You’re unlikely to find too many people doubting that Pep Guardiola is the best football coach of the modern era, and the Man City manager has hinted at his future plans ahead of the Community Shield with Arsenal.
The former Barcelona and Bayern man has changed the way that football is played in the Premier League, and for the most part has managed to ensure his City sides are head and shoulders above the rest of the English top-flight.
Though it’s been a few years in the making, a treble of FA Cup, Premier League and Champions League in 2022/23 was no more than the Cityzens deserved.
Pep, ever the perfectionist, almost certainly won’t allow his players to rest on their laurels. After the Community Shield, there’s the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup to win in order to complete the sextuple, and the defence of their treble will also be an added motivation.
If they can add the Carabao Cup too, they’ll be the first in history to do the quadruple, and, injuries permitting, one can imagine they could go close.
The drive and desire to consistently be the best must take an awful lot out of you, and Guardiola gave an interview on his future plans.
“I signed a contract for another two years because I feel comfortable – and nothing has changed whether we won (the treble) or didn’t win,” he was quoted as saying by the Manchester Evening News.
“I am happy and the people are happy, the board and the hierarchy especially, because they decide in the end which manager is going to lead this group of players.
“If they are satisfied, I am still satisfied. I want to defend what we won and maybe at the end of the season, if I am tired, we will talk with the club – or maybe extend more.”
Those managers that thought they only had another two seasons to wait will likely be holding their heads in their hands after hearing that.
