Guardiola laughing as Klopp favourite reveals he ‘didn’t know anything about football’ before Man City transfer
Pep Guardiola appears to have gotten one up over managerial rival Jurgen Klopp after a world-class star admitted he ‘didn’t know anything about football’ before signing for Manchester City, despite working under Klopp previously.
Guardiola and City have ruined Klopp’s chances of winning some big trophies with Liverpool. On two occasions during their Premier League rivalry, City have beaten Liverpool to the title by just a single point. Making those defeats even more painful is the fact Liverpool amassed over 90 points in each of those campaigns.
Of course, Liverpool have still won all of the major trophies there is to win under Klopp’s guidance, including the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup. However, it is clear that Klopp’s medal collection would be even larger if Guardiola had never gone to the Etihad.
The two managers also went toe-to-toe while managing Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich respectively.
One player who was crucial to Klopp’s success at Dortmund is midfielder Ilkay Gundogan. He subsequently became City’s first signing of the Guardiola era in 2016, joining in a £21m deal.
Gundogan enjoyed a fantastic season in 2022-23, captaining City to an incredible treble of the Prem, Champions League and FA Cup. He recently opted to snub the offer of a new City contract in order to join Barcelona on a free transfer.
And the German has now made an intriguing claim about his former manager Guardiola, one which Klopp will not be happy about.
“Well it can be sometimes, but I think in a good way,” Gundogan replied when asked whether Guardiola’s methods can occasionally be too confusing (via talkSPORT).
Ilkay Gundogan heaps praise on Pep Guardiola
“Seven years before, when I joined Man City, I thought ‘I know football’ you know I was 25, 26 years old so I thought I’ve seen a lot, I’ve won league titles, cup titles.
“Now, standing here after seven years of Pep’s school, I probably would say I didn’t know anything about football before.
“So his influence, not just on the team, also on me personally, was just immense.
“The aspects, the little details of the game that he has taught me and showed to us I think is very special.”
Gundogan went on to speak about similarities between Guardiola and his new manager Xavi.
“The style is very similar to what I played at City,” he added.
“Guardiola and Xavi are very similar. I felt a connection with Xavi from the first moment we spoke.
“When I spoke to him I knew they were on the right track. It’s an incredible team and an opportunity to be able to play in another league and in another country.”
