Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has dismissed suggestions that Pep Guardiola’s era at Manchester City is coming to an end, insisting the Spaniard remains one of football’s finest coaches despite his side’s poor run of form.
Manchester City have endured an unusually difficult campaign, sitting seventh in the Premier League and trailing leaders Liverpool by 12 points at Christmas.
Softfootball understands Maresca, who previously worked under Guardiola at the Etihad, believes recent criticism of his former mentor is premature.
Speaking to Chelsea’s official website, Maresca revealed he had recently spoken with Guardiola and found him calm despite City’s struggles. He said:
I spoke with Pep yesterday and he is completely calm and knows exactly what has happened there.
The Italian also suggested that many people have been quick to celebrate City’s decline after years of unprecedented success.
But the one thing we know in football is that because of the situation they have there, people are waiting for something bad to happen so they can be happy.
Maresca insisted Guardiola’s achievements should not be forgotten because of one difficult spell.
When you see someone being so successful season after season, the moment they drop, people love to say: ‘Ah, look, he is not good enough.’ But I don’t think that is the correct thing to do,
he added.
