Josep Guardiola, the manager who changed the face of English football over the past decade, is leaving Manchester City.
But how does his achievements at City compare with those of other great England managers over the years, such as Alex Ferguson, Bob Paisley and Brian Clough?
The Associated Press is poring over the numbers and records.
premier league
Guardiola has always rated the domestic league above all other competitions, ushering in an era of record-breaking dominance and leading City to six titles in 10 seasons (60%), including an unprecedented fourth in a row (2021-24). These six titles were won in seven years. Only twice did he finish outside of the top two.
As a percentage of the total, only Paisley (66.67%) has a better title winning record among modern managers. During his nine years at Liverpool (1974-1983), he won six English league titles and finished outside the top two only once.
Ferguson won 13 league titles in 26 full seasons (1986-2013) with United, but the club were near the bottom of the table and had not won a trophy during his 19 years in charge, starting at the bottom of the table. From the year Ferguson won his first league title (1993) until his retirement, United’s title winning percentage was 61.90%, slightly higher than Guardiola but lower than Paisley.
champions league
City’s results in the Champions League under Guardiola have not been impressive for a club that takes advantage of Abu Dhabi’s resources, but he admits that.
With just one title (2023), one final (losing to Chelsea in 2021) and one semi-final appearance (2022), it was a disappointing return for a team that was widely regarded as one of Europe’s best for most of his reign. Of course, Guardiola could aim for two more Champions League wins in his four years at Barcelona.
Ferguson won the Champions League twice with United, but this was still considered a below-average performance considering the team’s domestic dominance.
Of all British managers, Brian Clough and Paisley have the most enviable record. Clough won the European Cup two years in a row (1979 and 1980) with Nottingham Forest, an amazing feat for a local club, and Paisley won it three times in five years (1977, 1978 and 1981).
Trophy total
Guardiola won 17 major trophies in his 10 years at City, placing him second only to Ferguson on the all-time list in English football.
Ferguson won 28 trophies but was in charge 16 years longer than Guardiola.
Paisley is next with 14 major trophies, followed by former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger (10, including the most in the FA Cup), Clough (nine during his time at Derby and Forest) and former Man United manager Matt Busby (eight).
total points
Under Guardiola, City have won two of the top three points in English top flight history. He scored 100 points in the 2017-18 season (Guardiola’s second manager) and 98 in 2018-19. In seven seasons between 2018 and 2024, City set a new standard of consistent excellence, scoring over 90 points in four league games. It also helps that top-flight rivals Liverpool have pushed it all the way.
Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool ended City’s winning streak in 2019-20 with 99 points, and in 2018-19 they led City to the final game of the season with 97 points.
In the era when teams needed two points to win (prior to 1981), Liverpool held the record for most points in a season with 68 points in the 1978-79 season. This would be equivalent to 98 points if there had been three points for victory, but Liverpool had played 42 games instead of the current 38.
It was also notable that Chelsea picked up 95 points in Jose Mourinho’s first season as manager, 2004-05. That was a record at the time.
record and first
Guardiola has never been shy about highlighting the records he has set at City, and there have been many.
In the approximately 140-year history of English football, they are the only team to have won four consecutive top league titles. The first team to score 100 points in a top flight season (2017-18). The most goals scored in a single season in the Premier League is 106 (also in the 2017-18 season). The first team to win the domestic treble of League, FA Cup and League Cup in the same season (2018-19).
Guardiola also emulated Ferguson in winning the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League treble (United in 1999, City in 2023) and clinching the Premier League title with five games to spare (United in 2001, City in 2018), but his previous record was Beaten by Liverpool in 2020 (7 games must be played).
But what Guardiola was never able to achieve was Wenger’s greatest feat – going an entire league season unbeaten (during his time at Arsenal in 2004).
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AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
