Former Manchester City midfielder Dietmar Hamann has been speaking to German newspaper Bild about Pep Guardiola’s struggles and the reasons behind them.
Guardiola is still newsworthy in the German sport media, given his time at Bayern Munich and general God-like status on the European football scene. Manchester City failing to live up to expectations has been covered repeatedly, and Bild wanted Hamann’s opinion.
First up, the German newspaper asked Hamann why, when Guardiola has succeeded elsewhere, is he struggling at Manchester City: “At Barca and Bayern, he already had teams that were able to win the Champions League. He does not have that quality at City.”
Bild wanted to know if Guardiola’s understanding of Premier League football was also hampering his first season at Manchester City: “He is very stubborn. Using ball possession to crush the opponent does not work with physically strong and fast English football. It is not reprehensible to play long high balls.”
Completely ignoring that they too put pressure on Guardiola whilst he was in Germany, even though he didn’t fail, Bild ask Hamann if the manager can stand three years under the scrutiny of the English media: “Types like Jurgen Klopp are better coming here. Guardiola is damaged. But if he does not resign himself, City will not release him. A lot would have to happen.”
There’s plenty of time for Guardiola to put things right and whilst Manchester City will have expected better so far, getting the manager was part of a long term effort to push the club higher in perception.
Just hiring him has achieved that, now they need the results on the pitch.
