Manchester City F.C.
·21 November 2024
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Yahoo sportsManchester City F.C.
·21 November 2024
Pep Guardiola has signed a new two-year contract extension with Manchester City.
The Catalan’s new deal will mean he will have spent more than a decade as City manager.
Guardiola’s time at City is one laden with success. He has so far won 18 major trophies, including six Premier League titles and one UEFA Champions League.
By winning the Premier League title last season, City became the first men’s team in the history of English football to win four top-flight titles in a row.
And the previous campaign had seen Guardiola lead City to a magnificent Treble of Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup in what was the greatest season in our 130-year history.
Under his stewardship, City also became the first team in Premier League history to manage 100 points in a single season (2017/18) and the first in English football to win all four domestic trophies (2018/19).
His overall record is remarkable. Across all competitions, he has won 353 of the 490 matches he has overseen, giving him an outstanding win percentage of 72%, with City scoring 1,200 goals during that period at an average of 2.45 goals per game.
Guardiola’s 490 matches in charge mean only Les McDowall - who managed 587 between 1950 and 1963 – is ahead of Pep on the Club’s all-time list of most games managed.
There is now a possibility Guardiola, who is the longest-serving manager in the Premier League, will surpass McDowall’s total before the end of next season, given our involvement in this summer’s FIFA Club World Cup in the USA.
In light of the news, City Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak praised Guardiola’s leadership and spoke of his delight at the manager’s decision to stay in Manchester for two more years.
“Like every City fan, I am delighted that Pep’s journey with Manchester City will continue; allowing his dedication, passion and innovative thinking to continue to shape the landscape of the game.
“His hunger for improvement and success remains insatiable and the direct beneficiaries of that will continue to be our players and coaching staff, the culture of our Club, and the English game at large.
“This renewal will take Pep beyond a decade of coaching Manchester City and the opportunity to continue to re-write the managerial record books.”
“This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and of course the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Everyone at Manchester City would like to congratulate Pep and wish him the very best with the remainder of his time at the Club.
Pep Guardiola’s pedigree was already well established when he took charge of Manchester City back in the summer of 2016.
The Catalan arrived at the Etihad having forged a reputation as one of the finest managers the game has ever seen by winning 14 trophies in four years at Barcelona followed by seven in three seasons at Bayern Munich.
But even by those remarkable standards, his Manchester City tenure has exceeded all expectations.
City under Guardiola have become a byword for success and sustained excellence, amassing 18 major trophies in his eight full seasons to date, including six Premier League titles and one UEFA Champions League.
He has also helped transform the football club – and significantly impact the wider English game – by introducing a beguiling playing style and continuing to innovate tactically to remain ahead of his competitors.
There has been so much to celebrate. After a difficult first season that saw City struggle for consistency despite flashes of brilliance, Guardiola began to put his own stamp on his squad and success flowed thereafter.
Those who read our pages regularly don’t need an exhaustive list of our achievements, but there are some that stand above others.
The Centurions season of 2017/18 saw City become the first team reach 100 points in the Premier League. It was the first signal the bar was being raised across English football and that things would never be the same again.
A 98-point Premier League campaign followed that saw us see off an outstanding Liverpool side managed by Jurgen Klopp to retain our title, as well as win a clean-sweep of domestic honours. Again, it was new territory – no team had ever won the Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Community Shield in a single season. The record books were being rewritten before our very eyes.
Klopp was, before his departure from Liverpool, undoubtedly Guardiola’s sternest opponent, and he led his side to the title in 2019/20 in a season which was interrupted by the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But City hit back the following year and regained the league crown in quite remarkable circumstances.
In what proved a campaign like no other, one which began late and which was significantly affected by the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic with games largely played out in empty stadia, City demonstrated incredible consistency amidst such testing and turbulent times, overcoming a gruelling fixture schedule by heavily rotating the squad to ensure every player played a part in what proved a third title success in four seasons.
However, it’s the 2022/23 season stands as the finest campaign of Guardiola’s illustrious City reign – and, indeed, the finest in this club’s proud 130-year history – as we won the Treble of Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup… the holy grail of English football.
There were scenes of jubilation across Manchester, as more than 100,000 supporters celebrated in biblical Mancunian rain as an open-top bus made it’s away across the city to parade the silverware in what felt like a fitting way to mark such an astounding achievement.
More history was to follow, as 12 months later City became the first men’s team ever to win four top-flight English titles in succession, beating off the challenge of a spirited Arsenal side managed by Guardiola’s former assistant Mikel Arteta.
It’s clear at this stage Guardiola has created a dynasty, one which will rival the great eras at any sporting institution once it has concluded and the experts begin their analyses. And with news of the manager’s new contract now confirmed, there is plenty more of this story still to be written.
But there is far more than just the success on the pitch that defines Pep’s period as manager. The impact of his legacy will likely be felt for many years after he finally decides to leave the Etihad.
This is a club now gilded in his image; his style and philosophy felt across every age group of our Academy system; his exacting standards seeped into every department of the business.
This is a club totally transformed under Pep’s watch. And the good news for Manchester City fans this evening is there could be plenty more to come.
Barcelona (2008-12)
La Liga (3), Copa del Rey (2), Spanish Super Cup (3), Champions League (2), Super Cup (2), Club World Cup (2)
Total: 14
Bayern Munich (2013-16)
Bundesliga (3), DFB-Pokal (2), UEFA Super Cup (1), FIFA Club World Cup (1)
Total: 7
Manchester City (2016-present)
Premier League (6), UEFA Champions League (1), FA Cup (2), League Cup (4), FIFA Club World Cup (1), UEFA Super Cup (1), Community Shield (3)
Total (to date): 18
Played: 490
Won: 353
Drawn: 70
Lost: 67
For: 1,200
Against: 411
Win percentage: 72%
Goals per game: 2.45
Trophies: 18
City’s 2-0 FA Cup win over Everton in March 2021 set a new club record of 17 successive away matches unbeaten.
City’s 3-1 win over Watford in December 2021 set a new club record for top-flight league victories in a calendar year (31).
City’s 1-0 win over Chelsea in September 2021 was Pep’s 221st as boss – more than any other manager in the Club’s history.
Leroy Sane’s second goal in a 2-0 win over Manchester United in April 2019 was our 157th in all competitions in the 2018/19 season – a new all-time record for a top-flight English club.
City won all nine of our competitive fixtures in January, the most by a team in the top four tiers of English football in a single month since the formation of the Football League in 1888.
City’s 3-1 win away to Everton in February 2021 set a new English of 10 consecutive top-flight league wins at the start of a year.
City’s 2-0 win over Borussia Monchengladbach in February 2021 set a new top-flight English record for consecutive away victories (12).
City’s 2-1 win over West Ham in February 2021 was our 20th consecutive win in all competitions – an English top-flight record.
Our win over Newcastle in May 2021 set a new record for the most consecutive away league wins in the history of the top four tiers of English football (12).
City’s 4-0 win over Newcastle in December 2021 was our 34th of that calendar year – a new English football record for the most top-flight wins in a calendar year. It was also our 18th away league win of the year - more than any other top-flight side has managed in the history of English football.
City’s 2023/24 Premier League win sees us become the first team in the history of English football to win four top-flight titles in succession.
City have now accumulated at least 90 points in four seasons under Guardiola. That is more than any other side in the Premier League has managed in the league’s entire history, with Liverpool and Chelsea both hitting that mark three times. Manchester United have done it twice and Arsenal once. Our 90+ hauls came in 2017/18, 2018/19, 2021/22 and 2023/24.
City’s 7-0 win over Schalke in the second leg of the 2018/19 last 16 in March 2019 equalled the record for the biggest margin of victory in a Champions League knock-out match.
City’s 2-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain in May 2021 set a new record for the longest winning run by an English side in Europe’s elite club competition (since equalled by Liverpool in 2022).
Manchester City’s 6-3 victory over RB Leipzig in September 2021 saw us become the fastest English team in history to reach 50 Champions League wins.
Pep Guardiola became the first visiting manager to win his first three Premier League matches at Old Trafford after City beat United 2-0 in April 2019.
Guardiola became the fastest manager in Premier League history to earn 500 points when City drew 1-1 with Southampton in January 2022 (his 213th game).
Pep has picked up 70 points more than any other manager in Premier League history over their first 300 matches in the competition. He took charge of his 300th Premier League game in April 2024 - a 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest - meaning we have amassed an incredible 704 points during that period. Jose Mourinho’s haul of 634 points from his first 300 games in the division is second best, with Jurgen Klopp third with 633 points. Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger complete the top five with 627 and 617 respectively.