Brighton’s Fabian Hurzeler admits he is “definitely watching” Pep Guardiola closely during Manchester City’s struggles | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola is being monitored throughout a rough patch of form by one of his managerial counterparts in the Premier League, it has been revealed.

The Catalan coach is currently in the midst of his most difficult career and run of form as a top-level coach, in a run of matches that has stretched across Manchester City’s last 11 outings in all competitions.

Winning just once in that run, in a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest at home, Manchester City have found themselves slipping to fifth position in the English top-flight table, and 22nd in the UEFA Champions League.

As such, some are already writing off the reigning Premier League champions when it comes to their hopes of a fifth consecutive league crown this campaign, whilst there are ongoing concerns over their hopes of reaching the last-16 in Europe’s premier club competition.

But for some coaches within the game, there is a clear fascination over how one of the greatest managers of all-time is handling the current situation given his exemplary record at all of the clubs he has managed thus far.

Speaking during a new interview with Sky Sports in Germany, Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler has revealed that he is “definitely watching” the way Pep Guardiola is behaving during Manchester City’s torrid run of form.

“I’m definitely watching how he behaves, how he expresses himself under the greatest pressure situations and how he defends and protects his team,” the 31-year-old German coach explained this week.

He continued, “It’s just exciting to watch how one of the best coaches in the world does it.”

Manchester City return to action in the early kick-off on Saturday lunchtime, as they travel to Villa Park to take on Unai Emery’s Aston Villa in another Premier League clash that could have further huge ramifications on the title race.

Pep Guardiola is due to speak to the media on Friday afternoon ahead of that one, and there is intrigue over the state-of-play within his first-team squad after a season of injury and fitness problems throughout.

In a significant boost last time out, despite the calamitous defeat to Manchester United in the Premier League, John Stones returned from a long-standing foot problem to feature on the substitutes bench, indicating that he could play a part this weekend in Birmingham.