Pep Guardiola says he will quit football entirely when he loses the passion to manage after revealing he has no ambition to take a different role in the game. The Manchester City manager’s contract ends next summer but he is yet to decide whether to stay, although he would consider managing elsewhere.
City travel to Molineux, where they suffered their first league defeat of last season, on Sunday hoping to maintain their unbeaten start, having won five of their opening seven matches. Guardiola is chasing a fifth consecutive Premier League title and the seventh of his nine-year tenure.
“I like my job, as I’ve said many times, I love what I do,” Guardiola said. “In terms of number of titles, I never, ever expected when I arrived here. I don’t speak on behalf of Txiki [Begiristain] but I think Txiki and myself never expected this when we arrived here.
“I still like coming here in the morning to work – I love it. I am thinking about Wolves and the messages I have to tell [the players], the images I have to see, the training I have to prepare. Still I like it – and this is the main reason I am a manager. When I don’t feel this – and not just at Man City – I will not be a manager and I will not even train, that’s for sure.”
Close ally Begiristain will leave his role as director of football next summer and be replaced by Hugo Viana. Could Guardiola take a step back from day-to-day football to see himself move upstairs? “I would criticise my manager a lot,” he said, laughing. “I can’t do it. I like the green grass. To be the man in the tie, I do not like it.”
Even if Guardiola remains at City, reaching Sir Alex Ferguson’s record of 13 Premier League titles would be difficult but many will continue to debate who will go down in history as the better manager. “I want to be happy every day,” Guardiola said.
“In this country and all around the world, Sir Alex Ferguson is the best. For the time, for the change of teams, for the trophies. Being close to one of the most important managers of all time is more than enough. It’s an incredible honour for me and for all the staff, all the assistants and all the players I’ve had.
“When people say: ‘Pep is one of the best’ that’s because of the players I had, the assistant managers and the assistant coaches we have had – and we have had many. All of them create this sense that we are good – and that is enough. I don’t fight for anything else.”
Guardiola was linked with replacing Gareth Southgate as England manager before the appointment of Thomas Tuchel this week. It is understood Guardiola was a serious candidate and shortlisted by the Football Association which contacted him to gauge his interest with the German eventually getting the job.
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At Molineux, Guardiola will face one of only three English managers in the Premier League in Gary O’Neil, amid concern the country is not creating enough top-level coaches. A win for City would, ironically, put O’Neil’s job under further scrutiny having secured a solitary point this season.
“I don’t know the reason why [there are so few English coaches in the Premier League],” Guardiola said. “I spoke to my players: how is Lee Carsley, how is Gareth Southgate? And they speak highly of them. Said they are really good. But the decisions [to not appoint English coaches], I don’t know the reasons why.”