Managing a Premier League club is a high-profile job. With it comes a tremendous amount of stress which has lead to some spectacular meltdowns. Kevin Keegan’s “I’d love it” outburst in the mid – 90s remains the benchmark but there have been others.
The normally urbane Arsène Wenger snapped at the BBC’s Jacqui Oakley a few years back, erring dangerously close to sexism as he patronised the experience football reporter. Both Sir Alex Ferguson and Sam Allardyce cold-shouldered sections of the media at varying points in their career.
So Pep Guardiola’s recent monosyllabic and curt post-match interview was relatively tame by comparison. Except this was ice-cold Spaniard who was rarely flustered. The pressure of the job was telling as City’s form was still wobbling.
Defeat at Anfield ended a run of three consecutive victories, including an all-important 2 – 1 win over top four rivals Arsenal. The Gunners were in control for much of the first half but as at Goodison Park, contrived to throw away a lead and lost.
It was an important win for City and left the six points behind leaders Chelsea but also put City in the right frame of mind to face Liverpool at Anfield. Between the two games, the positives were reinforced as Hull City were brushed aside at the KCOM Stadium.
A turgid performance at Anfield saw City lose 1 – 0. It was a tight game but the Citizens offered little or no attacking threat. Despite that, Guardiola faced the press with good grace or as much as can be mustered in such situations.
As a player, he could be a prickly character on the pitch and that streak surfaced after his Manchester City side beat Burnley 2 – 1 at the Etihad. Facing the cameras after the match, the Catalan was barely coherent such was his fury at Fernandinho’s red card.
Damian Johnson, the BBC match reporter legitimately quizzed the City boss on the midfielder’s dreadful disciplinary record. It was Fernandinho’ third red card in six games and he’d only just returned from a three-match suspension.
As far as Guardiola was concerned, it was an appalling decision, telling Johnson that he should ask the referee why the red card was brandished or better still, use his own expertise to work out the answer. The reported continued to probe, asking if he felt that he owed the fans his views.
The eyes gave it away. Guardiola looked at the Man from the BBC with a mix of contempt and incredulity. An angrier version of his recent infamous “Stan Collymore?”observation. The one thing which was very apparent, Guardiola thought Johnson to be an idiot.
Things got bizarre when Guardiola’s voice rose an octave or two as he mocked Johnson for declaring that the City manager didn’t seem happy. “I’m so happy, believe me. I’m so happy. Happy new year,” he squawked at the camera and a sentence later, the interview was done.
Managers have all manner of pressure on the for results and City were still seven points adrift of Chelsea but with a game more played. The eased a little when Chelsea lost at White Hart Lane. Guardiola like Klopp and Wenger, is hoping that the south-west Londoners show a similar vulnerability as City after their ten match winning run came to a juddering halt at the start of the season.
City remain on the fringes of the title race and Guardiola admitted that despite all of his preparations ahead of moving to the Premier League, the intensity of the season had taken by surprise. Oh how he must wish that all City’s opponents are as supine as West Ham were in the FA Cup.
The outburst though is food for thought for his peers. In a five game spell from the end of February, the Sky Blues face Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal. It’s a gruelling fixture list and, with City’s and their opponents fates resting on the outcomes, high pressure games.
If Guardiola shows sign of cracking after a routine win, will the opportunity to wind him up further be too much for Jose Mourinho to resist? While Conte and the rest are civilised – or at least carry the air of civility – the Portuguese made no secret of the animosity between the pair who were previously good friends.
Having managed Real Madrid and Barcelona, the feud between the two was given reignited as they faced off across the same city.
But this vulnerability is a dangerous crack in the Guardiola veneer. It’s a weakness to prod and probe. As the title race intensifies, the concern for City fans is that it may seep into the fabric of the squad, causing an implosion and forcing them not only to miss out on the title but also next season’s Champions League.
And that would be judged as an utter failure.
