Pep Guardiola, Manchester City coach, considered Sir Alex Ferguson to be the best coach in the history of football, while revealing that victory over Jurgen Klopp had a very “special taste”.
In his interview with Sky Sports, Guardiola answered about the most difficult opponent he faced, “Klopp, the main reason for that is that we have met a billion times.”
He also added, "The second reason is that he beat me a lot and our confrontations have always been a special challenge, so we respect each other, and from my side at least, I respect him a lot."
“Of course we have skirmishes and I don’t like to lose to him, but he is my biggest opponent considering the number of times we face each other, and there is pleasure in defeating him, because you know very well how difficult it is to achieve.”
As for the best coach in the history of football, Guardiola said, “Sir Alex Ferguson is number one, given the titles he achieved and the extent of change and consistency.”
He continued, "I will choose Johan Cruyff and Arrigo Sacchi as his successors. It is not only about their tactical ideas, but about the extent of their influence. Sacchi did not win as many numbers as Sir, but he changed a generation of coaches and players."
“Cruyff changed two clubs: Ajax and Barcelona. In Barcelona, we were saying, ‘Where are we going?’ He came and told us to go in this direction. Without a doubt, he needed a great personality and belief to do that. For me, they are the best.”
At the conclusion of his interview, Guardiola answered about the currently active player he coached and who he expects to be a great coach in the future, “Ilkay Gundogan has a great ability to communicate, he is well respected and has passion. I am confident that this will happen, and I will be happy when I see him as a coach.” .
The strange thing in Guardiola's interview is that he did not talk about his biggest rival, Jose Mourinho, whose conflict continued from approximately 2010 to 2018. Perhaps the reason for this is the decline in the "special one" career and the lack of confrontations between them in the last 5 years.
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