Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola was this week interviewed by ESPN Brasil.
Following the quotes about his wish to work with a national team, some new bits are now released by the South American outlet.
Speaking to journalist João Castelo-Branco, Guardiola had a little bit of an outburst regarding the criticism he gets from the press. This time, the Manchester City boss claimed that people try to explain his success away by pointing to other factors instead of giving him credit for his achievements.
“When you arrive and you’re there, everyone wants to knock you off the top. If you see me after Barcelona, they want to take away my credit for what I did. Sometimes it’s money, sometimes it’s Lionel Messi and his teammates, sometimes it’s that Bayern always win. They tend to doubt the value, it’s normal. When someone doesn’t win, they want to make it less important. The rivals want to beat you and the critics want to take away your value. That’s not important,” Guardiola told ESPN Brasil.
“They’re sitting there watching you, but you’re the one who works and can do it, not them. If I’m doing badly, I go home. With my players, staff and club, I’m eager to prove myself. When I arrived at Barcelona, 86% of people didn’t want me. They said: ‘Perfect’. It’s better to arrive like that than ‘oh, everything is perfect’. Convince one, the other. I prefer people to doubt. I need them not to believe, it gives me incredible energy. Let’s prove it.”
Regarding Erling Haaland and a possible drop in his form recently, Guardiola claimed that he and the Manchester City striker will both manage to prove the media wrong.
“It’s not exclusive to Haaland or Guardiola. It’s like that. They’re waiting for you not to score 56 goals. They’re waiting for you to fail. It’s like that. The straight line is: ‘I’m going to score goals. Do you want me to? I’ll prove it’. It’s always been like that. With Pelé, Romário, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Neymar. With everyone. It’s always been like that and it always will be. If you want to fight it, you’re lost. The point is to say: ‘When the referee blows the whistle, I play, not you. Now I’m going to show you that you’re wrong, I’m right’. The strength that my athletes have, today and always, is sport.”
Manchester City are currently 2nd in the Premier League. They’re four points behind Liverpool and have played one game less. In the Champions League, they have just beaten FC Copenhagen 3-1 in the first leg of their round-of-16. They’re also waiting to play in the FA Cup’s fifth round against Luton Town.
The Citizens’ next challenge is an away league clash against Bournemouth this Saturday.
