Seven years and 99 days! Pep Guardiola’s tenure at Manchester City as a manager.
The Catalan has been asked numerous times about his departure from Manchester and as soon as his time contract arrives expiry, he extends the contract. Guardiola currently is the second-largest serving manager after his adversary Jurgen Klopp.
What surprises us is that Pep has stayed at Man City for over 7 years now. In his previous stays at Barcelona and Bayern Munich, the Catalan collectively managed 408 games. For Manchester City, he has already completed 426 games now.
Such longevity is unusual in modern football, especially for the manager who is used to having 3 to 4 years of service for one club.
“It’s a good question for the players. I am asking this question many, many times for myself,” he said. “‘Oh again, this guy is shouting at me and saying something again and again and again…’
“It’s an honor to be the second-longest serving manager right now behind Jurgen. That means we have done really, really well because the big clubs don’t wait.”
Guardiola’s secret of keeping his players happy has been giving them enough space to feel fresh and excited.
He added, “That’s why I don’t spend much time with the players. 45 minutes, then the meetings on the day of the game. The rest of the time I am not with them, they are not with me. That’s maybe why we can sustain longer this relationship.”
Pep Guardiola and his squad have been breaking records and are on the verge of registering their fourth consecutive Premier League title, a feat achieved by no other squad EVER.