Gerard Pique opened up about the differences between Sir Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola – but stopped short in revealing who he thinks was a better manager.
The former defender enjoyed an illustrious career which began at Manchester United in 2004 after coming through Barcelona‘s famous La Masia academy.
After making 23 appearances in four years at Old Trafford, Pique returned to the Spanish giants as he went on to become one of their greatest defenders ever. He made 616 appearances in all competitions and contributed to nine La Liga titles and three Champions League crowns.
Pique was an integral member of Guardiola’s sextuple side in 2009 and achieved similar success on the international stage, as he won the World Cup with Spain a year later and the European Championships in 2012.
One can only imagine the knowledge of the beautiful game that can be learned playing under two of the sport’s best ever with Pique unable to pick one over the other when asked who was a better manager.
He instead discussed the differences between the two legendary figures, admitting they were in two completely different stages of their respective careers when he played for them.
“At that time it was very different,” he said to talkSPORT last year. “But not the style, it was more the position of Pep in Barcelona and Sir Alex as Manchester United. Obviously it was the last years of Sir Alex and first years of Pep. Pep didn’t have the power that Sir Alex had in Manchester United. Sir Alex was more like a manager than just a coach.
“Guardiola was just a coach at Barcelona. So Sir Alex, to give you an example maybe, some training he was not even there at the pitch, he was more focused on the game day, making the team, these kind of things.
“Pep Guardiola, when he arrived, he was very young and he really wanted to control everything and his role was different to Sir Alex’s.”
Only 18 years old when he made the move to Old Trafford, Pique explained how important Ferguson was to making him feel at home after leaving his native country.
“Alex Ferguson was a second dad to me,” he previously told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Euro Leagues show. “He had that quality of really taking care of the young ones that were coming through.
“At the time they had a lot of young talent and Cristiano Ronaldo had just arrived, too. When I was in the dressing room, I felt very integrated and we had a very good team. My experience was incredible. I still have a really great relationship with some of my team-mates like Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney.”
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