‘Man City wanted to win with style & Guardiola delivered’ – Begiristain welcomes new two-year contract

Pep Guardiola has delivered on his remit of making Manchester City winners and attractive to watch, says Txiki Begiristain.

One of the most decorated coaches in world football was enticed to the Etihad Stadium in 2016.

The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich took a while to find his feet in English football, with no silverware secured in his debut campaign.

Any rust was quickly shaken off as City set about establishing dominance on a domestic scene.

Guardiola has guided the Blues to two Premier League title triumphs, a hat-trick of Carabao Cup successes and an FA Cup win.

Champions League glory has remained elusive, but the most highly rated of coaches has done enough to earn a new contract through to 2023.

Begiristain is delighted to have the Catalan tied down on a fresh terms, with City’s director of football enjoying watching a star-studded team that has learned to win with style.

“Pep took us – the club – to the top level, the maximum you can get,” Begiristain told City’s official website. 

“He has been important because we wanted to play attractive football and to win. He has done both extremely well. We have played unbelievable football and we have won.

“He’s a hard worker. Everybody wants to do well and be successful, but he is a hard worker.

“Everyone talks about the complexity of his tactics and that he’s always studying the opponent and his team - but it’s basically hours and hours of thinking and sharing with his staff.

"He spends a lot of hours here at this training centre, so the final product is on the pitch.”

City have won 181 of the 245 matches they have taken in with Guardiola at the helm and are averaging out at one trophy every 31 games.

Remarkable standards have been set by a team that became the first in Premier League history to record 100 points in a single season, with Begiristain of the opinion that those on the touchline have raised the bar for those out on the field.

He added: “For me, something unbelievable was to do two seasons winning 198 points.

“I could see he could do it [win titles] but I could not expect such a big amount of points.

“I told him [Guardiola] once when he was in Germany and we were talking: how difficult it is in the Premier League. You can win the league with 85, 86, 87 points… but to get 198, even I had thought it was impossible, but he did it.”