Pep Guardiola has been left spellbound by English football, wants an international job in the future and would NEVER coach Spain, writes JACK GAUGHAN… now imagine his England team
English football enchants Pep Guardiola in a way that has surprised him over the past eight years on these shores. The culture of it all, more than anything. The sounds, the smells, the deep pyramid, the ruthlessness. Even the cold, windy nights when you might need to mix it up. He has come to perversely enjoy it.
There was already an understanding of how different the Premier League was from La Liga, or even the Bundesliga, but the way the sport breathes from every pore of this country has enchanted the manager of Manchester City.
He certainly loves Manchester. Certainly, he likes City – because of the environment created and the autonomy offered. But what is often overlooked is that he also loves England as a sporting organism.
He likes British footballers. He likes the traditional spirit. He likes the way the country has developed its young players into more technically skilled players, while retaining that renowned grit. It always made him think that this national team should earn a prominent position on the world stage.
He must have thought long and hard since that FA approach came months ago, because for a man who openly wants international management to be part of his future, jobs don’t get much bigger.
Pep Guardiola is more enamored with English football than he ever expected
He has shown an affinity with English players and will have thought long and hard about the FA’s approach
His Champions League-winning team had several England stars and he has tried to buy others
Especially considering that he will never coach Spain, because of his views on Catalan independence, and especially considering his attitude towards the talent that this country has. If there was ever an opportunity to sign an Englishman deemed good enough for the Premier League champions, and the money was considered good, he would be preferred.
That represents a very small Venn diagram, but Guardiola spent almost £250m on England internationals during his time at City. That number would have been significantly higher if they had picked Harry Kane or Declan Rice. Yet, when City completed the Treble on that balmy evening in Istanbul, they ended the evening with four of their own players on the pitch – the same number as Sir Alex Ferguson had when he achieved the feat in 1999.
One, John Stones, was undoubtedly the man of the match when operating in midfield. His performance was the hallmark of City’s attempt to win the draw, an audacious display in which they steamrolled through Inter, proof that the local boys also understand Guardiola’s nuances. That is not just reserved for the Hispanics.
And then someone who changed the course of that final. Phil Foden had not made the starting XI and was called up when Kevin De Bruyne suffered a hamstring tear that would have implications for the next nine months.
He is being treated harshly by Guardiola, Foden. Always has been. There is something fatherly about the relationship and because of that the 24-year-old is judged differently. He has been absent for a long time – although this year’s omissions at the start of the season were due to illness – and still has to fight a little harder.
So when he won those individual trophies after a stormy campaign last season, it was vindication. For him, for sticking to the plan, and for Guardiola for the maturity of someone, sporting director Txiki Begiristain showed him clips from the first day in 2016.
Guardiola’s friend, Marti Perarnau, writes in his latest book, ‘The Pep Revolution’, that the City boss told him to withhold Foden’s name just two months into his job when the two of them ate at the Chinese restaurant Wing’s – and that he had hoped to give him a debut at the age of 16. Perarnau calls Foden Guardiola’s ‘second son’.
“I couldn’t have had a better person at Pep to help me along the way,” Foden told Mail Sport earlier this year. ‘He gave me the confidence in big competitions at such a young age. I’ve never seen anyone like him. It’s funny, I feel like sometimes he thinks I’m still that little boy, and I don’t mind.”
Phil Foden is his ‘second son’ according to one book and he could make the star the fulcrum of his England side if he were to take the full-time job
Guardiola also has unfinished business with Cole Palmer and could reunite with him
He has great respect for Harry Kane and City have made several attempts to sign the striker
Guardiola has worked and worked on Foden, desperate to find the perfect hybrid of blistering, devastating – as goes without saying – and calmer in his decision-making.
The latter took time, but is now coming to the fore. Therefore, Guardiola would have England Foden in the center of the pitch. Could he finally be the man to grab Jude Bellingham and tell him his role is as a number 8, all-action midfielder, rather than awkwardly putting the country’s two outstanding talents in the same spot? Given his appearance, that feels very likely.
His respect for Kane is well documented and got Guardiola into trouble with Mauricio Pochettino a few years ago when he dubbed Tottenham ‘The Harry Kane Team’, while City have flirted with deals for Eberechi Eze and Ben Chilwell in the past. For all three of these players, part of the decision not to continue was cost prohibitive. Add Rice to that list and City pull out of the bidding war with Arsenal.
Cole Palmer’s role in all of this is intriguing. In time, Guardiola might come out and admit that City had made a mistake in selling him – as a few people within the club suggested when Chelsea announced the maverick striker. Palmer wanted more minutes and was on the verge of arranging a move to Vincent Kompany’s Burnley when City decided they would either stay or leave permanently.
It seems likely that Guardiola would deploy Jude Bellingham as an all-action number eight
Guardiola would relish the challenge of getting the most out of England’s varied talents
The FA contacted Guardiola this summer and there is a feeling that Lee Carsley will not get the job
Like Foden before him, Palmer’s introduction to the first team was slow. Undoubtedly too slow and in the Treble year opportunities often arose on the left wing – not an area where Palmer naturally flourishes. Guardiola wanted him to stay, Palmer wanted to stay, but the emergence of Oscar Bobb – coupled with the £42m offered by Chelsea – swung the pendulum.
In that respect it feels like unfinished business and Palmer had huge admirers for his prowess in City training – he deserved the kind of praise that is rarely reserved for anyone, especially one so young. He is now an integral part of England’s future and if anyone can find a way to build a team with Palmer, Foden, Bellingham and Bukayo Saka, it is Guardiola. Just the kind of tactical challenge this man likes.