By Vince Rugari
Pep Guardiola has welcomed Ange Postecoglou’s appointment as Tottenham Hotspur boss, declaring “another exceptional manager” is on his way to the English Premier League.
Guardiola was speaking at a press conference ahead of Manchester City’s bid for a European treble this weekend in Sunday morning’s (AEST) UEFA Champions League final against Inter Milan.
While the Spaniard routinely talks up opposition teams and their coaches, it is anything but empty praise given the history he has with Postecoglou, and the pair’s famed commitment to attacking football.
Guardiola’s Manchester City went head-to-head with Postecoglou’s Yokohama F. Marinos – who are part-owned by the City Football Group – in a friendly in 2019 which he described at the time as an “incredible test”.
While City prevailed 3-1, they were dominated on the ball, with the J.League side winning 58 per cent of possession, and it clearly left an impression on him.
“Another exceptional manager is coming,” Guardiola said after the announcement of Postecoglou’s four-year contract with Spurs.
“I was lucky to have met him in Tokyo years ago when he was manager of Yokohama, one of our clubs in the City Football Group, and was an interesting chat, [we] have a good relation, [he’s] done well for Celtic in Glasgow, made an incredible job.
“And he will do an incredible job for Spurs. Hopefully, we can score one goal away.”
Guardiola’s finishing remark was a reference to the fact that City are yet to beat Spurs since their move to the new 62,850-seat Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, which opened in 2019.
Postecoglou’s first meeting with Manchester City looms as a mouth-watering battle, with fixtures for the new Premier League season to be released next Thursday.
Pep Guardiola showered Ange Postecoglou in praise when Manchester City faced Yokohama F. Marinos in an off-season friendly in 2019. Now they’ll be rivals in the Premier League.Credit: Getty
He begins his new job on July 1, and will oversee his first match in charge of Tottenham in a friendly against West Ham United on July 18 at Perth’s Optus Stadium.
Other prominent figures in the game have, like Guardiola, endorsed Postecoglou’s ascension to the Premier League managerial ranks, with the initial scepticism that met his links to Tottenham largely washing away now that fans, pundits and former players have had the chance to research his background and achievements.
Spurs icon Ledley King, who spent his entire career at the club and served as an assistant under José Mourinho for two years, kept it brief with a tweet that said: “Welcome to the club.”
Another Tottenham legend, Argentinian great Osvaldo Ardiles, initially spelt his name as ‘Ange Costepoglou’ before correcting himself and saying: “Sorry. Wrong spelling. Welcome Ange Postecoglou to our club and all the very best from me and all our supporters.”
Celtic captain Callum McGregor, meanwhile, provided a heartfelt farewell message after two trophy-laded seasons under him in Scotland.
“It has been great to work with the gaffer over the past two seasons and to achieve the success that we have, especially achieving yet another treble at the weekend,” he said in a statement.
“In fact, to win five out of six domestic trophies is a tremendous achievement and that is testament to the real focus and relentlessness of the manager, the players and our whole backroom team who have all worked so hard.
“We have delivered something very special to our fans and done it under the manager’s direction by playing an exciting and attractive brand of football. As all the players do, I wish Ange great success in his next challenge.”
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