — I play 20 more games a season than you but am I complaining? No, because we won… I’m sorry… six Premier Leagues. Doing it that way, no complaints at all.”
That took him to the impact of Oscar Bobb’s pre-season injury — “You know how is our high pressing with Oscar?” — and back around to his complaints about having an international break in March — “I do not understand why FIFA or UEFA decide to do this, I am sorry”.
If absolutely nothing else, it felt different to those of us who have been sitting in that room with Guardiola for the best part of a decade now and have heard him deploy all manner of sarcasm, defiance and everything in between to explain his points of view, in the good moments and bad.
The injury suffered by academy defender Alleyne was one of Friday’s press conference sub-plots (George Wood/Getty Images)
It was one of those days when he would have given his opinion on any subject (sometimes, it is the polar opposite) and so there was time for more, not least when he dispelled the popular notion that he would want to sign a new contract so he could be at City for 10 years.
“It’s not for the special number,” he said. “One main objective is not to become something with the numbers or whatever. It is to be happy. Wake up in the morning, come to work and like it. This is the only reason why. Ten years is a consequence of something. I’m here because we won a lot. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here, 100 per cent.”
On Thursday, he referenced his role as “spokesman” for the club when it comes to their brushes with governing bodies and he opened up on that 24 hours later.
“I don’t enjoy it,” he began. “I prefer not to be in that position but once it’s there, I love it, because when you believe in your club, and the people there, I believe what they say to me and the reasons why.”
He energised City fans in the past by rounding on the club’s on- and off-pitch rivals, and he dipped a toe into those waters again even while insisting he does not think about those Premier League charges too much.
“I don’t live with that,” Guardiola said. “I read something about the situation and how you need to be relegated immediately. Seventy-five per cent of the clubs want it (City to be expelled from the Premier League if found guilty), because I know what they do behind the scenes and this sort of stuff, but I don’t live with it. I live with the four defeats (in a row, across all competitions), what I have to do. There are lawyers on both sides. I don’t think about it.”
He was asked, too, what made him different to Liverpool counterpart Jurgen Klopp, who announced at the start of 2024 that he would be stepping down come the end of that season after almost nine years at Anfield having become drained of energy.
“I am tired,” he countered. “Of course. Sometimes it is, ‘Oh, another game’. The difference that helped me? Win, win, win. Life’s better when you win. It helps to continue.”
It is hard to know if there was another dig hidden within that answer but one thing is for sure: heading into a decade in charge, Guardiola sounds ready for the challenges ahead.
(Top photo: Javier Soriano/AFP via Getty Images)
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