Guardiola's good friend Marty Perarnau accepted an exclusive interview with the "Post" and talked about some old things when Guardiola was coaching Manchester City.
According to Matti Perarnau's recollection, Guardiola's first season in charge of Manchester City did not go well. Although they started well, from a 3-3 draw with Celtic in the Champions League to a 0-1 loss to Manchester United in the League Cup, Manchester City went through 6 games without a win in all competitions. The next match between Manchester City and Barcelona in the Champions League group stage is a life and death battle for Guardiola.
In the first match of the group stage, Manchester City lost 0-4 to Barcelona. Guardiola was worried that if he lost again at home to Barcelona, the club might fire him. This would be the first time he was fired. Guardiola has never been in a situation where Such a tense situation. Fortunately, Manchester City finally defeated Barcelona 3-1.
However, the test for Guardiola was not over. Entering December, Manchester City's record fluctuated again. At that time, it was ranked fifth in the standings. This was the first time in his coaching career that he was in mid-season. The team loses hope of competing for the championship.
In Manchester, Guardiola fully understood failure. He was not used to losing before - he only lost 8.5% of the games in charge of Barcelona and 11.8% in Munich. In Manchester, he lost 22.5% of his games at that time. These defeats have weakened his determination to continue as Manchester City coach.
One night in December, Guardiola brought a bottle of red wine to the apartment of a technical member of the team. The two old friends drank until late at night. They talked about their children's studies, their parents, and health problems. There was no talk of football. It was this open-hearted communication that made Guardiola change his mentality, start to get rid of the shadow of failure, gradually get out of the predicament, and be full of energy.
In 2021, Guardiola had a conflict with the team's star Sterling. According to Marti Perarnau, Sterling asked Guardiola to explain why he was not included in the starting lineup for a certain game. Guardiola clearly told Sterling that the team's finishing ability was not good enough. After several weeks, Guardiola clearly told Sterling that the team's finishing ability was not good enough. After some adjustments, this was his solution.
This made Sterling very dissatisfied. He twice stormed out of the office angrily, but was called back by Guardiola each time. Then after several heated arguments, an extremely angry Sterling left directly, leaving Guardiola alone in the office.
Sterling considers himself a consistent starter and, as Matty Perarnau understands, Sterling is dissatisfied with the way Guardiola praised De Bruyne and the B bench. Guardiola then took a tough stance against Sterling, and Sterling eventually left the team and joined Chelsea .
