Pep Guardiola admits ‘delight’ at failure with Manchester City last season | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has admitted his delight at failure with his side over the course of last season, speaking in an interview with GQ Spain.

While most managers would struggle to find positives in a campaign that ended without a major trophy, Guardiola has once again gone against the grain with a candid reflection on Manchester City’s 2024/25 season.

The Premier League giants of four years running were knocked out early in the UEFA Champions League, endured a difficult run of domestic form during the winter, and ultimately finished third in the table behind Arsenal and Liverpool.

Guardiola insists the experience was both humbling and motivational with City forced into a late fight to secure their Champions League qualification spot and entered the summer with numerous questions over the futures of senior players including James McAtee, Jack Grealish, and İlkay Gündoğan.

Despite the club’s struggles, Pep Guardiola has shown no sign of stepping away and remains under contract until the summer of 2027, taking a leading role in a summer rebuild that has seen the likes of Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki, and Rayan Ait-Nouri join the club. Guardiola’s long-term mentality and drive to reinvent is central to City’s strategy.

Speaking during a new interview with GQ Spain, Guardiola hit back at the suggestion that the last campaign with Manchester City was an entirely disastrous campaign, pointing out their third-place finish in the Premier League.

“It’s not like this one hasn’t been bad either. In the Premier League, when you’re doing poorly, when you’re really doing poorly, you finish twelfth or thirteenth… Ah, what, are they waiting for me? Yes, yes, definitely. And I’m delighted to welcome them [laughs]. Delighted,” said Guardiola.

He continued, “That gives you energy. In the competition, you need people who say: ‘Yes? You’ll see.’ They’re the ones who said: ‘In Germany, he won’t be able to do it, I was with Barcelona because I knew them…’ ‘In England, you’ll see, English football is different…’ Well, no. It was done. And it was redone and redone again. Ah, does it ever go wrong? Of course.”

“In sports, you lose more than you win. I’ve played in 16 leagues and won thirteen. So, well, yes, I’ve lost some. But it hasn’t gone badly,” he added. “And then, as part of sports, part of the process is thinking that the others are also good, that they also do well, that they also prepare, that they also have the people to do well.

“Ah, this year, if we give up, I’ll tell you, we’re twelfth, and we’re not giving up. We were very bad, very bad, but we were there, we were there… And in the end we finished third, which in the Premier League, I can tell you, isn’t bad.”

Hitting back at those who may feel Guardiola is defeated after his difficulties of the last season, the 54-year-old said, “I’m delighted to have failed. I love failures. In this society where everything has to be perfect, where you have to post your food on Instagram… ‘Oh, how good, how happy I am.’ Every day we have to prove that we’re happy.

“Well, yes, I’m sad, I fail, and I lose. So? So? Name one who doesn’t do it. The important thing is to do it, give it your all, and do it well. And I haven’t given up on that. I’ve done poorly, we’ve had worse results than I expected, but hey, the next day there’s another one, and I’m going to try again. And next year I’m going to do better. That’s what it’s all about.”

Manchester City supporters will likely view Pep Guardiola’s comments as a defiant stand against criticism and a strong signal that the Catalan remains energised heading into what could be a transitional season.

With experienced players departing and younger talents such as Oscar Bobb, Claudio Echeverri, and Rico Lewis being closely monitored for larger roles, there is a growing sense that Pep Guardiola’s next chapter at City could centre around evolution.

The manager is expected to give fans further insight into his outlook at the ‘City Are Back’ open training event on August 5. His ongoing willingness to front up to challenges – even after a year many considered below par – shows exactly why City still view him as the cornerstone of their project.

And while trophies remain the club’s ultimate goal, Pep Guardiola’s latest reflections underline a deeper ethos: one of persistence, reinvention, and embracing failure as a vital part of sustained success.