Pep Guardiola enters his ninth Premier League season as Manchester City’s head coach with the same question he has faced for years: how does he motivate himself after such success? He knows it is coming and the answers arrive with great detail and a glint in the eye.
Guardiola’s future will be constantly running in the background until either he announces he will leave once his contract expires in the summer or signs an extension, but in the meantime there are matches to win. Records – and charges – will be brought up every time City reach the top of the table or progress through a round of a cup competition. City have already lifted the Community Shield, but can they win all five? No, let’s not be silly. Guardiola often claims he can smell if something is wrong but freshly cut grass at the Etihad Campus is not being overwhelmed as the team prepares for the opener at Chelsea on Sunday.
“In the pre-season it was a bit flat, but as soon as we arrived at the Community Shield and to the competition it ignites something in myself and hopefully in the players as well to do it again,” Guardiola says. “If you don’t have the passion or desire, then don’t be here – that’s the key to everything.
“The pressure is the same as day one, maybe even less because we’ve done it before. But at the same time if you believe nothing will happen if we lose, then we won’t win. Our job is to make sure we do the proper things, because when you do that you win and you live better. The other way, if you believe you have done it and relax, you won’t win, you won’t be top four. That’s always the target at the start of the season.”
Unlike the majority of his players, Guardiola has had a summer where he could enjoy peace and a trip to Wimbledon. “You arrive at the end of the season you are always a little bit tired, though when you fight for the title, you are less tired,” Guardiola says. “When you take a break in your job and disconnect a little bit, you bring energy back – it is necessary. To work better, you have to disconnect. You have to relax your brain, your mind. Think about other things, do other things. Otherwise there is a moment it doesn’t work. I’ve learned that. Before I was like: ‘I have to work.’ No, sometimes resting, you are working better.”
There are quandaries to test Guardiola after Oscar Bobb was ruled out for up to four months with a leg fracture. The Norwegian spent pre-season showing the manager that he is capable of being a regular at City, culminating with a fine performance in the Community Shield, only to suffer a training ground injury. It is a blow for Guardiola, who sanctioned the sale of Julián Álvarez to lighten the forward department, although there are plenty of configurations that could be implemented at Stamford Bridge, where City drew 4-4 last season, and the manager will embrace the challenge of fitting the components together.
Another, more pressing issue, is Rodri’s absence, having returned only recently from holiday after winning the Euros with Spain. City lost three out of four league games when he was missing last season.
Ambitions are, however, on hold in August. Guardiola knows titles are not earned on the opening day. “When we arrive in the last month and we are close to winning another Premier League, then that will be the motivation,” he says. “But now? For me the motivation to win another Premier League is not there … for me it will be in the last month. Now it’s: ‘Can we beat Chelsea?’”
Along with success on the pitch, Guardiola can boast the educating of a new batch of Premier League managers. Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta worked under him before heading to the Emirates and his opposite number at Stamford Bridge, Enzo Maresca, was previously a City assistant before taking over at Chelsea via winning the Championship with Leicester.
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“But we have to look at ourselves and what we can do better as a team, where we can improve, always … always,” he said. “You have to have the desire to be better individually. As a manager to be a better manager, as players to be better individually. If we increase everyone a little bit, our weaknesses, then we increase 11 players and our strength will be 11 times better. This is the target we have to be focused on.”
Guardiola returned to Catalonia over the summer to restore his energy. He met up with his Barcelona B squad, the first he ever managed, taking a moment to reflect. “It is also good to look back on those days, it was so nice,” Guardiola says. “It is 15 years since the first time that we won that league and were promoted from the third division. It was really, really nice to see all of them.
“Most of them are fathers, some divorced, some retired, some still playing, others have started to be managers. So it was really, really nice to spend these four or five hours together after many, many years, when we could not see them. It started from there when all of them were so young.”
If Guardiola secures a seventh title of his reign there could be an incredible dinner in 15 years’ time and he, once again, has the energy and motivation to do it.