Manchester City have a new manager. You might have heard.
Having confirmed what everyone knew already – that Pep Guardiola would be taking charge at the Etihad – back in February, this weekend was the first time the club’s supporters got a glimpse of their new boss up close.
As far as official manager unveilings go, City really went to town on this one – revealing Guardiola to a crowd of supporters on stage as part of the Cityzens Weekender event.
Here he comes! #ItBegins https://t.co/xmQYlBjb3R
— Manchester City (@ManCity) July 3, 2016
Pep was invited to say a few words to the City faithful, and began by trotting out the usual ‘thanks for the opportunity’ line that most managers plump for.
Pep: "Thank you to Manchester City for giving me this opportunity. I am pretty sure we are going to enjoy." #ItBegins
— Manchester City (@ManCity) July 3, 2016
After that, he reminded everyone there that he’d done quite well in his last two managerial posts and promised that good things lay ahead for City.
“I proved myself in Catalonia and in Germany now I want to make Manchester City people proud of how we play. We will create a team spirit. After that we will think about tactics. I want to create something special.”
It was all quite predictable – the sort of stuff you’d expect a newly-appointed manager to come out with.
Then came this…
“One of my dreams was to play here as a footballer. Now my dream has come true.”
Now, for those of you that are maybe too young to remember, Pep Guardiola the player was also pretty good. He played for over a decade at Barcelona and was one of the finest midfielders of his time.
Did he *really* mean that while he was playing alongside Romario, Stoichkov and Koeman he dreamt of playing alongside Terry Phelan and Garry Flitcroft? Or did he simply mean that he harboured ambitions of one day playing in England?
The comment certainly caused a bit of confusion:
'Pep always dreamt of playing for CIty.' Well when he was playing, City were playing second division. So don't lie. #MCFC
— mrl 🎙️ (@sharmann_) July 3, 2016
.@ManCity : "One of my dreams was to play here as a footballer." pic.twitter.com/Zw3DUlwVEY
— Wicky (@Wicknes007) July 3, 2016
https://twitter.com/Bellenderhund/status/749614778511949824
https://twitter.com/z9yant/status/749630971213860864
We’re pretty sure that he meant he wished to one day play in England, but it’s worth pointing out that he was linked with a move to City at the tail-end of his playing career in 2005. Reports have since claimed that he opted not to join City.
How times change, eh?
