“For the rest of my life” – Pep Guardiola hails FA Cup as cornerstone of English football heritage | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has fondly remembered his experiences of competing in the FA Cup ahead of Saturday’s fourth-round tie with Salford City.

The Blues are in a good run of form that has given them encouragement of hunting down Premier League leaders Arsenal in the coming months, having set up a Carabao Cup final tie with Arsenal at Wembley for March 22.

Guardiola faces an uncertain future at the Etihad Stadium as despite having another season left on his current deal, there has been talk about a potential parting of ways between the Catalan and the eight-time Premier League champions this summer.

City remain at a nascent stage of their transition under director of football Hugo Viana, who has made sweeping changes to the first-team ranks since replacing Txiki Begiristain last summer, with the Blues also adding Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi to their squad in January.

In a press conference on Friday afternoon, Guardiola spoke at length on the FA Cup being part of England’s heritage. “Absolutely. Listen, I prefer to play at home. But one of the most enjoyable memories that I will have in this country is when I play FA Cup away in the League One or League Two (stadiums),” the 55-year-old said.

“Always incredible. That experience there, when you arrive in the stadium with the coach and all the fans, ‘Who are ya? Who are ya?’ So, ah, God! These kind of things and the vibes and the long balls and the other things, honestly I promise you, it will be one of the memories I will take for the rest of my life.

“I love the FA Cup. I love it. I love it. It was a part of when I was a boy. But I prefer to play against Salford at home. I don’t want to travel today against – well, my apartment is in Salford, so we will not travel. But you understand what I mean. So I prefer to play at home. But the away games in the FA Cup is top.

“I think after 10 years, I don’t like a few things in this country. But I’m not here to change it. But there are a lot of things I love and this is one of the ones. I remember before, the old Wembley. When we won, as a football player, the first Champions League, 1992, Barcelona.

“I remember the managers walking a long, long way, with the players. And this country, how we respect the traditions is, no other country can do that. Always we’re getting rid of what we had for many years.

“In other countries, you have in mind that, ‘No, it doesn’t matter, it’s old, it’s old, it’s old’. This combination for the new things, but respect the old things; I love the UK for that. I love it.”

Guardiola is expected to shuffle his ranks for Saturday’s meeting with Salford City but the Catalan has admitted to reservations over making one change too many to his side as he looks to build on a positive recent run of form.

Manchester City’s first-team squad have three days off after this weekend’s FA Cup commitments as they look to rest and recuperate to be ready to tackle a demanding fixture calendar in the season’s run-in.