Write them off at your own peril: Former City player sends message to Pep Guardiola ahead of Liverpool clash
Former Manchester City boss Stuart Pearce has backed Pep Guardiola to lead the Citizens’ recovery after a run of six games without a win in all competitions
Pep Guardiola was left stunned as Manchester City gave up a 3-0 lead against Feyenoord
Pep Guardiola was left stunned as Manchester City gave up a 3-0 lead against Feyenoord
Stuart Pearce warned critics to write off Pep Guardiola at their own peril after Manchester City’s dramatic slump in form.
The four-time defending league champions suffered five straight losses in all competitions before blowing a three-goal lead in just 14 Champions League minutes against Feyenoord on Tuesday night. That capitulation came after they succumbed to a humbling 4-0 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend.
Yet while City’s recent run may prove cause for concern as they struggle to cope with the absence of Ballon D’Or winner Rodri, former manager Pearce – who also made 38 appearances for the club in his lone season in Manchester – isn’t ready to write off his former side just yet.
“I think missing Rodri is a major problem for them,” said Pearce. “There was talk about it but they won the first few games after he was injured and everyone thought ‘Hang on, maybe it’s ok’.
“The win ratio when he’s in the team is absolutely incredible, it tells you everything and they’re suffering at the moment but if you write City off, you do it at your own peril.
“They’re that good. Their manager is world-class and we talk about world class at the drop of a hat but he’s maybe the best manager that’s ever lived. He’s that good at what he does and if he’s still at the helm driving City on, if they win the Premier League or the Champions League this year it wouldn’t surprise me.
“Nothing’s been won or lost at the moment but there’s still a long way to go. They’ll be there or thereabouts.”
Pearce was speaking at Shefford Sports Ground, home of Shefford Town and Campton, where he helped launch the FA’s ‘Greener Game’ campaign, a bespoke strategy created in collaboration with E.ON and designed to help the environment by promoting sustainability practices within the grassroots game.
Stuart Pearce
Pearce visited Shefford Town and Campton to help launch the FA’s ‘Greener Game’ campaign in collaboration with E.ON, an initiative designed to help the environment by promoting sustainability practices within the grassroots game.
A prime example of the FA’s commitment to driving decarbonisation at clubs across the country, Shefford Sports Ground boasts solar panels installed to help reduce the club’s energy bills and Pearce reckons such initiatives will only lead to a brighter future for the grassroots game.
He added: “My background was non-league football. I had five and a half years in non-league so these initiatives are very important to me. Anything it can do for the community and for sustainability and a greener world and more importantly for the health of youngsters to take part in a team game is important.
“When I was 16 I left school and I had nowhere to go play football so I got into my local non-league team and that gave me a platform to go into the pro game at the age of 21. It’s vitally important that these initatives are there because without this level of football, you’re not going to get the top end of the game either.
“The pyramid system is so vital and if we turn a blind eye to this level and don’t put the facilities and funding into this level of football, you’re not going to get the top end of the game or the next international. From my local non-league team, I ended up England captain. That’s the power of it.”
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