Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, has recently made headlines by dismissing the idea that the 2024-25 season was a disaster for his team. Instead, he boldly claimed that their third-place finish was even better than his last title win. This statement comes after a challenging season where Manchester City failed to secure any trophies and barely managed to qualify for the Champions League.
The 2024-25 season marked the second time in Guardiola's career where he ended without securing any trophies. However, far from being disheartened or viewing it as a failure, Guardiola saw this as an opportunity for growth and learning.
In an interview with Reuters, he expressed his unique perspective on dealing with setbacks. "I want to suffer when I'm not winning," said Guardiola. He believes that everyone is here to experience different things and learn from them - even if they are not always victories.
Pep Guardiola, Manchester City manager, said:
"I want to suffer when I'm not winning games. I want to feel bad. I want to sleep badly. I want that when the situation goes bad, it affects me... I want that!"
“I'm angry... my food, it tastes worse... I don't need to eat much because I need to feel that (anger). Because if it doesn't, what sense would it have? Winning or losing... We're here in this world to feel different experiences, different moods.”
Why third place trumps previous title wins
Guardiola went further to explain why he considered this third-place finish more valuable than previous title wins. According to him, this challenging season provided him with invaluable insights and lessons which will be instrumental in shaping future strategies.
Pep Guardiola added:
"You judge happiness if you win. You judge success if you win and win. And that is a problem. I will not judge myself or my team because of bad seasons or good seasons... Maybe finishing third in a season and never giving up otherwise you finish 10th or 12th, maybe that's a better season than when we won the fourth Premier League in a row.
“We faced so many difficulties that were higher due to injuries, relaxation, I was not good enough... for many reasons. Maybe the analysis about my period is that the last season was better. Qualifying for the Champions League when we were on the verge of not getting it."
The struggle faced by Manchester City during the past season forced them into a corner where they had no choice but to adapt and evolve their game plan significantly just so they could secure their place in the Champions League competition. Despite facing one of his most challenging seasons yet, Pep Guardiola remains optimistic about what lies ahead for Manchester City. With new experiences under their belt and lessons learned from past mistakes, both City and Guardiola are gearing up to mount an even stronger challenge in the upcoming season.
