Pep Guardiola has admitted that he came close to losing his job after what he called a “bad season” with Manchester City in 2024/25.
City kicked off the new Premier League campaign in style with a 4-0 win over Wolves, but Guardiola revealed that the support of the club’s top management was the only reason he remained in charge.
“I’m really lucky to still be here after last season,” he said in an interview with TNT Sports. “If it wasn’t for my chairman and sporting director backing me, I would have been gone. The results were very poor.”
Last season, City endured a tough run: finishing third in the league, losing the FA Cup final to Crystal Palace, exiting the EFL Cup in the fourth round, and bowing out of the Champions League to Real Madrid in the round of 16.
Elsewhere, Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca explained why Cole Palmer missed their 5-1 win over West Ham. The midfielder, who has been key for the Blues, was left out after feeling discomfort during the warm-up.
“Cole wasn’t fully fit in the past few days,” Maresca said. “He tried before the game, but he felt something, so we didn’t want to risk it. We’ll know more soon.”
In his absence, teenage Brazilian sensation Estevao Willian got a place in the starting lineup, while Joao Pedro, Pedro Neto, Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo, and Trevoh Chalobah all found the net to cancel out Lucas Paqueta’s opener and secure Chelsea’s first win of the season.
