Let me start by stressing my respect for Pep Guardiola, despite being an Arsenal fan.
As a manager, the argument can be made he’s the greatest to ever live.
Every word he says no doubt is planned, has reasoning and there is a motive behind what he expresses.
He’s smart enough to know that the average listener can’t relate with his complaints that his multi-millionaires had to slum it on a coach from Newcastle to Manchester, (one and a half hours on a luxury coach), taking the same vehicle for their journey to Wolves.
He will even be prepared to offend those who leave their house in the early hours, rely on public transport to get to work, for minimum wage in the middle of a living crisis.
He’s content with the backlash, as his aim is to create a ‘us against the world attitude’ (like they need any more help). If it makes his squad think they are battling against adversity and that improves them even by one percent, it’s worth offending a nation.
He’s too clever with a straight face to truly expect sympathy. Let me stress, the Champions are not travelling on Mega Bus.
The seats will recline, every cushion will be on offer, TVs are on board, the club’s chef is preparing snacks. It’s so luxury that there are perks the majority of us don’t even know exist.
The more you think about his words, that in 2023 a millionaire would choose this to be their cause of concern is sick.
The more you step back and think about that complaint the more insulting.
Perhaps only Pep, given what he’s won, could get away with such a revolting grievance.
The danger is there is a generation of fans who think the definition of a supporter is to believe everything your team say or do is gospel and you’re not allowed to question them. Grown adults do that on this site.
So, there are youngsters who are influenced by every word from Pep and Klopp, another brilliant coach who for years has bemoaned the lack of player welfare.
Not content with tweaks to our domestic cups, a break in winter and an increase of subs, we now have to sympathise when a company owned by a billionaire family has issues with their private jet!
Say that out loud.
Let me explain how TV revenue works and you would learn that if any manager really wanted too, if safeguarding talent truly was a priority, if they genuinely feared players dropping to their knees out of exhaustion, they could prevent all of this.
Not just stop the dastardly schedule, but do so quite easily.
The Prem currently has a television contract worth 5.1 billion!
20 clubs share that money. For that price, they essentially agree when and where to play.
Which sounds fair doesn’t it?
If I’m a company paying that much for content, I have a right to ask you to play at a time I can get my highest ratings?
The clubs can simply say ‘no’.
Klopp and Guardiola have enough power to talk to their bosses and stress if they think any deal puts Salah, Haaland, KDB, etc in danger.
They don’t of course.
Just like they don’t insist on not travelling halfway around the world for preseason friendlies.
Why doesn’t Pep insists on exhibition matches with Wigan and Bolton, allowing players to rest at home with their family all summer?
Surely physically and mentally that’s for the best?
Why have they not asked their employers to fight UEFA on their Champions League expansions which guarantees 2 extra games than the current format?
The problem will only increase!
The Premier League are willing to offer even more games to be shown live. The Premier League by the way means all the teams, you only need 7 to vote against any new deal.
Klopp and Pep would say if they were one of those 7.
The majority are not going to say no to money, are they?
Time slots such as Saturday evenings will now be attractive to either an Amazon wanting to grow its portfolio or a Disney or Netflix who want a slice of the pie.
Neither are paying for Sheffield United vs Luton.
They want Man City/Liverpool/Arsenal/Man United in prime-time slots.
Let’s see how many managers in press conferences stress that they are against new proposals because player welfare is more important.
How many walk into their boss’ offices and say isn’t 5 billion enough?
Do we need anymore?
That a few more billion is injuring our players?
That I will quit because morally I can’t subject these poor players to burnout?
They won’t because this isn’t a Hollywood movie.
The bigger the revenue, the more they get to spend on players, and of course the salaries of Pep and Klopp increase!
For two decades, the likes of Messi and Ronaldo not just played every few days, they were successful.
City won a treble in a year where the World Cup was bang in the middle of it.
12 months before Liverpool were two wins away from a Quadruple.
There’s zero proof therefore that success in other tournaments harms you in other competitions.
Pep and Klopp want Sky Sports and BT to give them billions while somehow reducing their schedule and picking their own dates and times.
It’s arrogant and out of touch…..
If a Nurse has to work long hours and pay for their own car park space.
If a teacher has to teach students in a cabin.
If families have to choose between eating or heating their homes.
Then for a billion pounds, you can play every 3 days, no matter the time, no matter the transport.
Shameful
Dan
“The danger is there is a generation of fans who think the definition of a supporter is to believe everything your team say or do is gospel and you’re not allowed to question them. Grown adults do that on this site.”
I don’t think they beleive anything they are told. It’s intentional even if disguised as not from those I have seen.
Excellent article Dan and just to put it into some perspective:
When I’ve travelled down by coach (Megabus or National Express) the journey from Pitlochry at 8.20pm arrives into Victoria Coach Station at 6.45am for either a 3.00 KO or an evening game at 7.45pm.
I’m afraid the days of footballers and their managers understanding what supporters do to support their club is long gone.
Excellent personal example ken
Unfortunately a major problem with many professional sports people is that they are totally out of touch with the working people who pay “the freight”. Added to this the football administrators have taken the “working class game” away from the working class due to pricing them out of the grounds..
What was it that Pep actually said that’s so offensive?
If you have to ask ….your never know lol
A bit harsh on Jax there Dan as perhaps he doesn’t realise that ‘clicking’ on the highlighted text takes you to the article that explains Pep’s moans and to be fair, your article didn’t say what he said. Anyway I agree with the premise of your article and agree with much you have written, though you’d be hard pushed to get from Newcastle to Manchester in one and a half hours, more like two and a half in a car or three hours minimum by coach.
GB
The flight might be 20 minutes but just imagine the journey to and from both airports!!
I think the article more explains Pep has complied about having to use a coach to Newcastle , then Wolves and continues to moan about scheduling
Anyone who can’t see why that’s offensive in 2023 I can’t help
They see it or they don’t
Admin put the time of journey ….I have no idea lol
Come on Dan, just google it.
Fair Comments. Sometimes people with loads of money, blatantly flout societal rules, principles and logic. They tend to think they are a special breed that’s owed special treatment.
Great article off topic please imagine what this team could do
Raya
White Saliba Gabriel Zinchenko
Partey Rice
Saka oddegard Martinelli
Osimhen
Or. Raya
White. Saliba. Gabriel zinchenko
Rice
Oddegard. Jesus
Saka. Osimhen. Martinelli
Jesus dropping picking up the ball in deep area could become a monster in that position as he can beat his man and create something every now and then
As one gets successful in their respective fields it quite often leads to boredom, Pep Guardiola may not order a tube for a trip to the titanic, but he’s certainly a mysterious character.
Now the Spaniard has suggested a strike by players to force a model similar to the NBA, in the big apple to eliminate fixtures congestion.
Its very strange as he’s the most successful manager under the current system
That’s what happens when you get used to your luxe, posh life and totally lose touch with reality. I bet if you ask him what he thinks the average person makes he’d be way out of touch. Can’t take anything celebs, billionaires, or famous sportspersons take seriously because they have no relation to the common person anymore.
Especially when Rashford crashed his £700,000 car last week and he also owns two others valued jointly at £670,000 !
I know its his own hard earned money, but just imagine how many school dinners that can buy
Stupid comments seems to be the norm among the elite nowadays like People travelling in private jet talking about global warming and the need for people to contribute. Crying about big schedules while still raking in that TV money.
I was under the impression that without clubs or players none of this would exist so why are we in this situation where the TV moneybag are dictating when and where we should play and nobody is taking a stand against this farce. Has football become soo greedy that they will bend over backwards to get more of that tv honeypot.
Fans obviously are the ultimate factor but sheep mentality means when asked to jump they will ask how high instead of going against the system so i have no hope of them rising against the system.
He wasn’t complaining about the facilities on the coach only the time it took to get back to Manchester in the early hours of Thursday. Probably reducing training time followed by another trip to Wolverhampton the next day. All top managers moan and whine about match congestion including our very own Arsene Wenger, Ferguson, Mourinho, Conte etc. etc. I don’t believe for a moment that it was his intention to insult anyone his only focus is on his team and winning the next match – which he didn’t.
If you need to use the word ‘shameful’ perhaps you should address it to all the club owners who a couple or so years back secretly conspired to create a European Super League which would have destroyed the EPL as we know it and the UCL. Personally I couldn’t care less about Pep, Man City and their dubious owners but I think some of your attack lines are a bit over the top and you’ve read too much between the lines. I actually heard him on Sky Sports and my reaction was ‘just another entitled football manager moaning’.
Oh the Koronkes are shameful
You obviously havnt read my work over the years
Terrible owners
The world expects Pep and his team to be successful. And he talks like one. That’s the mind of an elite manager. If this changes in mode of transport affects his team, he will point it out.
COME OF IT DAN! What did you expect him to say? Yes of course he is trying to give his team” an us against the world mentality”.
And by EVEN YOU falling for this strategy, it seems to have worked as he intended.
We all know ALL top level teams and players are ridiculously pampered and live in a different planet to we ordinary beings. Pep wassimply tryoing to make his players feel “an us against the whole world mentality” and when even folk like you, OF ALL PEOPLE, fall for his strategy, he plainly succeeded.
On a far more important and serious point, you are in fact making the case I have been saying for simply years and years, in that all top players should have their salaries reduced to one tenth (and not a penny more) , than what they receive on the breaking backs of we fools who worship them.
On that serious point YOUR ARTICLE IS SPOT ON. But sadly, it wasnt WHY you wrote your piece.
A more cynical man than I am might have even suggested you are simply looking for any old excuse to write your millionth JA article!
Perish that cynical thought DAN!