After Jose Mourinho’s grand entrance and even grander ambitions as Manchester United manager, Pep Guardiola’s unveiling at Manchester City was far more low-key.
This time it was United cast in the role of noisier neighbours as they bid to reclaim supremacy in the city as well as their standing as English football’s leading side. There was no such bravado or bold statements from Guardiola. No revelation of his transfer targets to shake up his squad, nor what he expects or demands from his players as he put the focus firmly on himself. He was polite, not pretentious.
What little he did reveal was that he was “nervous” about meeting the media on Friday. He is now out of his comfort zone and, especially with Mourinho on the same patch and in a far more competitive league, he will be under greater scrutiny and pressure than before.
City’s Abu Dhabi owners might not have set him any major targets, but both Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini were sacked after winning the Premier League so the precedents are in place.
While Guardiola confessed his first coaching role at Barcelona B in 2007 was hard and eventually shaped the path for a remarkable treble-winning debut season with the senior team two years later, Guardiola says this job could be his toughest challenge.
There is no could about it. It will be. He had many of the game’s best players, Lionel Messi namely, at Barca and Bayern Munich, but they are a notch above what he now has to work with at City.
Despite reaching the Champions League semifinals and winning the League Cup, they under-achieved and still need more quality. While there was the desire to ‘prove’ himself and rise to the challenge of taking on Mourinho, Arsene Wenger and the rest, there will be understandable apprehension.
Deemed a footballing Messiah for his previous achievements, he now has to live up to that mantle even if he does not accept it. Not only by providing an entertaining style that fans crave and promoting youth into the senior ranks, but by winning trophies.
His reputation as the world’s greatest coach is at stake and so too City’s ambition of being the world’s best club. He will be afforded time, but cannot afford to fail.
