Before the Liverpool - Man City match in round 28 of the Premier League, coach Pep Guardiola admitted to experiencing a lot of mental stress when leading a club at the highest level.
Guardiola is in his eighth season with Man City and his 15th in top-flight football, including his time at Barca and Bayern. Today, the Spanish coach will have his final battle of wits in the Premier League with Jurgen Klopp - who announced he would leave Liverpool at the end of the season "due to a lack of energy".
"Every coach has ups and downs," Guardiola said at a press conference ahead of the match at Anfield. "At Barca I was really tired and left. At Man City I stayed longer than I thought. The demands on coaches are always very high, and each one deals with it differently."
Pep Guardiola talks with the referee on the sidelines of the Man Utd - Man City match in round 27 of the Premier League. Photo: AFP
In 2008, from the position of youth team coach, Guardiola was promoted to lead Barca and opened the golden age. He helped the team win every title, including three La Liga, two King's Cups, three Spanish Super Cups, two Champions Leagues, two European Super Cups and two FIFA Club World Cups. In 2012, he decided to leave. Later, Guardiola said: "We were still playing with brilliant form, but I personally felt tired as if I had to walk on my knees, and importantly, I had no new tactical ideas to apply to Barca. That's why I left. There was no other reason."
At Man City, Guardiola coped better with the pressure thanks to the help of sporting director Txiki Begiristain and CEO Ferran Soriano - both former colleagues at Barca. "Txiki and Ferran know when I'm tired or in a bad mood. They recognise that so it's not a problem," the 53-year-old coach said. "Sometimes you have to pretend you're superman and perfect, winning a billion trophies, special things all the time. People get confused, and think I'm perfect."
Guardiola believes he is no match for Margaret Thatcher - leader of the British Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990, Prime Minister of the UK during the 1980s, and the first woman to hold both positions. Thatcher reportedly slept only four or five hours a night. "Thatcher was stronger than me, I need more hours of rest," Guardiola said.
Guardiola and Man City won 4-1 when visiting Liverpool during the Covid-19 lockdown. But when the stadium returned to normal, he and his students never enjoyed the joy here. Guardiola knows how the atmosphere in the stands will affect today's big match.
"We can't control what happens on the pitch and the referee's decision," Guardiola said. "Not for the first time, not for the last time, we have to perform better. We have to overcome situations. The only thing we can control is our performance, how we play as a team."
Guardiola and Klopp have faced each other 29 times in their careers, the most of any opponent they have ever faced. Of these, Klopp has won 11 times and is also the one who has defeated Guardiola the most. Conversely, with 10 victories, Guardiola is also the coach who has defeated Klopp the most. The remaining eight matches were stalemates, including a 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium in the first phase of the Premier League in November 2023.
Hong Duy
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