Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has defended his old rival Jose Mourinho and compared him to basketball great Michael Jordan ahead of their reunion in north London this weekend.
Guardiola and Mourinho enjoyed a healthy and at times fierce rivalry while managing Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively at the start of the last decade, which was later renewed in Manchester.
The pair will meet on Sunday for the first time since Mourinho’s dismissal by Manchester United, which resulted in many suggesting that the Portuguese’s methods are unfashionable and outdated.
But Guardiola rode to the Tottenham manager’s defence at his pre-match press conference on Friday by pointing to his record of winning trophies over the course of a 20-year managerial career.
“The value of Jose, a manager with all that experience, is not to be judge on one season,” Guardiola said. “You look at his career, 15 or 20 years. We get judged for the last game, something we do. But I try to judge my colleagues not for one season. That gives more value.
“Periods for managers, everyone has it. You have seasons with good and bad periods, have to rebuild things. For 15 or 20 years he’s been there all the time and that must be respected, it’s the most difficult thing to be there all the time.
“When you win a lot of titles and then don’t people think it’s not good? In sport you lose more than you win. Michael Jordan won six NBA titles, they lost more than they win but he was the greatest athlete. You keep going and work hard.”
Guardiola added: “Always I had incredible respect for what he’s had in his career, always. Sometimes a situation happens and it’s part of our job and that’s all.”
Despite Guardiola and Mourinho managing in Manchester together for two-and-a-half years, their rivalry never quite reached the level of their years in La Liga. “I’m sorry for you,” the Catalan joked.
“Maybe we are older and more experienced. I know every time we played the people weren’t talking about who is going to win, just my performance or his, and after that they’d be happy. It didn’t happen.”
