Legendary musician and big Manchester City fan, Noel Gallagher, recently made the bold statement that Sir Alex Ferguson’s reputation may have been overstated, claiming that he “never invented anything”.
In contrast, while calling into Andy Goldstein’s show on talkSPORT, he said that Pep Guardiola has fundamentally “changed football” in the modern era and that, when it comes to who has had more impact on the beautiful game as we know it today, the Spaniard has been far more influential.
Big words, to say the least.
Now, while no one doubts that both managers haven’t just given both United and City fans memories for life but also put Manchester on the map when it comes to sport, arguing the case for who is/was better is a debate that has been raging years and it’s safe to say it split opinion on this occasion too.
‘Who’s better, Fergie or Pep?’ was the topic of discussion on the show prior to City’s 4-1 win over Arsenal.
As you can see, co-host Darren Bent posed the question of whether winning a treble for City would see the Catalan coach go above Sir Alex Ferguson in the discussion of the greatest manager of all time.
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The former Oasis immediately responded, “Alex Ferguson never invented anything. Pep Guardiola changed football”, to which Goldstein quickly corrected, “SIR Alex Ferguson”.
The talkSPORT host wasted no time in coming to Fergie’s defence, remarking: “I mean, he’s won the treble. He’s won 13 Premier League titles.” However, Gallagher countered by saying, “Well, he never did it in any other country, did he?”
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Nevertheless, the presenter continued with his argument by stating he thinks “Pep needs to prove himself” with this team on the European stage, noting that “the last time he won the Champions League was 2012… with Xavi, Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta”, quipping, “even I could have won [it] with them.”
“I can’t speak for Pep Guardiola, but I’m pretty sure he couldn’t give a monkey’s what you think”. (Credit: talkSPORT)
While Goldstein continued to play devil’s advocate, Gallagher wasn’t willing to let it go either, asking what he has to prove and responding that “‘the greatest manager of all time’ jammed two Champions League finals, one on penalties and one in injury-time.”
Firing back further at the suggestion that Pep won his two Champions League with one of the best squads to ever grace the game in Barcelona and needs to win a European trophy at another club, the 55-year-old said he has absolutely nothing to prove to anyone.
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Asking one final question, the United fan said: “For argument’s sake… if he leaves Man City without winning the Champions League, you don’t think will be a failure?” Naturally, his suggestion was met with laughter from Gallagher, who simply replied, “that is mental. Failure? What are you talking about?”
Doubling down on his belief surrounding his impact, the Manc icon insisted Pep “has changed the way that football is played in this country and probably every country he has ever been in”, citing how “everyone [now] plays out from the back. Kids are doing it and they don’t even know what it means, but they do it because he does it. He is a tactical genius.”
Goldstein conceded that couldn’t argue against his tactical knowledge and style of play — though many online have clarified that Pep himself didn’t invent the likes of ‘tiki-taka’ but rather emulated his icon and predecessor Johan Cruff — but said that he still believes “you can’t take anything away from Sir Alex”.
But Gallagher was always going to get the last word in, quipping “Oh, I can. And I will.” Nothing but ‘Berting’.
Moreover, plenty on social media noted that Ferguson did, in fact, do it in other countries; he won three Scottish Premierships and four Scottish Cups with Aberdeen (the last manager to win the league not in charge of Celtic or Rangers) and even won a UEFA Super Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup with them.
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Pep still has three more league titles to win if he wants to level with Fergie’s 13 Premier Leagues, let alone his three others in Scotland and his long list of major honours. For many, it’ll take a few more trophies for Guardiola to be considered equal to or above Sir Alex, but what do you think?
Featured Image — Ian Wright/Man United/Man City(via Twitter)
Sport
Pep Guardiola delivers gutting news as Man City are hit with Erling Haaland injury blow
Danny Jones
Pep Guardiola has passed on some gutting fitness news for Manchester City fans as star striker Erling Haaland is confirmed to be injured for several weeks and could even miss the rest of the Premier League season.
The title might be out of reach this year, and the Champions League knockout against Real Madrid was definitely hard for Blues to take, but with Man City into the semi-finals of the FA Cup, there’s still a very strong chance they could end 2024/25 with a piece of silverware.
However, they’ll have to make it through another two massive rounds at Wembley and seemingly the remainder of the season without Haaland and his goals, as the Catalan coach revealed that the club expects him to be out injured for “six to seven weeks.”
Not exactly how City fans would have wanted to see the rest of an already frustrating season play out.
🗣️ "We don't have another player with his skills."
Relaying diagnosis from the medical team, Pep said the hope is that the big Norwegian number nine could be back for the very tail end of the campaign, but at the very least, he “will be ready for the [FIFA Club] World Cup.”
He went on to add that “these kinds of things happen” and that he feels “sorry” for all of the other injuries that have befell his squad up till now, adding that they can only hope for a speedy recovery and for him to return as soon as possible.
The 24-year-old hasn’t had too many big injury problems in his career thus far, although his longest spell on the sidelines did come at the end of 2023 when a stress fracture kept him out until the new year.
This time around, Haaland suffered an injury to his ankle during the City’s FA Cup win over Bournemouth on Sunday following a challenge from defensive midfielder Lewis Cook.
He was forced in the second half and was seen leaving the Vitality Stadium on crutches after the game.
Erling Haaland seen leaving Bournemouth in a protective boot and crutches. 🤕
Having led the golden boot race for a good chunk of the season – as he’s become accustomed too since he arrived in England – City‘s sub-optimal season has seen him slink into second behind high-flying Mo Salah on 27, but he still has a couple dozen goals and a trio of assists to show for it.
Speaking of Salah, the soon-to-leave ‘Egyptian King’ has been the talisman for Liverpool this season, and his contributions could see them lift the trophy in Arne Slot’s first season as early as 13 April, depending on how fellow title rivals Arsenal fare in their next two matches.
As for how City round out their domestic campaign, reclaiming the FA Cup after last year’s derby disappointment looks like the main goal.
You can watch Pep Guardiola’s press conference ahead of the game against Leicester City at 19:45pm tomorrow (Wednesday, 2 April) in full HERE.
Masters Football isn’t just back – it’s coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
The much-loved Masters Football format made its glorious comeback in 2022, and since then, it’s been steadily rebuilding an audience of passionate fans, plenty of whom you’ll find here in the sporting city of Manchester – so it’s a good job the national tournament is heading our way.
That’s right, the official English Masters Football competition is coming to 0161 later this year and will be bringing a host of legendary North West talent from years gone by to take part.
Although the full squads and their team captains have yet to be announced, former professionals from Manchester United, Man City, Liverpool, Everton, and more will be lacing back up their boots.
Manchester Masters Football 2025 lands at the equally iconic AO Arena this September.
Credit: Publicity Pictures (supplied)
For anyone unfamiliar with Masters Football, which developed a die-hard following when it first ran between 2000 and 2011, is shorter, indoor-only six-a-side footy tournament similar to futsal.
Each team will feature eight retired players, and the games unfold in a round-robin format, with each match consisting of two eight-minute halves, meaning that both sides have a little over a quarter of an hour to score enough to make it past the other.
In addition to the quicker matches, they will battle it out on a 60m x 30m pitch – the same size of an international ice hockey rink – and whoever makes it through with the highest points will battle it out in a grand final to claim the Manchester Masters title.
As you can see, players set to star this year include ex-United and City defenders Wes Brown and Joleon Lescott, as well as Liverpool and Everton strikers Djibril Cisse and Yakubu Ayegbeni.
You can see some of the best moments from the year it officially returned to the UK down below:
The Manchester edition of the 2025 English Masters Football Tournament Series arrives at the AO Arena on Friday, 5 September.
Doors will open to the venue from 6pm, with the first match kicking off at 7pm, so you better have drinks and snacks in time for bums to hit seats.
As for tickets, there’ll be two chances at early access, first for Three+ mobile members at 10am on Wednesday, 2 April and then via the venue’s presale window at the same time the following day. General admission tickets will be made available, also from 10am, the following Saturday, 5 April.
Danny Jones -
28th April 2023 
