Pep Guardiola has sympathised with Manchester United’s current state of affairs.
The Manchester City boss is suprised by how big a gap their is between the two Premier League neighbours.
“I never expected this position in the previous seasons when I arrived here in England, to have this distance against United in these three or four years,” Guardiola said ahead of the derby on Sunday.
“The quality of United, no doubts about how big it is, I appreciate the manager a lot. I think he represents United in an exceptional way and I think the players, when you analyse individually and collectively, they are so good. Always I believe that the managers and the clubs need time to implant, to build something the manager and the club believe.
“Unfortunately the results sometimes take the decision to break that process. I am not there, I am not part of United, but what I feel is that people believe in Ole and I think he is doing a really good job. It is not about the tactics sometimes; it is about [the feel], how the players follow the manager.”
Guardiola continued, “I have always said, since the first day I became a manager, that I like to play against a full squad from my opponents,” Guardiola said. “I would love to play against [Eden] Hazard at the Bernabeu. I don’t like to see Rashford out or [Harry] Kane for Tottenham. Hopefully he can recover as quickly as possible. I would have preferred if he had played for them.”
Guardiola added: “I don’t think, not even for a half second, that he is not there. I think about [Anthony] Martial, [Daniel] James, Fernandes and Ighalo if he plays. And the way [Solskjaer] plays – three or four different types of systems.”
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