{"id":292479,"date":"2023-10-20T22:25:48","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T22:25:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?p=292479"},"modified":"2023-10-20T22:25:48","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T22:25:48","slug":"i-dont-remember-pep-guardiola-denies-tipping-roberto-de-zerbi-as-successor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/i-dont-remember-pep-guardiola-denies-tipping-roberto-de-zerbi-as-successor\/","title":{"rendered":"I don\u2019t remember \u2013 Pep Guardiola denies tipping Roberto De Zerbi as successor"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n
Pep Guardiola says he cannot recall telling anybody he believes Roberto De Zerbi will succeed him as Manchester City manager.<\/p>\n
A story has emerged claiming the Catalan privately tipped the Brighton boss to succeed him after City drew at the Amex Stadium in May.<\/p>\n
Yet, while Guardiola may have cast doubt over whether that occurred, he has repeatedly been effusive in his praise of the Italian and remains so ahead of Saturday\u2019s meeting between their two clubs.<\/p>\n
Guardiola, whose future beyond the expiry of his contract in 2025 is unclear, said: \u201cI don\u2019t remember that.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe I have bad memory but I\u2019m sure Roberto can train in any team around the world. I don\u2019t have any doubt.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t remember saying that to the players. I remember saying before he arrived, one or two games in, about sustaining the manager, but I don\u2019t remember saying that honestly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s none of my business. If the chairman asks my opinion I will give my opinion but it\u2019s none of my business.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not the sporting director. It\u2019s not my responsibility to say what\u2019s going right or wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former Sassuolo and Shakhtar Donetsk boss De Zerbi has made a big impression since taking over at Brighton just over a year ago.<\/p>\n
He guided the club into European competition for the first time with a sixth-placed finish in the Premier League last season and they have started the current campaign strongly.<\/p>\n
Guardiola feels this proves a manager need not have had experience at the highest level to land the biggest jobs.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cIt doesn\u2019t mean you have to be at the top clubs to be manager of the top clubs. I was appointed Barcelona first-team (manager) coming from the fourth division with no experience at the top level.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have the idea of the club, the sporting director follows the idea, they hire the manager for this idea, they hire players to follow the idea. When that happens it\u2019s going well.<\/p>\n
\u201cMan City have done this, Liverpool with Jurgen (Klopp) for many years \u2013 winning titles with the same process and same ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Guardiola, 52, is widely considered the greatest coach of his generation having last year added a third Champions League title to a glittering CV that also includes five Premier League wins.<\/p>\n
His players are always in the perfect body-shape position.<\/p>\n
Yet even he feels like he can learn from a relative youngster like 44-year-old De Zerbi.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cHis players are always in the perfect body-shape position to get the ball.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a stupid thing to say but one of the key points. Everyone moves in the right moment, tempo.<\/p>\n
\u201cFootball is not \u2018you have to move\u2019, it\u2019s when. It\u2019s body shape in the perfect shape. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything he does makes sense and I learn.\u201d<\/p>\n
Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sign up to Miguel Delaney\u2019s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for free Sign up to Miguel\u2019s Delaney\u2019s free weekly newsletter Thanks […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292478,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n