Pep Guardiola’s signing of a new one-year contract as Manchester City coach shows the eye of the tiger with this son of Catalonia. For Apollo Creed’s line to Rocky Balboa in Rocky III that “you had that eye of the tiger, the edge, and now you have to get it back,” read Guardiola’s desire to overcome the many challenges plaguing his team and his club and prove: once again, his genius.
The reasons he might have chosen to walk next summer may have been the same reasons that reignited his desire to stay. Either way, the 53-year-old’s decision comes at a fascinating moment in an era-defining eight-and-a-half-year reign.
Related: No relegation break clause in Pep Guardiola’s new deal with Manchester City
Guardiola’s empire is under threat on several fronts. He has just overseen the first four-game losing streak of a glittering coaching career, a shaky start that threatens City’s tilt towards a fifth successive Premier League title. That run also knocked them out of the Carabao Cup and includes the 4-1 thrashing of Sporting in their last Champions League outing.
We then move on to the Premier League’s trial against the club for financial wrongdoing, which is being heard by an independent commission and involves more than 100 charges. City deny any wrongdoing, but if found guilty he could be relegated from the top flight.
Guardiola has no termination clause and leads a squad that could require significant renewal given that 12 players will be 30 or over by mid-September: Manuel Akanji, Jack Grealish, Nathan Aké (all 30), Mateo Kovacic, Bernardo Silva (31), John Stones, Ederson, Stefan Ortega (32), Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gündogan (34), Kyle Walker (35) and Scott Carson (40). De Bruyne, Gündogan and Carson will leave next summer unless they too agree new contracts.
Beyond this group, Rodri and Kalvin Phillips will then be 29 years old, Rúben Dias 28 years old and Matheus Nunes 26 years old. The 25 or under contingent includes Erling Haaland, Savinho, Josko Gvardiol, Rico Lewis, Phil Foden, Jérémy Doku, Oscar Bobb, Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, Nico O’Reilly, James McAtee, Josh Wilson-Esbrand and Máximo Perrone.
By agreeing to occupy the City hot seat for a tenth year (at least), Guardiola thumbs his nose at the above and the imminent departure of his close friend Txiki Begiristain as sporting director in June has not been resolved. neither proved an existential threat to its occupation.
Guardiola’s extension provides a welcome boost in the campaign to halt City’s losing streak. It won’t have been a primary consideration – Guardiola will have analyzed the vital signs of his desire, intensity and energy level – but the deal is an immediate certifiable boost and grim news, to be sure, for competition.
The City machine was present for the first time since Guardiola’s opening season (his only one without a trophy), but he now prepares for Saturday’s visit to Tottenham in the league with players who clearly know that the man in whom they have confidence will make the decisions for next year and a half After defeats against Tottenham (2-1, Carabao Cup), Bournemouth (2-1, championship), Sporting and Brighton (2-1, championship), Haaland, De Bruyne, Silva, Ederson et al will have a new spark as they head to training at the Etihad campus.
When he first started at City, Guardiola said he couldn’t imagine staying beyond the three years of his first contract. Indeed, four seasons at Barcelona, from 2008 to 2012, had exhausted him and required 12 months of absence before taking charge of Bayern Munich. Three years earlier, tired of internal politics, he moved to City.
The fact that Guardiola did not endure the same in east Manchester and stayed for so long illustrates how comfortable he feels. Here we see how the club did an expert job of accommodating him. The hiring of Begiristain (in October 2012) and Ferran Soriano (in September 2012, as general manager), after each having held similar positions at Barcelona, was the key decision by Khaldoon al-Mubarak, the president, to prepare the club for the arrival of Guardiola. arrival.
When Guardiola did so four years later, Mubarak’s master plan was to provide him with the players needed to build the City that dominated. There was a serious misstep in the first year, as full-backs Pablo Zabaleta, Gaël Clichy (31 years each) and Bacary Sagna (33 years old) and Aleksandar Kolarov, technically limited, were not replaced and City, after 10 victories in the first year. 10 matches in all competitions, finished third, with 78 points, 15 points behind champion Chelsea. The lack of silverware led to Guardiola being questioned.
Mubarak, Begiristain and Soriano decided in the summer of 2017 to remedy this problem by investing more than £120m in three full-backs – Kyle Walker, Benjamin Mendy and Danilo – and the following season City were champions and winners of the League Cup.
Seven years later, Guardiola’s honors at City read: six Premier League titles, one Champions League, four Carabao Cups, two FA Cups, the UEFA Super Cup and the World Cup. FIFA clubs. He is the longest serving starter in the Premier League and the second longest serving in England’s top four divisions.
At the end of this contract, Guardiola will be 55 years old. Previously, he almost scoffed when asked if he was close to Arsene Wenger’s 22 years at Arsenal or the 26-and-a-half years Sir Alex Ferguson had at Manchester United. But don’t bet against him signing again.
Twelve months from now, keep your eyes peeled, because the extension agreed this week is the third in a row in November.