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Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola tells Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger: 'I am on your side'

Guardiola empathises with his under-fire counterpart and believes managers should stick up for each other publicly

Mark Critchley
Northern Football Correspondent
Wednesday 28 February 2018 21:42 GMT
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Pep Guardiola empathises with Arsene Wenger's predicament at Arsenal
Pep Guardiola empathises with Arsene Wenger's predicament at Arsenal

Pep Guardiola has reassured Arsène Wenger that he is ‘on his side’ as the Arsenal manager comes under mounting pressure to resign.

Guardiola’s Manchester City overpowered Arsenal in Sunday’s EFL Cup final at Wembley, comfortably beating Wenger’s side 3-0 on their way to winning their first silverware of the season so far.

Arsenal’s resounding defeat and limp performance has led to renewed calls for Wenger to end his 21 year-long stay at the club this summer.

As The Independent revealed on Tuesday, Monaco’s Leonardo Jardim is interested in replacing the 67-year-old Wenger, while Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers and Germany national team coach Joachim Low are among others to be linked with the Emirates.


​Guardiola’s track record of consistent success as a coach means he has rarely – if ever – had to endure the type of job pressure that has become a fact of life for Wenger over the last decade.

However, ahead of meeting Arsenal for the second time in the space of five days, he empathised with his rival, while also scolding other coaches who criticise their contemporaries.

“What happened with Arsène after the game has happened to me,” he said. “I always support my colleagues.

“I don’t understand when other managers criticise the other managers because we feel the same, when we win, when we lose, we accept the opinions of the fans and the people and you feel alone. Believe me, you feel alone because there’s a lot of pressure on your shoulders.

Guardiola added: “I understand completely. I’d like to tell him that I am close, I am on the same side as him. I understand what he feels because I have had it before.

“That’s why I don’t understand when other managers criticise. Maybe people believe I’ve said something wrong, it’s tough for me to understand when you use this tribune to criticise colleagues. It’s tough to send a message to the other ones from here because everyone understands how you feel when you lose.

“What happened can happen to me in the future. We won – I’m good, Arsène Wenger didn’t win so he’s not good.”

Guardiola went on to say that he admires Wenger, but only as much as he admires his other managerial counterparts before again questioning why some in the profession choose to publicly criticise others.

When asked whether he thought highly of Wenger. “Him and all the managers. I don’t have more admiration for him than the rest because he has had success. I have admiration for all of them.”

“For him, for what he has done in Arsenal for a long time but there are many in the Championship, League One, and in other leagues, they are good good managers who are doing well.

“You have opinions about the game, but I never understand why the managers criticise each other.”

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