‘He’s up there with the GREATEST’: Roy Keane lauds ‘hungry’ Pep Guardiola after guiding Man City to their third straight Premier League title… as Jamie Redknapp claims the Spaniard has ‘changed football forever’
- Pep Guardiola has been hailed as one of the ‘greatest’ football managers ever
- The Spaniard guided Manchester City to a fifth Premier League title under him
- Guardiola has won five of the last six Premier League seasons with City
Roy Keane and Jamie Redknapp have hit out at Pep Guardiola’s brilliance after the Manchester City manager guided the club to their third consecutive Premier League crown.
Guardiola became only the second manager after Sir Alex Ferguson to lift three consecutive Premier League crowns, his fifth for the club since arriving in 2016.
The Spaniard has overseen five English title triumphs in the past six years and is currently on track to secure a historic treble, with the FA Cup and Champions League finals still to come.
Former Manchester United Premier League winning captain Roy Keane insisted Guardiola was the ‘most important man’ at City after they beat Chelsea 1-0 on Sunday.
‘He was there at the greatest (Guardiola). He worked with great players but you still have to manage them. He keeps that hunger at bay,’ he told Sky Sports.
Pep Guardiola was crowned Premier League champion for the fifth time on Sunday
Guardiola has now won five of the last six Premier League seasons with Manchester City
The Spaniard (left) has been hailed as one of football’s greatest managers after becoming English champions for the fifth time
‘He took care of himself. He looks like a healthy man. He is the most important person in this club.’
The recruitment, the way he’s moved players on. He kept that hunger and he challenged himself, obviously he had good players, he was upset. [Kyle] Walker, [Kevin] de Bruyne, [John] Stones, and he got rid of it [Joao] Cancel.
‘He knew what he was doing and he did it consistently,’ he added.
Guardiola has long been regarded as one of football’s most influential managers and in the modern era has enjoyed dominant success wherever he has gone.
The 52-year-old won the Champions League, LaLiga and domestic cups with Barcelona in Spain, he was a Bundesliga champion in charge of Bayern Munich, and went on to silverware with Man City.
He helped re-engineer what was once a vision of playing from the back and molded players with the potential to become world class superstars.
Former Liverpool midfielder Redknapp highlighted the importance of Guardiola and his belief that the City boss was above all who preceded him as the Premier League coronation party got underway.
‘I think he is the greatest manager, he changed football. [Arrigo] Sacchi at AC Milan, [Johan] Cruyff, what he did, but when you watch football today everyone plays from the back, he changed everyone’s view of the game.
Jamie Redknapp (left) and Roy Keane (right) have spoken about Guardiola’s influence on Man City
Guardiola (right) has developed young stars with the potential like Erling Haaland (left) to become world class superstars
‘He won 11 titles in 14 years. You can discuss [Sir Alex] Ferguson and [Bill] Shankly but for me he changed football forever.’
‘It will give everyone a chance (when Pep moves). There are only so many managers like him. The most important person is the right manager who sets the right culture, you have to fear and respect them,’ he added.
‘If you’re a football fan and a neutral you can’t help but love this style of football,’ said Redknapp.
Guardiola was seen enjoying celebrations with his players on Sunday night and will have a brief turnaround before traveling to play Brighton on Wednesday.
