Pep Guardiola spoke highly of Premier League leaders Chelsea and their manager Antonio Conte. Manchester City are currently eleven points behind Chelsea in the league. The teams are to meet on Wednesday, April 5th.
Guardiola talked about Conte’s work at Chelsea and called the Italian a “superb” manager. The Spanish manager believes he may face his strongest opposition in England when the two teams meet for their teams’ confrontation at Stamford Bridge.
Manchester City were expected to be one of the teams fighting for the Premier League title this season. Fluctuating results see the Manchester side in a disappointing fourth place. City fans hope to see a team that rivals Guardiola’s previous clubs Barcelona and Bayern Munich and their success. So far City’s results have been below par in the Premier League, as well as in the Champions League.
Speaking about Conte, Guardiola said: “My opinion about my colleague Antonio Conte is that he’s superb – a top, top manager, maybe he’s the best at the moment in terms of how they play,” Guardiola told reporters at a news conference..
“It’s not just here, how he was able to make Italy play beautiful football, Juventus too, in a culture where it’s so defensive. He’s an excellent manager. I learn a lot when I see his teams – Juventus, Italy and right now. When I see these teams I love many, many things.”
“I like to do that because you see what they want to do. These teams control a lot of aspects. It’s a good lesson for me to see his teams and learn from them.”
City are still struggling to react to Guardiola’s ideas as a manager. The team got a point from their game against Arsenal at the weekend. However, fans would have expected more. Mistakes in defense, a passing game that requires improvement and poor finishing are some of the most important factors in City’s showing.
“We speak every day about what we do to improve the quality of the players we have and will have in the future,” Guardiola said . “What we can do get better and, of course, buy some players to help us to be stronger.”
“But all the teams are going to think about that. Even Chelsea are going to buy players. It will make an exceptional Premier League, every club is going to try to improve. I remember Sir Alex Ferguson would win titles and titles but every season would change players. You have to do that.”
