Pep Guardiola aims ‘monstrous dig’ at Man Utd over club crisis while explaining why Man City are ‘so stable’
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has hit Manchester United with a ‘monstrous dig’ over the running of their club, according to Gary Neville.
Guardiola once again got the better of Man Utd on Sunday, as his team ran out comfortable 3-0 winners at Old Trafford in the Premier League. Erling Haaland was the star of the show, as he scored from the penalty spot, headed home a second and then set up Phil Foden for City’s third.
Having been thrashed 6-3 by the same opponents in October last year, Man Utd supporters were once again put through a painful showing. City dominated possession and limited the home side to just seven shots, while having 21 efforts themselves. Former City defender Nedum Onuoha even went as far as describing the performance as ‘like a cat playing with its food’.
The result put City – who are in third spot – level on points with second-placed Arsenal, while they are also just two points behind leaders Tottenham Hotspur. While the reigning Premier League champions have not been at their best this season, they have still won eight out of their 10 league games so far.
Man Utd, in contrast, are languishing in eighth place, eight points off the top four. They have won five and lost five of their 10 league matches, with the pressure beginning to mount on Erik ten Hag.
After the derby victory, Guardiola was asked why his club is so efficient, unlike some of their English rivals. The coach responded (via Sky Sports): “I said many times, we are in the same direction, the chairman, the CEO, the sport director, the manager and the players.
“We go there. Wrong or right, it doesn’t matter – we go there.
“We make mistakes of course. When we lose or the situation is not going well we’re not here to blame someone. ‘It’s OK, we will have do better, what’s happening? The opponent is getting better, we’re getting worse, what do we have to do to find a solution?’ That is nice.
Pep Guardiola explains Man City success
“That’s the way we’ve done it since day one. First season we didn’t win, I didn’t feel my chairman complain, absolutely not. He supported me unconditionally. I remember when we lost the final of the Champions League to Chelsea we were devastated, I was. And the chairman said ‘we are going to win it, sooner or later. What do we have to do next? Come on, let’s go’.
“The club rely on me, the players know I rely on them. When that happens we are not incredibly over-excited when we win and [when] we lose it’s not dramatic. OK it’s a football game what do we have to do to get better? That’s why I think the club organisation is so stable.”
Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, Neville labelled this comment from Guardiola as a ‘monstrous dig’ at the way Man Utd have been run in recent years.
Neville has constantly criticised the Glazers, as he does not think they have the right intentions at Man Utd and are resultantly appointing the wrong people to run the club.
Following the loss to City, Neville also suggested that Man Utd are arguably the only big club in the world that do not have a sporting director, which is badly affecting every football decision which is being made.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe will be looking to make several changes upon his arrival at Man Utd, but he is facing a very tough job to get Man Utd properly competing with City.
