Wesley Sneijder has claimed that Pep Guardiola is the main reason why Manchester City are in the upper echelons of English and European football.
The 52-year-old could see his side make history and win the treble this season if they manage to beat Inter Milan in tomorrow’s Champions League final having already won the Premier League and FA Cup.
In the build-up to this big game, one former Inter player, who knows what it’s like to win a treble, has shared his thoughts on the City boss.
Sneijder highlights Guardiola’s work in making City successful
Speaking to Mirror Football, Sneijder had this to say about Guardiola and his work at City.
He said: “When he arrived at City, of course he had the possibility of buying a lot of players, to spend a lot of money, but you cannot buy trophies.
“He needed to build the team and that is what he did and now this season he got the team playing like how he wants, he made the team how he wants.
“It took some years but now I think this City is on the top level. All compliments to Guardiola for what he did with this City.”
Since taking charge of the Manchester club back in 2016 after having successful spells with Barcelona, where he won two Champions League titles, and Bayern Munich where he dominated domestically, the Spaniard has overlooked 412 matches with City.
Across those matches, the Citizens have won 304, drawn 49 and lost 59, resulting in multiple domestic trophies being secured.
As Sneijder mentioned, even though City have spent a lot of money on new players since Guardiola’s arrival, this doesn’t guarantee the players will be the right ones to be suitable for the team and what the manager wants.
Therefore, the Spaniard has to be the one that coaches the players correctly and gets them mentally in the right place to not only go for every trophy possible but to do it year after year.
Moving forward, regardless of how long it may have taken, if City win the Champions League against Inter and secure the treble, there should be no doubts about Guardiola’s ability to manage a winning team.
