‘He’s up there with the GREATEST’: Roy Keane lauds ‘hungry’ Pep Guardiola after guiding Man City to their third straight Premier League title… as Jamie Redknapp claims the Spaniard has ‘changed football forever’
- Pep Guardiola has been hailed as one of football’s ‘greatest’ managers ever
- The Spaniard guided Manchester City to a fifth Premier League title under him
- Guardiola has won five out of the last six Premier League seasons with City
Roy Keane and Jamie Redknapp have raved over Pep Guardiola’s genius after the Manchester City manager guided the club to their third consecutive Premier League crown.
Guardiola became only the second manager after Sir Alex Ferguson to lift three straight Premier League crowns, his fifth for the club since arriving in 2016.
The Spaniard has overseen five English title triumphs in the last six years and is currently on-track to land a historic treble, with the FA Cup and Champions League finals still to come.
Former Manchester United Premier League winning captain Roy Keane stressed that Guardiola is the ‘most important man’ at City after they beat Chelsea 1-0 on Sunday.
‘He’s up there with the greatest (Guardiola). He’s worked with talented players but you still have to manage them. He keeps that hunger,’ he told Sky Sports.
Pep Guardiola was crowned a Premier League champion for the fifth time on Sunday
Guardiola has now won five out of the last six Premier League seasons with Manchester City
The Spaniard (left) has been hailed as one of football’s greatest ever managers after becoming English champion for a fifth time
‘He looks after himself. He looks a healthy man. He’s the most important man at this club.’
‘The recruitment, the way he’s moved players on. He’s kept that hunger and he’s challenged himself, he’s clearly got brilliant players, he upset [Kyle] Walker, [Kevin] de Bruyne, [John] Stones, and he got rid of [Joao] Cancelo.
‘He knows what he’s doing and he’s done it consistently,’ he added.
Guardiola has long been regarded as one of football’s most influential managers and in modern times has garnered domineering success wherever he goes.
The 52-year-old won the Champions League, LaLiga and domestic cups with Barcelona in Spain, he became Bundesliga champion in charge of Bayern Munich, and has stormed to silverware at Man City.
He has helped re-engineer previously held perceptions around playing out from the back and has moulded players with potential into world class superstars.
Ex-Liverpool midfielder Redknapp highlighted Guardiola’s importance and his belief that the City boss is above all others who have come before him as the Premier League coronation party got underway
‘I think he’s the greatest manager, he’s changed football. [Arrigo] Sacchi at AC Milan, [Johan] Cruyff, what he did, but when you watch football now everyone plays out from the back, he’s changed everyone’s perception of the game.
Jamie Redknapp (left) and Roy Keane (right) raved about Guardiola’s influence at Man City
Guardiola (right) has developed young stars with potential such as Erling Haaland (left) into world class superstars
‘He’s won 11 titles in 14 years. You can talk about [Sir Alex] Ferguson and [Bill] Shankly but for me he has changed football forever.’
‘It will give everyone else a chance (when Pep moves on). There’s only so many managers like him. The most important person is the right manager who sets the right culture, you have to fear them and respect them,’ he added.
‘If you’re a football fan and a neutral you cannot help but love this style of football,’ said Redknapp.
Guardiola was seen enjoying the celebrations with his players on Sunday evening and will have a short turnaround before travelling to play Brighton on Wednesday.
