In a recent interview, Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola said former Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, was the best manager of all time.
The Catalan was talking to Sky Sports, where he was answering a series of questions sent in by viewers.
The former Barcelona boss was asked a series of questions including, who were his favourite British artists and if it were more difficult to win a trophy as a manager or player.
However, whilst admitting the rivalry with Jurgen Klopp was the managerial bout he has enjoyed the most in his career, the Liverpool manager did not make it into his list of the best of all time.
The former Bayern boss also curiously claimed he would love to spend time with Sam Allardyce and Neil Warnock to discuss the “old school” mentality of management where tactics were not so important but where the relationships and vibes were of greater significance.
However, the answer that will interest Manchester United fans arrived at the end of the segment. When asked who do you think is the greatest manager of all time, Pep quickly retorted, “Sir Alex Ferguson”.
Perhaps sensing the unpopularity of his answer with his own set of fans, Guardiola quickly also added Johan Cruyff and Arrigo Sacchi.
He claimed that with all three managers “it isn’t just about the titles but the influence”. The Spaniard added that “they changed generations of manager and players and the way they played were unique”.
As you can imagine, being a Barcelona fan, Pep went into more detail about Cruyff asserting that the Dutchman, “changed two clubs, Ajax and Barcelona” and he gave the Catalan side a direction when they did not really have one in the past.
However, the Sky Sports interviewer sensed his chance of a headline and reaffirmed, “so Sir Alex, number one did you say?”.
The Manchester City boss somewhat guardedly confirmed that “yeah, for the amount of consistency, amount of titles, change, dynamics…”. He was quickly interrupted by the interviewer, who asserted that many people see him in that list of all-time greats.
The three time Champions League winning manager claimed now was not the time to judge and “when I retire, I don’t know where people will put me”.
His answer probably comes as no surprise, as Guardiola has never hidden his admiration for Sir Alex. After matching Ferguson’s achievement in June by winning the treble, the Catalan commented that “it’s an honour for me to be like Sir Alex Ferguson — he sent me a message this morning.”
Famously after Pep won his first Premier League title in 2018, the Scottish manager took him out to dinner to celebrate winning his first title, despite beating the Red Devils to the prize.
Therefore, the two legendary managers share a lot of respect for one another but Manchester City fans still won’t be best pleased with the answer, nonetheless.