Sir Alex Ferguson won two Champions League titles with Manchester United. Photo: Getty Images/John Peters
Pep Guardiola's statistics are constantly growing more impressive. Five Premier League wins in six seasons with Manchester City, 11 titles in three different countries; In total, he won 30 trophies. This makes him the most decorated manager currently in the game, ahead of series winners such as José Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Antonio Conte. And he's only 52 years old. If he follows Roy Hodgson's lead and doesn't succumb to chronology, he could scale up his personal trophy cabinet for another 25 years.
Bear in mind that he would need to be around almost as long to match one management record: Sir Alex Ferguson. Ferguson has won 13 Premier Leagues, five FA Cups, four League Cups and two Champions Leagues during his time at Manchester United, in addition to the three Scottish League titles, four Scottish Cups and the European Cup Winners' Cup he amassed at Aberdeen. . Inevitably, as Guardiola dominates the English game in a way not seen since Ferguson's peak days, comparisons will be made: who is better, who is smarter, who is the champion of champions? This is what we football fans do: we have an overwhelming desire to quantify who is the best.
It's hard to say where to start to install this best mantle, such is the extent of both men's accomplishments. By a simple result of personal meetings, Guardiola wins the title. Teams led by two men have met only twice, naturally in the Champions League final. And in both cases, Guardiola's Barcelona emerged victorious; indeed such was their superiority, Ferguson easily regarded them as the best side he had ever met. Although, to be honest, if you or I managed a team that included Xavi, Iniesta, Messi and Busquets, we would have a chance.
Both men have done what sets them apart from their peers in creating a dynasty of winners. Ferguson did it against the odds in Aberdeen before heading south to Manchester. Guardiola did it twice, making Barcelona the dominant force in Spain before turning Manchester City into a trophy-accumulating machine. And this with a short interlude in Bavaria Munich, adorned with a trophy.
The essential difference that tips the dial in favor of the Scots is the scale of the operation they inherited.
Pep Guardiola won two Champions League finals against Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United. Photo: PA/Nick Potts
In 1980, Ferguson won his first title in a quarter of a century against Aberdeen. No United fan needs to be reminded that at Old Trafford the gap was even greater: 26 years. Guardiola has never faced the kind of rebuilding that Ferguson has achieved. When he arrived at Manchester City, the Abu Dhabi revolution was already in full swing, he brought two titles under the leadership of Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini. Ferguson made a mess; Guardiola is the richest football club in history. This does not detract from how much he has transformed City, turning them with the power of his personality into purveyors of beautiful winning football. He bought amazing players and made them better. Jack Grealish, Kevin De Bruyne (signed under Pellegrini), John Stones and Nathan Ake: the list of those who have moved to the next level since coming under his tutelage is getting longer every season.
This is where the similarities are most noticeable: both players imposed their will on their clubs in a way that few in the history of the game can match. They did it in different ways: Ferguson wanted to know every aspect of the club, Guardiola left it to others, and he himself concentrated on what was happening on the pitch. But no matter how they did it, both established absolute power. Jaap Stam, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Roy Keane: Ferguson moved ruthlessly against those who, in his opinion, were no longer an integral part of his system. No matter how good they are. And Guardiola does the same. Many felt that Joao Cancelo was a vital cog in the team that won the title last season. But when the Portuguese doubted the choice of a coach and insisted that he play more often, he was dismissed without hesitation. And no one could have imagined that the team suffered as a result.
Ferguson, for all his seeming omnipotence, was an astute delegate. Although he had the last word on tactics, most of the work on the range was done by his assistants. Players such as Brian Kidd, Carlos Queiroz, Steve McLaren and René Meulensteen had a huge impact on what happened on the pitch. Guardiola is clearly more interested in tactical innovation, constantly monitoring new ways and methodologies at the micro level; a change in Stones' game, but the last of his inventions.
That's the problem when choosing who is better: both are unbeatable in their own way. Except for one: in 1999, Ferguson won the treble. Guardiola has registered a clean win at City but has so far failed in his attempts to repeat his Champions League victories in Barcelona. As you may have heard, he has a chance to equal Ferguson this season. Perhaps if Guardiola does this to add to his already stellar record, we can make a proper comparison.
Свежие комментарии