The last time Pep Guardiola looked and sounded like this, he went to New York for a year. This time he will go straight into the derby against Manchester United in the Premier League.
Guardiola – the manager of Manchester City – seems lost and tired. His podcast chat with Spanish chef Dani Garcia released this week has given us a rare glimpse into his soul and at times it seemed like doubt was lingering and a dead battery staring back at him.
When asked whether he would like to manage another club after City, Guardiola said: 'I wouldn't have the energy for it. The thought of starting somewhere else, the whole training process and so on. No, no, no.
'I want to leave it and play golf. I think quitting would do me some good.'
This is not the Guardiola we think we know. The Guardiola we think we know does not frame conversations in terms of rest, fatigue and stagnation. It is usually characterized by the opposite. By energy and life and by moving forward.
But now, at the start of a recently signed two-year contract extension and on the eve of what increasingly looks like a major rebuild at City, his recent statements are at odds with everything, everything that could be necessary. .
Of all the problems currently facing a team of defending champions with one win in their last ten games, Guardiola is starting to look like the most important. City have injuries, out-of-form players and aging stars. They can fix all that. Maybe not this season, but over time.
But a Guardiola who starts to accelerate? No, they can't fix that. Only he can solve that and this brings us back to New York. Because, as we say, Guardiola is no stranger to exhaustion and burnout. He has been through that grueling road before.
It was in 2012 – when City won their first ever Premier League title – that Guardiola slipped away from Barcelona, leaving behind 14 trophies won in four incredible seasons, but also burdened by the mental and emotional baggage of a debilitating, bitter rivalry with Jose Mourinho. and Real Madrid.
“So many things happened with Mourinho,” he then said. “So many things.”
Life at Barcelona exhausted Guardiola in just four years. He was 41 when he left for a 12-month sabbatical in New York, eventually allowing him to start over at Bayern Munich.
He is now 53 and deeper into his ninth season in England. Why would we expect its battery life to be longer this time? It is a question that will become increasingly relevant as the current period of confusion and uncertainty in east Manchester continues.
City was not particularly bad when it lost to Juventus in Turin on Wednesday evening. They responded well to losing a goal early in the second half and looked the most likely goalscorers when the Italians broke through them to convert their second goal. Sometimes that's just how football goes. Games create moments and this one did too.
Guardiola tried to strike a challenging tone in his conversation with TNT Sports afterwards.
“We will appreciate what we have done in the past more in the future when we do it again,” he said.
It was a nice line and he can be good at it when he feels like it. However, regular media interviews are about image and projecting a message. When you've been at it for as long as Guardiola has, you know what to do and what to say. It's part of the job.
But there was a rawness and candor about that podcast interview – recorded before City's 4-0 defeat to Tottenham, when the run was just zero wins in four games – that was quite striking and anyone who had City's best in their hearts has, I just have to hope that the impression it left was false.
Because whether Kevin De Bruyne is back to his best, whether Jack Grealish rediscovers his Treble-winning form, whether Ederson remembers being a goalkeeper again, fades into insignificance when set against the image of Guardiola slowly aging. This is the shadow that has long hung over the club in the run-up to Sunday's derby with United in front of its own supporters.
Guardiola looks beat up, but that may not be the case. Only he knows how he really feels. He will surely rage against the extinction of the light. City also have some very good players to help him recover.
Likewise, Guardiola wouldn't win many poker games. He doesn't do very well unscrupulously. Much of what he goes through and experiences is usually written squarely on the lines and contours of his face.
Signing that contract last month felt like a bull's-eye for City and even for the Premier League. What does it look like now? The truth is, it's hard to say. And that in itself says it all.
Saudi 2034 was no surprise
The reaction to FIFA's decision to hand Saudi Arabia the 2034 World Cup on a plate was predictable.
We know what was wrong with the process. We know what's wrong with the outcome. But amid all the noise, objections and hand-wringing, one question remains.
When is anyone – a national association, a coach or a player – going to take a real stand against the direction in which President Gianni Infantino and his bunch of FIFA yes-men continue to take our game?
When does someone say 'no'?
Man United's late kick-off is nonsense
The Premier League matches between Chelsea and Brentford and Southampton and Tottenham start on Sunday at 7pm. That's because Chelsea and Spurs play in Europe on Thursday.
Chelsea has a long journey home from Kazakhstan. Spurs, on the other hand, return from Glasgow. Next month, Manchester United will play Fulham on Sunday, January 26 at 7pm after objecting to an afternoon kick-off that day. Their preliminary match on Thursday night is actually at home.
And so a precedent has now been set. Chaos will undoubtedly ensue. More inconvenience for traveling supporters.
The Premier League could have treated Chelsea as a special case. Their journey is uniquely long. But now that they've opened the door, we can expect everyone else to rush inside.
It's nonsense.
Tuchel is finally in town
England manager Thomas Tuchel will attend the World Cup qualifying draw in Zurich on Friday. It'll be nice to see him… finally.
Magpies move closer to stadium decision
Newcastle say a decision on whether to build a new stadium won't be made until next year, but they say the first choice is to stay at St James' Park.
“It's in an iconic location and the atmosphere gives the team a competitive advantage,” says chief operating officer Brad Miller. “There are already 52,000 seats and we would have to pay for all those seats again.”
Remember the days when Newcastle walked and talked like the richest club in the world?
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