Pep Guardiola says he could not forgive himself for leaving Manchester City during the crisis | Football news
Pep Guardiola says he could not forgive himself for leaving Manchester City in the most testing period since taking charge.
Guardiola takes the reigning champions to Portman Road to take on Ipswich Town, live Sky Sports on Super Sunday, aiming to improve on the 2-2 draw against Brentford last time out.
The City manager won 18 trophies, including six Premier League titles, in less than nine years at the club and ended uncertainty over his future by signing a new two-year contract last November after a run of four successive defeats.
But City’s form continued to suffer and they find themselves eighth in the table ahead of Sunday’s visit to Ipswich.
“Sometimes we don’t appreciate or undermine the fact that we suffer. That’s life,” Guardiola said Sky Sports News.
“People always think that we have to be happy all the time, we have to show on social networks how happy we are. That’s a mistake, life is always up and down and when it happens, it happens, and of course it’s a big challenge.
“I’m here, so when I feel that I can’t handle it, the club – I wouldn’t forgive myself if I said now that I’m going to leave. I wouldn’t forgive myself.
“Absolutely, it doesn’t mean he’ll recover. I don’t know, but at least I won’t regret for a second that I didn’t try. Not for a second. And I’m working and trying to do it. Not for a second, impossible.
“I think most players want to do it. Most players want to do it because I know how they run and how they suffer. But suffering is part of life, it’s never perfect. It’s life itself.
“You can’t win every competition you play for just one reason – because it’s impossible! Even for me it’s impossible. But compared to the whole period I’ve been here for 500+ games, 485 or 490 was a dream come true, was heaven.
“Maybe we had one bad season, or two bad seasons, that happens in life. So, we overestimate success in life too much. We’re trying to recover with the club and we’ll do our best.”
Pep: Haaland can ‘visualise’ his future at City
City have received a major boost ahead of Sunday’s game, with news that Erling Haaland signed an extraordinary contract at the Etihad Stadium for nine and a half years, which is the longest contract in the Premier League and keeps the striker at the club until 2034.
“When Ferran (Soriano, Man City chief executive) told me, I said “sorry, can you repeat it for me!?” Because I couldn’t believe it. It’s never happened before.
“After that it happened, but I don’t think anyone pushed the other. I think both [parties] wanted it.
“I hope it’s great news for the club [and expect] he’s happy, otherwise he wouldn’t have done it. Having this incredible talent, a unique player and striker for the club, for the next decade, is really important.
“He wouldn’t have signed the contract if he couldn’t imagine his future as a footballer in this club, and the potential and challenge here – that would be impossible.
“I am very pleased, especially pleased that he did it at a time when the results were not easy for us. And to do it at this moment, I think it means a lot for the trust of everyone in this club.
“He knows in 10 years – I don’t know what will happen – but he will have different staff and players at the back. So I think he will sign because he sees City in the Premier League, of course, and he sees the potential [and] that the club has been in the top for a decade, many, many years.
“I think the fact that he likes to play in the Premier League is a great compliment to the Premier League, to the whole organisation, to everyone and he wants to play for the club for many reasons – amazing clubs, amazing teams, the year – every year it gets better and that is it.”
Watch Ipswich v Man City live on Sky Sports Premier League from 4pm on Sunday, kick-off 4.30pm.
