“He’s the other one” – Pep Guardiola responds to Jose Mourinho’s “lawsuit” claims against Manchester City Jose Mourinho slammed Pep Guardiola and Manchester City this week over the club’s ongoing legal battle with the Premier League.
Pep Guardiola added Jose Mourinho to a “huge list” of people who want Manchester City relegated after the Portuguese player reacted to a joke made by Jose Mourinho earlier this week.
Guardiola joked about Mourinho’s sacking after winning titles with Chelsea in a press conference on Tuesday, pointing out that Mourinho’s rapid fall from grace is accelerating after his compatriot has only won three titles as a manager while he has won six. His sacking. But that response, and Guardiola’s reference to the difference in their backgrounds, clearly rubbed Mourinho the wrong way, and the Frenchman launched a scathing attack on the Frenchman in a press conference ahead of this weekend’s Fenerbahce match against Besiktas: “Guardiola said something to me yesterday.
“He won six trophies, I won three, but I won fair and square,” Mourinho said. “If I lose, I want to congratulate the other guy because he was better than me. I don’t want to win with 150 lawsuits to deal with.” Guardiola was asked about the comments in his press conference ahead of Saturday’s away game against Crystal Palace, and the Catalan insisted he was joking, before referring to Mourinho’s comments about the allegations City are currently facing in the Premier League. “It was a joke,” he said. “But he’s another in a long list of people who want a Ligue 1 or Conference team.
And I’m sure they will congratulate us very soon.” Guardiola’s decision to compare his own Premier League success with Mourinho is a comment that likely infuriated the current Fenerbahce manager, and while he apologised for insulting the 61-year-old, City again mentioned the manager’s own trophy collection. “I’m talking about what I said, I’m very sorry if I offended him, but it was a joke,” he said. “The fact is, he has three and I have six, that’s a fact. But the intentions were totally fine.
“It’s another long list of people wanting us to be at the bottom, not just in this country but around the world. It’s okay, it’s okay. I’ve said many times, wait for the verdict, everyone is innocent until proven guilty, especially in a democracy. Right? We will wait and see what happens next. ” Guardiola’s comments about sitting at a table with Mourinho, Arsène Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson, in fact, conjured up images of the Premier League’s most successful managers sharing war stories over dinner and wine. Both have won 25 Premier League titles, and Guardiola admitted that he never imagined he would fit into that category when he arrived at the Etihad in 2016.
“No, I remember a lot of people saying that he won because of Barcelona and Leo Messi and the rest, and that he had to prove it in England. Well, I did it,” he said. Guardiola and Mourinho are unlikely to sit down and reminisce anytime soon, but Wenger and Ferguson, who have retired from their coaching careers, are more open. “Yes, I have (spoken to them),” Guardiola said. “I’ve been with Sir Alex a few times. It’s not been that long now, but in the first few years we used to go to charity events together.
Since Arsene retired, his situation has been incredible, but Arsene has remained a gentleman over the years. “They both had great success at United and Arsenal and Jose had great success at Chelsea. In terms of titles, I think all four are the best we’ve achieved in recent years. But when they meet, they rarely talk about the titles they’ve won or the successes they’ve achieved. “When I sit with them, we don’t talk about how good we are or how many titles we’ve won. That would be ridiculous,” Guardiola said. “We talk about life and what the experience is like.
He asked me about what England is like, about my experience at United and Arsenal, and the impact of moving from Highbury to the Emirates. The average person in the football world doesn’t talk about results or how many trophies they’ve won. For a trainer, the great experience is what you experience. “Trophies are nice and there’s another number but the good stuff is what you go through, it gives you experience, the good moments and the bad moments, and the relationships you have with the players and the support staff. Now we’re here.”
