Pep Guardiola AGREES with Sam Allardyce’s claim that he ‘is as good as him and Jurgen Klopp’
Pep Guardiola AGREEs with Sam Allardyce’s claim he is ‘as good as him and Jurgen Klopp’, with Man City boss admitting new Leeds manager’s ‘charisma’ will make life difficult during the crisis in Etihad
- Sam Allardyce has been appointed manager of Leeds to save the club from relegation
- In the first interview as boss, he said he is as good as Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp
- Guardiola said he is right and he prefers young managers
Pep Guardiola agrees with Sam Allardyce’s claim that he is only as good as he is as the Manchester City manager launched a defense of experienced England managers.
Embattled Leeds raised eyebrows this week by turning to 68-year-old Allardyce in a last-ditch effort to stave off relegation.
Allardyce’s revelation on Wednesday was as surprising as he claimed ‘there’s no one ahead of me in football terms – not Pep, not (Jurgen) Klopp, not (Mikel) Arteta’.
The new Leeds boss will have the chance to show just that on Saturday afternoon, when his relegation-threatened team travels to triple-chased City.
Allardyce’s comments were presented to Guardiola after Wednesday’s 3-0 win against West Ham and elicited surprisingly positive reactions.
Sam Allardyce hit back at his critics during his first press conference as Leeds United boss
Allardyce said he is as good as Pep Guardiola (pictured) and Jurgen Klopp
“He’s right,” said the City boss. ‘I want to be honest. Now look what happened to Neil Warnock in Huddersfield, for example.
“Now there’s a tendency for these incredible managers, they’ve done this Premier League or this league in a better position.
“It looks like the young managers are there now with the tactics or whatever… so they’re really good, helping us to be what we are.
“Look at the managers, Roy Hodgson of Crystal Palace, what they’ve done.
“They are really good, they have an incredible experience, they know the game perfectly and if he thinks that’s why.
“It will be difficult because he has the charisma, he will put pressure on the players and he knows exactly what to do in situations like this in a relegation battle.”
“It’s like these kind of old managers… I’m being honest, so what they’ve done for the club (is dismissed as) ‘they’re old, whatever’.
Now the people who are 35, 40, 45, we invent football or we create football.
“No, football is already made and these guys belong to that league and helped us do that and that’s why.
Allardyce took charge of training ahead of Leeds’ trip to Man City on Wednesday
So, Neil Warnock, Huddersfield was in last (spot) and already out of the dangerous positions.
“I have not been able to experience what Harry Redknapp has done in this country.
“There are a lot of English managers who have done very, very well.
You don’t have to be young to be a good manager. No matter how much experience you have, you’re fine.’