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PEP GUARDIOLA smiled when it was put to him that two of his old assistants are now among his biggest rivals.
He said: “If you want to be a manager, come on my staff — and maybe you’ll have a chance!”
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Rex
RexSpeaking last month, the Manchester City boss was only half-joking.
But the fact is the managers of two of the Prem’s powerhouses have both served their apprenticeship under the master himself at the Etihad.
And on Sunday, Arsenal chief Mikel Arteta and Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca go head to head for the first time — in a vital London derby at Stamford Bridge.
What’s more, both are now expected to push Guardiola’s side for the major honours.
Guardiola said: “They are so young and will have much success in the future.
“It was a pleasure for me to work with them. The knowledge is back and forth, not just in one direction.”
Yet Maresca is sure that both he and his opposite number tomorrow owe a huge debt of gratitude to the man who has won six of the last seven Prem titles.
The Blues boss, 44, said: “I learned many things from Pep. If I’m here today, it’s probably because of the amount of things that I have been lucky to learn next to him.
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Reuters“Probably both of us, we have to be thankful because we worked beside the one who I consider the best manager in the world.”
And Arteta echoed those feelings, saying: “Enzo has had many years learning from some top people and he is proving he is a very good manager at the top level. Enzo has given his touch and you can see clearly what he wants to do.
“He has been very brave from day one to consistently follow what he wanted to do.
“I know a lot of people that know him well and are very happy with him that he’s making a lot of progress there.”
Arteta was the first to become one of Pep’s disciples, way back in summer 2016, and served a longer apprenticeship at almost three-and-a-half years.
It’s hard to believe it now — when you see him prowling the touchline at the Emirates — but Arteta was quiet when he first linked up with Pep.
Guardiola had identified the former Rangers, Everton and Arsenal midfielder as someone who could help him learn about the Premier League.
Arteta had only just hung up his boots and was determined to learn as much as he could for a future in management.
ARTETA’S FIRST TEST
In the early days, Pep’s then-No 2 Domenec Torrent took his fellow Spaniard under his wing and relayed his ideas to the manager.
They quickly realised he had something special though — and four months into the season, Arteta was given his first real test.
Pep took the young coach into his office ahead of a game with Arsenal in December 2016 and told him ‘you’re in charge for this one’.
Luckily the young apprentice had guessed he would be asked his opinion — as he had been playing for the opponents a few months earlier.
So he had come prepared and Guardiola liked his ideas. City won the game 2-1 thanks to a late Raheem Sterling goal.
‘FROM THE START I WAS FASCINATED’
That won him respect from his superiors but he was learning so much from the former coach of Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
He says in the book ‘Pep’s City’: “From the start I was fascinated by Guardiola’s work ethic — his ability to transmit his ideas to his players and convince them they are going to work.
“How he simplifies the most complicated things so they appear straightforward.”
Arteta was not long retired and he would often be asked to join in training — as he and Pep felt it was an excellent way to see things from the ‘inside’.
After two years on the coaching staff, he stepped up to be the main assistant when Torrent moved to the MLS.
‘THE CLUB OF HIS HEART’
And many even viewed him as a natural successor to Guardiola — before Arsenal, who Pep always knew was the ‘club of his heart’, appointed him a year later.
It was a few months after that when Maresca first came onto the radar of the Etihad hierarchy.
He was recommended to City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain by their old boss Manuel Pellegrini. And he was appointed head coach of the Under-23s in 2020 – taking charge of Cole Palmer, James McAtee, Tommy Doyle and Liam Delap.
During his only season in that role, he led the club to the Premier League 2 title and impressed everyone.
Crucially, with Covid restrictions in full swing, he found himself in the same bubble as Guardiola and Begiristain and they quickly realised what Pellegrini had been talking about.
The City boss was soon telling everyone Maresca would go on to become an ‘extraordinary manager’.
A move to Parma did not work out, so when Pep’s assistant Juanma Lillo left for a job in Qatar in summer 2022, he was brought back to City — this time with the first team.
He was only back for a year — but what a year it proved to be as City swept to their historic Treble.
Leicester came calling for him to replace Brendan Rodgers but Guardiola urged him to see the season out and Maresca wanted to do that too.
The recent Netflix documentary ‘Together: Treble Winners’ shows the pair having a heated debate around a tactics board at half-time in the Champions League final.
Pep later felt the way he had approached the team-talk at the interval in Istanbul had been key to them beating Inter to win the trophy.
Leicester came back in for him a few days later and, after one season with the Foxes, he landed a job with one of the Prem’s superpowers.
Guardiola looked puzzled when it was put to him in pre-season that the new Chelsea boss was known as ‘Diet Pep’. He asked: “Is it because of the bald head and the beard?”
But he has known for a while there is a lot more to the Italian than that.
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