Wayne Rooney has labelled Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola as the ‘the best’ manager in football.
The Manchester United legend has struggled since entering management himself following his retirement from playing the game.
Rooney initially took over at Derby County as player-manager and did okay in extremely difficult circumstances.
However, a return to DC United as coach concluded when he failed to reach the playoffs in a second straight campaign and then a disastrous spell at Birmingham City ended after just 15 matches at the start of 2024.
Wayne Rooney names Pep Guardiola as the best
When it was put to Rooney by Gary Neville that his style of coaching is very different to the direct football he played on the pitch, Rooney told the Stick to Football Podcast: “I think it’s the way the game’s gone.
“It’s changed. It’s not the same. I watched one of our games back, actually against Liverpool about 15 years ago, the difference in how the game was played then to how it is now is massive.
“I think you just have to move with it. For me the best manager is Pep, you look at how he adapts.
“How they play now is not the same as they were playing four years ago. He keeps making these subtle changes and then you see everyone try to do the same.
“So I think it’s important to have your own principles, your own ideas of what you want to do and that’s what I tried to take to Derby, DC and Birmingham but, unfortunately, it didn’t work.”
No doubt about it
Rooney’s judgement in the dugout may be questionable but he is not wrong when it comes to naming the best managers.
There’s no doubt in the slightest that Guardiola is the best in the game and he has been for over 15 years now.
He was already firmly in that bracket for the work he did at Barcelona and Bayern Munich but some still held lingering doubts.
Guardiola was questioned on whether he could ever win the Champions League again without Lionel Messi but he answered that in emphatic fashion last season.
Not only did the £400k-a-week man finally claim Europe’s top prize once more with the victory over Inter in Istanbul, but in doing so he won another treble and made City the second English team to reach the historic achievement.
The best.
