“You should go and get your coat for that!”
Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has hit back at Robbie Savage’s claim that Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola is the “best manager” that he’s seen in the Premier League.
Savage’s statement came in the aftermath of Man City’s Premier League title victory on Tuesday night after Man United lost 2-1 to Leicester City, allowing the Citizens to clinch their third title in four years and their fifth Premier League crown overall.
Pep Guardiola.
Guardiola is widely considered by many as one of the best managers in the football world and by some others as the greatest of all time in his field.
And his most recent title victory with Man City will do little to quell either of those claims. The Spaniard has now won an incredible nine league titles over his last 12 seasons as a manager.
In addition, he has now lifted 10 trophies during his time in the blue half of Manchester and has won 31 trophies overall in his career so far.
3 – Pep Guardiola has won the @premierleague title in three of his five seasons managing in the top-flight, the first manager to win the league in three of his first five seasons managing in the top-flight since Kenny Dalglish (1985-86, 1987-88 & 1989-90). King. pic.twitter.com/lV29GEdiMy
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 11, 2021
Ferdinand and Savage disagree.
Savage and Ferdinand appeared on BT Sport following Man United’s 2-1 loss to Leicester on Tuesday and shared their thoughts on Guardiola.
“Pep improves players and that side is incredible,” Savage claimed.
“For me, the best manager I’ve witnessed in the Premier League.”
However, Ferdinand retorted to Savage’s bold statement by saying:
“Sorry, like Chris Sutton said, you should go and get your coat for that!”
However, Savage refused to back down and offered an explanation for his aforementioned claim.
“Listen, the reason I’m saying that, Sir Alex (Ferguson) is obviously (a contender with) the record he has,” Savage continued.
“But in terms of overall, at Barca, at Bayern, now at Manchester City. The way teams from the Premier League down to grassroots play like Manchester City, I’ve never seen anything like it.
“The way he evolves teams. He’s won trophies with teams he should win trophies with, but if he wins the Champions League for Man City, for me, possibly the best ever.”
Finally, Ferdinand also praised Guardiola for the manner in which he’s “tactically” changed City this season.
“I think Pep, I love him, he’s a maverick. This season, what he’s done especially, tactically the way he’s changed his team,” Ferdinand added.
“He’s thickened up his midfield, got more bodies in, played with a false number nine, getting more bodies in the midfield to control the pace of the game, not making it a basketball game, up and down.
“It was more about controlling possession, strangling teams.”
Read More About: Alex Ferguson, Manchester City, Manchester United, rio ferdinand, robbie savage
