GUARDIOLA FUMES: He believes City are being treated harshly, hints at end of coaching career
Football
By
AFP
| Jan 04, 2017
Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City are being harshly treated by officials and admits he has taken time to adapt to the style of football in the Premier League.
Guardiola was in a tetchy mood despite City’s 2-1 victory over Burnley on Monday as he vented his frustrations over the first half dismissal of Brazilian midfielder Fernandinho.
It was Fernandinho’s third red card in six weeks and City’s seventh in 30 games this season, but Guardiola reacted sarcastically to being questioned over whether his side had a disciplinary problem.
“Yes, from the team with the most ball possession. Yeah, yeah, yeah,” said Guardiola.
“We had a lot of disciplinary problems. Now we expect what the FA decide.
“We try to play football, don’t forget it. My teams always in my career try to play football. I cannot control the other circumstances.”
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To compound Guardiola’s bad mood, he felt that Burnley’s goal from Ben Mee should have been disallowed for a foul on City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo as he issued another sarcastic reply to a question about Fernandinho’s red card.
“It is always our fault, it’s always City’s fault,” he snapped. “Yeah, yeah. I saw other games. All around the world, the Burnley goal on Claudio Bravo is a foul.
“Here, and all around the world, the rules say the goalkeeper in the six yard box cannot be touched. He goes here and the striker does this (slaps his arm).
“But I saw (Marteen) Stekelenburg Everton v Middlesbrough at the beginning of the season and it was the same, it was a goal.
“Okay, so I have to adapt and I have to understand there are special rules here in England. Now I learn, so now we’re going to play.
“I saw the foul for Claudio Bravo that was definite.”
Meanwhile, has said he is approaching the end of his coaching career and the process of bidding goodbye has already started.
The 45-year-old manager, who replaced Manuel Pellegrini at the start of the season, believes his current stint at City could be one of his last managerial assignments.
“I will be at Manchester for the next three seasons, maybe more,” Guardiola told NBC.
“I will not be on the bench until I am 60 or 65 years old. I feel the process of my goodbye has already started.”
Guardiola racked up three La Liga trophies and two Champions League wins in four years at Barcelona before moving to Bayern Munich in 2013.