Pep Guardiola has brushed off the suggestion that he has ambitions to rival Sir Alex Ferguson’s record 13 Premier League titles, with the Manchester City manager insisting that he is not motivated by leaving such a legacy.
Guardiola, whose side visit Fulham on Sunday, has led City to four Premier League crowns in six seasons and will add a fifth if Arsenal’s two-point lead is overhauled in their final seven matches, but is clear that he has set no target on the number he can win. “Never in my life as a manager – everything is beyond my expectation,” he said. “I’m more than grateful to have lived with the incredible teams, players. If I have to finish my career tomorrow, I cannot ask for anything else.
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“It’s why people don’t like me sometimes because I was so fortunate, I’m sorry. Why should I stop? I said so many times: being at the end of the season and fighting – I know if we don’t win the treble, double, the Premier League, we will be a failure, but it doesn’t matter.
“It’s still that we are there: final of FA Cup, Premier League. It’s in our hands, do everything as we have in the last three to four months and we will be closer and closer to doing something exceptional – winning another Premier League. That depends on us.”
Guardiola would not be drawn into speculating where he may rank among the all-time great managers. “Honestly I don’t know, I try to do my job like all the managers but I am not concerned about that. Live the moment and now it is Fulham,” he said. “The rest, it doesn’t matter.
“In life, when it’s gone, it’s gone. When you pass away, you pass away. They remember you, the close family, for a few days and then after, it’s done. This is true, don’t laugh. It is sad but it is true.
“When the manager is replaced, good memories, but I wouldn’t live for my history. Being here for a long time is an honour, of course, but the legacy? People enjoy today watching us, it’s enough. We fight for the title, you can not forget what we give to the others doing our job with the passion and love that we have. And this is good, really really good.”
