For any Premier League manager over the past couple of years, arguably the toughest test of the season emerges when Manchester City’s name emerges on their fixture list.
It goes without saying that the quality Manchester City possess is second to none in comparison to any team in England; putting opposition coaches at a disadvantage from a get-go.
Furthermore, Pep Guardiola is renowned for adapting to the opposition in question.
With how adaptable as well as unpredictable Guardiola’s tactical plan be coupled with the fact that the way he views the game is truly unique, Premier League managers must be in cold sweats ahead of any game against them.
Such is the genius of the Catalan boss as well as his City juggernaut.
Since replacing Manuel Pellegrini at the Etihad Stadium, Pep Guardiola has managed to outdo as well as outlast world-class managers such as Jurgen Klopp, Antonio Conte, Jose Mourinho and Thomas Tuchel to name a few.
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David Moyes admits he’d be happy if Man City beat his team 1 or 2-0
Last month, it was reported that Manchester City feel Guardiola will extend his contract from 2025 until 2026 as well.
As a result, there is a possibility that the two-time treble-winner and his Sky Blues side could continue making life hell for other managers in the English top-flight for a while.
Speaking on The Overlap’s Stick To Football, David Moyes initially recounted how difficult it is to go up against this Manchester City juggernaut.
Moyes revealed: “They’re too good at keeping the ball, they’re opening me up so we’ve tried all sorts of ways of trying to get results. I have to say, the earlier days, looking back at Everton, I remember one of the Silva’s, I can’t remember his first name, David Silva, we man-marked him with Jack Rodwell.”
“We’ve tried all sorts of ways of try stopping them, we’ve tried to do three at the back, we’ve tried all sorts of things to be competitive against them. They are so good at making you run. And you might say, this is terrible, we’re turning up and we’re watching Man City.”
The former West Ham United boss added: “It’s just that they’re so good at keeping the ball at their possession-based [game].”
“It is demoralising. I’ve heard you all talk about how all they’re going to do is sit in and defend. Well, how else can you do it? I’ve got to try and get out of here with something, if I can scrape something out of this.”
Roy Keane stated that with how brilliant Manchester City have been for years now, teams would “almost be happy” to lose 1 or 2-0 to them.
Moyes replied: “Of course! Of course!”
“You might take some positives from that because probably, you’ve had to defend for the best part of 90 minutes and you might come away and think, that might be a positive we can take in the other games if we’re going to defend a bit better.”
Previously, David Moyes has lauded Pep Guardiola for transforming the state of football while backing him to continue winning trophies for as long as he manages.
The Scot has come up against Guardiola’s City on several instances.
Moyes vs Pep Guardiola head-to-head record
Considering David Moyes managed West Ham United from November 2017 until the end of the season while also returning to the Hammers in 2019 and managing them until the previous campaign, his teams have gone toe-to-toe with several Manchester City sides.
The former Everton boss’ sides have witnessed different iterations of Guardiola’s side in action — from the ‘Centurions’ in 2018 to the team that sealed their historic four league titles on the trot.
Not many managers have as much experience in the league coaching a side to compete with Pep Guardiola’s machine as the Europa Conference League winner. Here is David Moyes’ head-to-head record with Pep Guardiola.
| MANAGERS | WINS | LOSSES | DRAWS |
| GUARDIOLA | 12 | 1 | 3 |
| MOYES | 1 | 12 | 3 |
The record indicates how much Moyes has struggled against Guardiola.
Naturally, the veteran now feels that even a narrow loss to such an incredible side is a positive for his team.
During the course of his career, one questions David Moyes has witnessed many teams superior to this iconic Manchester City side.
