Pep Guardiola's cracking already if you believe the newspapers in England. His extremely tense interview after the Burnley game was the second time in a few days that the Spaniard was tetchy with the press.
Lu Martin helped to write Guardiola's autobiography, so he'd have a fair idea of what's inside the mind of the Man City boss. And going by his interview with Spanish radio station Cadena Ser, it seems that Pep has an attitude which might enrage a few fans.
At the moment his challenge is Manchester City, who are a team like Villarreal in La Liga, for example, a team which is not one of the top sides. I am not giving my opinion. I am telling you what Guardiola thinks, they are like a second-tier team in the Premier League.
In Spain and in Germany he was competing with a big team -- but in England the big teams are Chelsea, Manchester United, other teams. He has a team which is powerful but not the most powerful. He is in England, with a small team, we must realise that. Manchester City is not the best team in England.
While it's true that they are not the best team in England at this particular moment, to compare them to Villarreal is harsh. The La Liga side have only won one domestic trophy in their history. And it was the third division. In the 1970's. True, they are Europa League mainstays. But City have won two Premier League titles in the last five years.
Martin also wasn't surprised at Guardiola's comments about potentially stepping away from club management. But it might not spell retirement according to Martin.
His comments, that his spell as a coach was coming to an end, was about clubs. He would still have national team coach [as a future role], which is what I believe will be his next step. Where he wants to show himself, where he can look for a challenge, and he will take that on.
As much as we adore Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane, can you imagine Pep Guardiola in charge of Ireland?! Ah, one can dream. Maybe he could revitalize the Spanish international side to their dominating glory days of the late 2000's.
Regardless of what happens next, if Guardiola really does think that one of the most wealthy clubs on the planet are similar to a team far off the top of the Spanish league, that won't go down well.
