Pep Guardiola has never been one to hold back his thoughts. Whether in the dugout, at a press conference or in a quiet room with a view of Barcelona’s Passeig de Gracia, the Manchester City manager is always as candid as he is intense.
In a recent interview with GQ, Guardiola opened up about his struggles, his philosophy on football and life, and for the first time, spoke about his future plans.
Here are five key things we learned from a fascinating sit-down with one of football’s greatest minds.
“My head said enough” – Why Guardiola knows when to stop
Reflecting on both his playing and coaching careers, Guardiola made it clear that for him, the decisive factor is not physical condition, but mental clarity.
“My career stopped when my head said enough,” he explained. “I could have prolonged it, but my head said: I’m tired, I can’t do any more. I think I knew how to stop at the right moment. The same thing happened to me with my coaching job at FC Barcelona.
“There came a time when I said enough, that’s enough. I’m going to look for another challenge. When you try to push it too hard, things just don’t work out. But it was my head, not so much my muscles, or my knees, or my feet.”
The City boss insists that the mental aspect of sport – and life – is “everything”.
“It’s the least researched muscle, probably due to difficulty. But it all stems from that.”
That same mental approach guided his decision to leave Barcelona in 2012, and it will guide him again in the future.
A turbulent season and the lessons of failure
Guardiola didn’t shy away from describing the challenges of City’s most difficult season under his watch, a campaign that saw a staggering 13-14 games without a win.
Yet he sees it as a necessary correction after years of dominance in the Premier League
“When you win six Premier Leagues, there comes a time when you go downhill. It’s human nature.
“We probably should have moved more players, but it’s easy to say that after the fact. Success confuses you. It hasn’t confused us for many years, but this year, players have been getting injured a lot.
“Why? Because the focus is no longer on what you have to do. When the focus is no longer on doing what you have to do, you get injured more.”
Despite criticism he has faced – “I’ve been in every away stadium for four or five months with the crowd shouting, ‘You’ll be sacked in the morning’” – Guardiola says he has embraced the challenge.
“Look, one thing about sports is that you can’t always win every competition you play. You know why? Because it’s impossible. Impossible. So you lose sometimes, well yes, that’s part of sports.”
Failure? He loves it
In a world obsessed with perfection, Guardiola finds beauty in losing.
“I’m delighted to have failed. I love failures. In this society where everything has to be perfect, where you have to post your food on Instagram…
‘Oh, how good, how happy I am.’ Every day we have to prove that we’re happy. Well, yes, I’m sad, I fail, and I lose. So? So? Name one who doesn’t do it. The important thing is to do it, give it your all, and do it well.”
For him, falling short is an essential part of the process.
“I’ve done poorly, we’ve had worse results than I expected, but hey, the next day there’s another one, and I’m going to try again. And next year I’m going to do better. That’s what it’s all about.”
Lamine Yamal and the Messi comparison
The Barcelona-born coach couldn’t avoid questions about Lamine Yamal, the 18-year-old wonderkid already being hailed as “the next Messi.” Guardiola was wise in his words.
“I think Lamine Yamal should be allowed to develop his career. And when he’s been playing for fifteen years, we’ll decide if he’s better or worse. Let him develop his career.
“And the fact that he’s being compared to Messi is a big deal… but we have to let him develop his career. And we’ll see.”
He then added a reality check for those expecting another Messi.
“Messi has been a big deal. 90 goals in one season, for 15 years, nonstop, without injury. That’s a big deal. Let him go. Let him go.”
And as for a return to Barcelona, in any capacity?
“It’s over. It’s over forever. It was very beautiful, but it’s over now.”
“I’m going to stop after this stage with City” – Guardiola’s future
Perhaps the most eye-catching revelation came when Guardiola addressed the question of longevity.
While some coaches stay on the touchline until they can’t stand anymore, Pep has already made up his mind.
“I know that after this stage with City I’m going to stop, that’s for sure, it’s decided, more than decided.
“I don’t know how long I’ll stop for, a year, two years, three years, five, ten, fifteen, I don’t know. But I’m going to stop after this stage with City, because I need to stop and focus on myself, on my body.”
He described this break as a chance to slow down:
“In Catalan, they say badar. Badar, badar, badar… I want to do this, simply stop and watch the cows go by when the train goes by. My grandfather used to say, you look at me like cows watch the train go by. Well, that’s it, you have to stop and watch it go by.”
Does this mean he’ll never coach again? Not necessarily.
“Life will put something in front of me, and I’ll say: Oh, do I want to do this or not? And if not, well, I’ll figure it out. And I think my plan now is this: stop, stop… And then we’ll see.”
For all the talk of tactics, trophies and titles, the portrait that emerges from Pep Guardiola today is of a man deeply aware of his own limits, fascinated by the mind’s power, and ready, when the time comes, to step off the carousel.
City fans may find solace in the fact that his passion still burns, but the countdown has started.
When Guardiola decides his head has had enough once more, football will have to get used to watching the train go by without him.
