After Man City signed Pep Guardiola in 2016, Alex Ferguson said, “Pep won’t find it easy, English football is not easy.” However, with 5 league titles in the next 7 years and achieving the league’s highest-ever points tally, it’s safe to say Guardiola is one of the most successful coaches to grace the English shores. But what is the secret behind his relentless consistency, that has seen him win 2 trebles in his career? The answer lies in tennis and NBA per the Man City boss.

Even in this season, a treble is a possibility. Despite the Spanish tactician revealing that winning back-to-back trebles is a ‘fairytale’, the Sky Blues will be rooting to add another unprecedented achievement to their ranks.

Guardiola on the ‘incredible athletes’ and the ‘biggest dynasties’ that inspire him

In a recent presser, the 53-year-old manager was asked who inspires him from other sports. Pep Guardiola said, “Incredible athletes Federer, Djokovic, Nadal, the biggest dynasties in NBA. NBA has a team like maybe Chicago Bulls from Jordan, but I’m not compared with that.” Just like Manchester City, the Chicago Bulls won 3 consecutive NBA titles from 1991 to 1993. However, staying at the top is not easy, per the Spaniard. He added, “Don’t misunderstand me, but for the fact that it’s difficult even NBA with other clubs like to have two or three in a row, four in a row.”

Since his arrival in England, Manchester City has always been amongst the best sides in the EPL and has never been outside the Top 4. An achievement, that Pep Guardiola seems to be proud of. He stated, “In Spain, in Italy, always is difficult to you know arrive in Europe and be there for a long time in domestic leagues like especially this Premier League. That is so nice. That means a lot for all of us.” 

Interestingly, this is not the first time Guardiola has referenced the famed tennis trio. Back in 2019, the master tactician remarked that the English Premier League scenario was similar to the Big 3 rivalry in tennis.

Pep Guardiola said that rivalry with Liverpool is ‘similar to Nadal, Federer and Djokovic’

For a long time, Liverpool and Manchester City have set the standards for English soccer. The title races were so intense that Guardiola said previously, “It’s similar to Nadal, Federer, and Djokovic, no? They push one to be better than the other one because they know.” He added that athletes like the aforementioned tennis pros were needed in English soccer.

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Pep Guardiola explained, “We need it in sport, as athletes. They (the players at Manchester City) know. I didn’t tell them, but they know how strong Liverpool is. They know that we can’t drop points because if we do Liverpool is going to win the league.” Incidentally, Liverpool raced Man City to the title that season. However, as great rivalries do, this pushed Man City to improve, and they responded by winning 3 consecutive titles!

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