Man City: Pep Guardiola admits ‘he is lucky’ to be at the club after failing first year

Pep Guardiola thought about the Carabao Cup Final, where he’d be facing his old counterpart, Jose Mourinho, once again. But after Tottenham Hotspur sacking Mourinho it seems the old foe from the days when they use to be the manager of Real Madrid and Barcelona.

 

Tottenham gave a chance to 29-year-old interim Ryan Mason the thankless task of denying Guardiola his eighth major trophy at City in under five years.

‘I am lucky being at a club where in the first season we didn’t win anything and they supported me more than ever and the success came later,’ says the 50-year-old Catalan.

‘I had incredible support in bad moments. (Chairman) Khaldoon al Mubarak is always behind me, close to me when we are defeated, harder and stronger than when we have success.

‘That was the secret to build something sustainable for many, many years. That is the key. We’ve seen we are in a world with a lot of feelings, a lot of love and at the same time, a lot of business.’

‘It wasn’t difficult because I know all of them, they are friends. Before I made a statement we spoke about it, they completely agreed. Sometimes you don’t help if you don’t say something you believe.

‘I love this club, I love Ferran, Txiki, Khaldoon, the people who work here, we work together.

‘Everyone makes mistakes. The guys who take decisions make mistakes, the guys who are judging others make mistakes.

‘Sometimes you are wrong. What’s the problem? We react and we apologize and move forward and see what will be the next Champions League.’

‘I am not fresh, believe me,’ he sighed. ‘But I am so excited because we arrive here after this amount of games. If I don’t want it, I would resign. It’s part of the job.

‘Of course I’d love a different calendar and more time but at the same time I am not complaining. It is what it is…go, go, go. A lot of people, a lot of managers, are struggling to have a job.

‘It demands a lot of us to win and win, especially of the players. It’s so difficult and we’d love to enjoy more time with our families. But it’s a pleasure to be in the final on Sunday, to go to Paris in the semi-final of the Champions League.

‘But fresh and relaxed? Absolutely not! I have never lived a year like this.’

Manchester City is aiming to equal Liverpool’s tally of eight. City’s wins have come in 1969-70, 1975-76, 2013-14, 2015-16, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 that total of seven times champions in the Carabao Cup.