Former Liverpool midfielder Graeme Souness believes that Pep Guardiola doesn’t deserve to be called a genius for his managerial achievements.
Speaking on him on the Three Up Front podcast, he detailed: “Recruitment is the single biggest thing you have to get right at a football club. The best manager in the world, with an average group of players, he doesn't win anything.
“If you've got great players with an average manager, you've got a chance of winning stuff. The likelihood is you will win stuff. Pep Guardiola, whatever league he's been in, he's had the best group of players. He took over from Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona, where he had Messi at 20 or 19.
“Then he goes to Bayern Munich, and he takes over from Jupp Heynckes, [who won] four trophies, every trophy including the European Cup.
“Then he comes to City, the richest, and a team that just needed the slightest bit of tweaking. And yes, he obviously manages players very well. But for me there's no genius there.”
Guardiola has been blessed to manage some really talented squads in his managerial career, getting the financial backing to do so as well at Man City. Jurgen Klopp’s work was arguably tougher as he had to operate on a much more rigid budget and build his legacy at Anfield from scratch.
Pep has voiced his intention to stay at Man City until his contract expires (in 2025), but it remains to be seen if he goes through with that especially if the Cityzens are found guilty of breaching 115 financial charges.
