Pep Guardiola has extended his Manchester City contract and will likely therefore extend the very real inferiority complexes of his so-called ‘rivals’ in the Premier League, who have been roundly embarrassed by his side’s dominance in his eight seasons at the Etihad.
We’ve come up with a damning indictment of inferiority for each of the other five members of the Big Six since Guardiola arrived in the summer of 2016.
Arsenal: One Champions League knockout win
Manchester City haven’t been the Champions League juggernauts that their domestic dominance suggests they should have been during Guardiola’s tenure – it was about the only stick left to beat him with before they eventually got the monkey off their back in 2023.
Their relationship with Europe’s showcase competition hasn’t been a smooth one but they’ve had a relationship to speak of, unlike Arsenal.
The Gunners have only been in it twice during the age of Guardiola in England: in the Spaniard’s first season in the Premier League, when they successfully negotiated a group with PSG, Basel and Ludogrets before losing 10-2 on aggregate to Bayern Munich; and last season, when they squeezed through the first knockout round against Porto on penalties before limping out in the quarter-final, again to Bayern.
Chelsea: 28 fewer points per season
The argument from Chelsea fans and the previous regime to defend their saloon-door manager policy was ‘works though, doesn’t it?’. But Guardiola marks the cut-off point after which it no longer did.
Antonio Conte drove Chelsea to the title in his and Guardiola’s first season in England, but none of the Blues’ eight managerial changes since the Spaniard has arrived have led to a title. Not even a sniff of one in fact, with 19 points the smallest gap between the two sides come season’s end, which they ‘achieved’ in consecutive seasons thanks to a bit of Frank Lampard and a lot more Thomas Tuchel.
In the seven seasons since Chelsea won the title in 2016/2017, when Guardiola was still getting his feet under the table, Manchester City have won 200 more points than Chelsea; that’s an average of over 28 more points per season.
Tottenham: 36 knockout victories
No trophies, obviously, but that doesn’t paint a picture anywhere near clear enough of Spurs’ subservience. In the time that Manchester City have won 18 trophies (and yes we’re counting the minor ones because Tottenham sure as sh*t would), Spurs have reached just two finals and won 36 knockout games. Manchester City have won 85.
Manchester United: Spent more
The Sheikh sugar daddy argument rather falls down for Manchester United fans when you dig into, or rather brush the surface, of the numbers.
Manchester United have spent £1.32bn on players since Guardiola arrived in the Premier League, compared to Manchester City’s £1.27bn, with the Citizen sales of £694m in that time providing further embarrassment for United, who have recouped just £363m.
United have spent more, have a significantly greater net spend, have watched City win six Premier League titles – usually from quite a distance – and have failed to finish above their rivals in any of Guardiola’s eight seasons in charge.
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Liverpool: The Great Rivalry
“I will miss him a lot,” Guardiola said when asked about his great rival leaving Liverpool. “Jurgen has been a really important part of my life. He brought me to another level as a manager.”
We don’t doubt that and we can’t dismiss what were undoubtedly some brilliant battles between two great sides under two great managers, who were so far ahead of the chasing pack for a couple of seasons that those clashes took on added importance as genuine title deciders.
It was definitely over-egged at times, with TV broadcasters as much to blame as anyone for huge build-ups to games between the two even when they weren’t going properly toe-to-toe in the Premier League, which only happened twice, in 2018/2019 and 2021/2022.
Arne Slot is currently wondering what all the fuss was about as he and Liverpool trot ahead of Manchester City without any bother, and it would be very funny if he was to cruise to the title in his first season after The Honorary Scouser fought tooth and nail with Guardiola for years and managed to pip him and City just once.
An enjoyable rivalry certainly, but we would argue a Great Rivalry would need to be significantly less one-sided.
