A classic one-word response was Pep Guardiola’s response during his Manchester City press conference.
Pep Guardiola during his Manchester City pre-match press conference. (Image: Manchester City.)
When asked about other football teams’ supporters “liking” his team during his press conference, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola responded profanely. Guardiola took a moment to laugh and defuse the tension before a nerve-wracking final day of the season. Guardiola is targeting a fourth consecutive Premier League title on Sunday, which would be achieved by victory at home against West Ham.
Guardiola responded “F***!” to the question “if people like your football team” on Friday, sounding confused before erupting into fits of hysteric laughter that the Spanish coach was unable to control.
Later, he said, “I don’t know,” even though he had just been in a stadium where a large number of rival fans were cheering for City. The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium crowd was ecstatic about the thought that a loss for Spurs would severely hurt Arsenal, their neighbors, and their chances of winning the title.
Guardiola is well aware that the job is not finished, and his team will have a challenging task ahead of them against a West Ham team that is eager to send David Moyes off in style before the end of the season.
Pep Guardiola on the touchline in Manchester City’s 2-0 win at Tottenham. (Image: Getty)
“We’d like to be 3-0 up after 10 minutes (vs West Ham) but it will not happen,” Guardiola stated. “I feel like it will be similar to Aston Villa, who needed a late comeback to win the title in 2022.” We’re prepared.
“The players, as far as I know, never, ever give up. Since the day after Spurs, we haven’t seen them. Today, we see how the players make me feel. However, I sense that they are there and are attempting to reclaim the Premier League.”
The former manager of Barcelona and Bayern Munich was introspective and glad to discuss the players who came and went under his direction and helped City get to the point where they are aiming for an unprecedented fourth league title in a row.
“Everybody talks about Sergio Aguero (goal vs QPR in 2012),” he stated. “But without the corner from David Silva and (goal from) Edin Dzeko, it wouldn’t have happened…”
Guardiola, however, refused to draw comparisons between the various championship-winning squads, saying, “Don’t ask me to pick between the five Premier League titles that we won.” They were all really challenging, took a lot of work, and you should ask me how I felt on Sunday after the game. There is no brain contamination; all I can think about right now is West Ham.”
