Out there in the real world, outside the holy church of football, there have been many brilliant, highly innovative individuals who have risen to the top of their field, been nurtured and rewarded for it, and not allowed a moment of self-pity when the roof started to collapse.
John Sculley was such a successful executive at Apple that he played a role in the ouster of Steve Jobs, yet prioritized market share over innovation and watched things fall apart under his watch. Robert Nakasone built Toys 'R' Us into a monolith, but was complacent about digital progress. There were consequences.
And that brings us to Pep Guardiola – a person it has been a privilege to observe at close range over the past eight years, who, despite his current basic difficulties, tells us that he has not eaten, slept or 'been'. not good enough' to solve Manchester City's problems.
Is it heresy to suggest that the public air of melancholy he currently exudes – casting himself in the role of tragic hero and even scratching his face until it bleeds – is precious and rather needy? That it can't have any positive motivational effect on its players?
A BBC journalist put it to Guardiola on Friday that his recent admission of loss of appetite and sleep will have 'shocked' some people when he said: 'I have a certain moral authority – over what has happened in my career'. said.
Yes, Guardiola was indeed on a different level to almost any other football manager. His success is the reason he can deliver the little bits of choreography we've seen from him on the pitch after a match over the years, guide opponents and publicly discuss his own mistakes in a way that no other manager can. that's possible. would probably dare.
“I am the master and you are the students,” he seems to have said. He has been distant and alone, up there on a different cognitive level.
But that “moral authority” is never sacred or immutable in a game like football, which, as he now discovers, can be the most brutal equalizer. These performances do not mean Guardiola is immune from blame.
He has largely shared in the complacency that City have shown about the challenge that their Premier League rivals may present this season. He is as responsible for his side's aging as Jurgen Klopp was when Liverpool's creaking midfield failed to mount a credible title defense in the 2020/21 season.
City wouldn't have signed Wolves' Matheus Nunes for £53m – on the same day Cole Palmer left for Chelsea for £45m – without the manager having a very significant say in the matter. Manchester City's enormous purchasing power may be too much of a good thing.
These unpleasant little realities are not part of Guardiola's own narrative composition this autumn, in which he abandons himself like a man to the whims of events. “The soul and spirit are there, but we are sad,” he said on Friday, detailing the injuries and schedules that left him thinking his poor club might need a squad of 45 or 50 players to cope with the workload . 'It's time to survive. To survive. Stay there. Be closer than ever.'
He's not the only one with superhero powers who finds moments like this completely otherworldly. Many a football-playing Superman has come into our football unaccustomed to failure, wondering what to do when exposed to his kryptonite. Ruud Gullit had been at Newcastle barely a year when the fall came, swift and painful, and with nothing to catch him he rushed down the hill.
Guardiola's success offers him much more protection than that. He knows that Manchester City would – quite rightly – never let him through the door. Any offer he might make to resign his position and leave the club would carry no risk of it being accepted. He knows that. It would just be a play. Another piece of theater.
City are set to make a major backing for him in January, with four new signings expected – an indication the club believe they will escape stiff penalties on the Premier League's 115 charges.
Midfield is a priority, with a back-up striker, centre-back and right-back. Guardiola's demand is to step up, gain traction and push the players who have stopped pushing to old levels with the same intensity, or else identify those who can go a step further and do the same at City.
He can start by not moping around and not giving them the subliminal psychological outing he offered when he told my colleague Ian Ladyman on Sunday night: 'I'm the boss, I'm the manager and I'm not good enough. It's that simple.' Hardly any leadership in adversity.
Neither Sculley nor Nakasone had press conferences to organize their own fights, and neither survived their catastrophes. A fate like theirs will not befall Guardiola, who will always be seen as a managerial genius. But this moment requires a different kind of leadership. It's about him – but not all about him.
Rashford must ditch 'advisors'
Marcus Rashford's demise has broken so many hearts. Despite everything, he has been a regular in my nine-year-old grandson's fantasy football team this season, and the many Manchester United posters on the wall in our boy's bedroom include a special Rashford section that will be there for a long time to come. after he's gone.
Rashford said on Tuesday he has no “hard feelings” towards United as he has resigned to leaving. His anger should be directed at the godforsaken individuals who are currently 'advising' him.
Get rid of them, restore the positive influences, otherwise it will be the same story of decline for him at every other club.
American golf greed
I spent fifteen minutes in the company of Ed Moses at the Laureus Awards in Madrid this summer – long enough for him to argue passionately that it was right to start paying prize money to Olympic athletes who won medals, to give those who got the money desperately need.
What a contrast to the dismal, hugely rewarded American golfers who, as has just been confirmed, will receive £400,000 each for playing the Ryder Cup, while the Europeans continue to play for the love of the game.
Day tickets for the Long Island event cost $750. Even practice day tickets cost $255.27. Americans just don't see how disgusting they look.
Chasing Salah is hard to beat
It's been a great year for sportsbooks. Chasing Salah, a biography of the player by Simon Hughes, takes some beating in my opinion.
I've also just started A Striking Summer, Stephen Brenkley's portrayal of the extraordinary 1926 Ashes, staged in England against the backdrop of the general strike and the aftermath of the First World War.
Revolution was in the air, but cricket healed the wounds that summer. I will write more about the book here, but it is a nice way to set up 2025, an Ash Year.
'See you next year!
There won't be any column from me next week, so it will be New Year's Eve when I see you again. Thank you for all your emails and messages throughout the year and keep them coming.
Our discussions and debates outside the pages were excellent, whether we agreed with them or not. Merry Christmas and a peaceful New Year to you all.
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