Guardiola will not find it easy at Manchester City – Ferguson

Former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has warned Pep Guardiola the Manchester City job will not be easy, but he is nonetheless confident the current Bayern Munich chief will succeed in the Premier League.

Guardiola will replace Manuel Pellegrini as the man in charge at the Etihad Stadium at the end of the season and Ferguson has nothing but praise for the former Barcelona man.

“Manchester City have made a real coup in getting him, but Pep won’t find it easy. English football is not easy,” Ferguson told Sky Sports.

“Every foreign coach that has come to England will tell you that. Arsene Wenger was talking about that a few months after coming and even Jose Mourinho was.

“Pep will be a success, but I don’t think he’ll ever replicate what he did at Barcelona because that was a high standard, they were the best.

“Without question Pep has got a fantastic work ethic about him, he demands that in all of his training sessions. Anyone who thinks they’re not going to work hard at City won’t last long. He has got great coaching ability, there is no doubt about that.”

Manchester City will face stiff competition in the race for the Premier League title again in 2016-17 and Ferguson believes much will depend on their rivals.

“You have to ask what the big clubs are going to do. If you take my time at United, when Chelsea and Jose came on the scene, in the first two years they had quick starts, so I had to accept that challenge,” he added.

“That’s what you have to do when you’re a big club. Arsenal, Liverpool and the other clubs have to accept the challenge when they are not good enough. They’ll have their own ambitions and will be desperate to win the league next season as much as City, so there is not a guarantee they can win the league. 

“That’s the beauty of our league. Arsenal, City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham will want to do something and now, of course, Leicester City are there. Who’s to say they can’t win it next season?”