Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola believes the competitive nature and sheer unpredictability of the Premier League has presented him with the biggest challenge of his career.
Prior to his move to Manchester, Guardiola collected three La Liga titles and two Champions League trophies with Barcelona, before leading Bayern Munich to three consecutive Bundesliga crowns in competitions dominated by very few teams.
However, the Spaniard said it felt like he needed to learn a whole new set of skills after arriving in England in 2016, forced to cope with heavy fixture congestion and a title challenge from five other contenders.
“I am a better manager than I was in Germany, and I am a better manager now than I was in Barcelona by far, just for the fact of being there,” he said at the Peers Annual Lecture at Liverpool University. “Now, I feel being here I am a better manager too, because I learned to handle this incredible league in many circumstances.
“It is the toughest one, for the amount of games, for the weather and the referees saying: ‘play (on), play (on), play (on)’ and the competitors, there are many. It is the only country that five or six (teams) can win the Premier League.”
Guardiola led City to the Premier League title in record-breaking fashion last season, finishing on 100 points and 106 goals in 38 matches.
City also lifted the League Cup and Community Shield this year to take Guardiola’s tally to 24 major trophies, with the Spaniard admitting that transferring his skills to the international stage could one day come to fruition.
