Pep Guardiola has dominated the Premier League, winning five titles in six years. Photo: Getty Images/Oli Scarff
It was just a couple Hours after Manchester United officially announced that Sir Alex Ferguson would retire at the end of the season, this observer was called to Old Trafford for an audience with David Gill.
The sun was shining, a few days later United were due to display their 13th Premier League trophy for Ferguson's outstanding reign, and the club's then chief executive, after months of keeping a secret that was now disclosed, really wanted to share my thoughts about the great man.
Gill watched Ferguson up close and personal for 10 years, but rated his ability to drive down, not just up, as one of his greatest strengths. This is plus his perseverance, compassion, ruthlessness, serial winning attitude and sense of humor.
Yes, Ferguson's sense of humor must not be forgotten, as Gill recalled how the Scot made him call Walter Di Salvo, the club's Italian fitness coach, and pretend that a staff meeting was called on the day of the 2006 World Cup final between Italy. and France. “So you got Walter to skimp on his Italian style before Alex eventually opened his hand,” Gill recalls, smiling.
On that fine May day in 2013, there were no signs of the thunderclouds that would soon engulf Old Trafford. But a decade later, with United still struggling to emerge from Ferguson's shadow and his apparent heir now threatening to emulate his greatest achievement on the other side of the Manchester Divide, there is the only clear challenge to Manchester City's continued dominance in the coming years. another bad sequence.
Sir Alex Ferguson signed after his final match in 2013 – the club hasn't won a title since then Credit: PA/Martin Rickett
Of course United could stop City's treble quest by beating their rivals in Saturday's FA Cup final at Wembley and maintain their status as the only English club to hold the honour, for at least another season, but he It's going to take a lot more to adequately derail Pep Guardiola's juggernaut.
Indeed, maybe only a Fergie-sized problem that City will one day have to contend with will bring them down because Guardiola, like Ferguson before him, sets standards that others cannot keep up with.
If Guardiola fulfills his remaining contract, which runs until June 2025, he will spend nine years at City, not 27 years at Old Trafford like Ferguson, but long enough to build the empire shaped in his vision to create an aura of invincibility. to reinforce the culture of winning and elevate players to even greater heights.
Understandable excitement when Guardiola signs City's contract extension – there have been three to date – but also relief because the club is keenly aware of the big void he will leave and what they will lose.
“I don't know, it's a great unknown, but change always adds an element of risk,” Gill said the day he was asked if replacing Ferguson was “an impossible job.”
“Many jobs are considered impossible. I don't think it's an impossible job, you come with a very impressive support structure on and off the pitch in terms of players and amenities.”
If Ferguson's departure did anything, besides playing into the hands of their rival, it gave City a model for how succession should not be managed. There is no guarantee that after Guardiola's departure, when that day does come, they will safely exit the game, but it is hard to believe that they will make the same mistakes that have only exacerbated the problems at Old Trafford.
With a clear blueprint for the kind of football they want to play, City are unlikely to be tossed between coaches with very different styles, as United have done, and there's no doubt that Guardiola's successor will operate in the best space available. As far as the team is concerned, it would be surprising if he didn't end up with an impressive pool of players, although the biggest challenges may lie with the age profiles of these talents. David Moyes, Ferguson's successor, inherited a lot of serial winners, but too many at the end of his career, and with it a lot of poorly handled rebuilding work.
Having effectively rebuilt the club since 2008, Abu Dhabi knows what investment and careful planning is all about. It appears that United under Glaser were more obsessed with keeping Ferguson's departure under wraps than planning for the future in 2013, but City have had to wonder more than once what a post-Guardiola world might look like. This was certainly true a few years ago when Guardiola entered the last 12 months of his contract and there were genuine fears that he might leave before he eventually signed a two-year extension in November 2020.
Moyes often wondered. If only things had been easier, if Gill – a seasoned administrator – hadn't left at the same time as Ferguson, and City could find it harder to navigate the process if director of football Chiki Begiristain and chief executive Ferran Soriano leave with Guardiola.
Soriano has hinted in the past that this won't happen, but it will be a triple whammy City owners are desperate to avoid.
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