Pep Guardiola has moved to clarify remarks made in a recent interview with NBC, which led to speculation that the Manchester City manager might be disillusioned in England and was already thinking about retirement.
“All I said was that I would not be still a trainer when I am 60,” Guardiola said. “I still stand by that, because I started young and I have been in football for a long time, but at the moment I am 45. I have no plans to retire. I love my job and I am in a perfect place to do it, here in England. I am not thinking of retiring in the next four or five year, I am happy at Manchester City and grateful for the chance to come and work here. Maybe it was inappropriate to say I am starting to say goodbye to my career, but I know what I am thinking of when I talk about when I am going to retire.”
Guardiola also raised eyebrows in the same interview when he suggested City were some way behind leading teams such as Liverpool, Manchester United, Barcelona and Bayern Munich in terms of titles, though in advance of Friday’s FA Cup game at West Ham he was at pains to stress that he was talking in terms of history and tradition.
“I never said that City is below that level at the moment,” he said. “When I said we were behind Liverpool, United and the other clubs I was speaking about titles won in the past, and I hope people understand that. I think Manchester City is one of the best clubs in the world right now and it is my job to make it stronger.
“We have not got the history of those clubs, but we are in a good position to do something about it. Even in the league table right now we are not in too bad a position, it is just that Chelsea have opened up quite a lead. We are two points behind the team in second, and I am happy with that at this stage of the season.”
