Since Pep Guardiola made his move to Manchester City in 2016, there have been plenty of opinions surrounding him — both positive and negative.
However, Guardiola has consistently won major trophies to justify the praise and silence the criticism.
On one hand, Ilkay Gundogan named Pep Guardiola the greatest-ever manager — a comment which exemplifies how high his stock has reached since dominating the Premier League.
Arsenal legend Martin Keown claimed Pep Guardiola has surpassed Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson as the best manager in the history of the game as well.
However, Jamie Carragher claimed on SPORTbible is that the Manchester City boss has never taken over a team in his career that had the odds stacked against them.
“There’s certain managers and Jose’s [Mourinho] one, I think [Jurgen] Klopp’s one, it’s the one thing Pep [Guardiola] hasn’t done is almost win with an inferior team or maybe when you’re up against the odds.”
Pep Guardiola must be accustomed to claims, both positive and negative as one of the most high-profile managers in football.
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It is a part and parcel of a top manager’s job to constantly be in the headlines.
The former Bayern Munich tactician seems to have dealt with the constant chatter surrounding him well.
In 2020, Erik ten Hag claimed that Pep Guardiola made a mistake during his debut season at Manchester City by misjudging the pace and power of the Premier League.
The Manchester United boss told Voetbal International: “Only once in his career has Pep [Guardiola] made a mistake, in his first year at Manchester City when he completely underestimated the power and speed of the Premier League.”
“He realised that you can’t play the kind of football he loves without having a couple of physically strong athletes and so he brought them in. So he’s not a stubborn coach. Yes, he is stubborn in his philosophy, but not in the execution. And that makes him the best.”
In Pep Guardiola’s first season at the Etihad Stadium, City finished 15 points behind Premier League champions Chelsea in third place.
The 2016/2017 campaign remains the only one in Guardiola’s career where his team did not win a single trophy.
It was reported in August that Pep Guardiola was worried Manchester City would sack him in his first season at the club after a six-game winless run.
It’s safe to say that the Catalan and his side have bounced back since then and in style.
Guardiola vs Ten Hag Premier League records compared
Two years after making his bold claim about Pep Guardiola, Ten Hag made his way to the Premier League by replacing Ralf Rangnick as Manchester United’s brand-new manager.
The Dutchman’s United side currently sit in 14th place in the league table after seven games. Guardiola’s City side, on the opposite end of the spectrum are a point behind league leaders Liverpool. Here is a statistical comparison of the two managers’ respective records in the Premier League.
| STATISTICS | PEP GUARDIOLA | ERIK TEN HAG |
| MATCHES | 311 | 83 |
| WINS | 230 | 43 |
| LOSSES | 38 | 26 |
| DRAWS | 43 | 14 |
| WIN PERCENTAGE | 73.95% | 51.8% |
| GOALS SCORED | 772 | 120 |
| GOALS CONCEDED | 257 | 109 |
| LOWEST LEAGUE FINISH | THIRD | EIGHTH |
| PREMIER LEAGUE TITLES | 6 | 0 |
Ever since his debut season at Old Trafford, the former Ajax boss has found it difficult to work his magic.
Pep Guardiola, on the other hand continues to cement his legacy as a Premier League great.
Erik ten Hag’s comments about Guardiola have aged poorly, considering how much success he has managed to accrue during his time at Manchester City.
Meanwhile, Manchester United’s struggles continue as Ten Hag is seemingly finding it virtually impossible to turn his side’s fortunes around.
Apart from a fellow all-time great, perhaps other managers should hesitate to comment about Pep Guardiola as he manages to kill his critics with success time and again.
