Guardiola appeals in City's farewell speech: "I'm terrified"
Pep Guardiola gave a farewell speech to Manchester City this Sunday afternoon (24) after the defeat to Aston Villa in the last round of the Premier League. The Catalan coach was emotional during the match, his last for the team after a decade leading the citizen team.
Before the ball rolled, the fans raised a flag in honor of the greatest coach in the history of the Citizens. At the end of the match, Guardiola gave a speech to all the fans present at the Etihad Stadium, in Manchester (see the full text at the end of the article). Pep's father Valentin, 95, was moved to tears watching his son from the stadium stands.
What was a rumor throughout the season became reality: Manchester City announced on Friday (22) the departure of Pep Guardiola. The Catalan, at the club since 2016, will not renew his contract with the English team and leaves after booking a season.
In total, in 10 years in charge of the English giant, 20 trophies were won, including six in the Premier League and one in the Champions League.
Pep has not revealed what his next career step will be, but he has said, on a few occasions, that he dreams of coaching a national team and going to a World Cup. City already has Enzo Maresca, ex-Chelsea, as the big favorite for the position.
Guardiola's titles at Manchester City
- Champions League: 202/23
- Premier League: 2017/18, 2018/19, 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24
- Club World Cup: 2023
- FA Cup: 2018/19, 2022/23 and 2025/26
- UEFA Super Cup: 2023
- English League Cup: 2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2025/26
- English Super Cup: 2018, 2019 and 2024
Guardiola's farewell speech in full
"I'm so nervous, scared now... Why do you love me so much? Why do you do this to me?!
It was a tremendous honor to be your coach, to be here for ten years... The number of trophies, incredible emotions. Please. I would love to not only remember the trophies, I hope that we have provided, through the incredible players, some emotions that people who come here feel that maybe we are going to have fun...
Yesterday my father (Valentin) turned 95, WOW! Maybe he won't realize it, but I'm sure that Cris (Serra) - an exceptional woman - and my children will realize, in many, many years, that my family name will be here (in the North Stand of the Etihad Stadium) for many years to come!
The players don't know, but I'll be there in The Pep Guardiola Stand checking them in, to make sure the legacy players... all the players,
In the coming years, if you see me around the world and see me on the streets - here, in Europe, in the States - if you are a Manchester City fan, come up to me and hug me! I'm going to need this!
It was the greatest honor to represent this club. Whenever I made a billion decisions with a billion mistakes, I always thought about what's best for this club, and it will always be like that. I love you so much!"
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Source: CNN