James Milner left Manchester City a year before Pep Guardiola arrived at the English giants. Instead of becoming his understudy, by the time Guardiola arrived on the shores of England, Milner had become his rival.
It was Liverpool who, throughout Milner’s time at the club, pushed Guardiola and his City side to the brink time and time again.
At the height of the rivalry, the fixture produced many timeless classics that will live long in the memory of both sets of supporters. But after having finally left Liverpool last summer, what does Milner really think about Guardiola?
James Milner shares his honest thoughts about Pep Guardiola
Speaking on the Football’s Greatest Managers podcast with Jeff Stelling, Milner opened up about the rivalry with Guardiola, and revealed his honest thoughts about him as a manager.
“I think so, yeah. He is very intelligent as well, and tactically does thing very differently at times. Probably a bit similar to the manager here [De Zerbi]. And how he changes it,” Milner said.
“You look at what Pep has done in his career and what he is doing at City, and even what he stopped us doing, when we got over 90 points three times and only won one league title, it is pretty ludicrous really but it shows what a good job he has done there and how good Man City were.
“The fact we challenged them for those years and pushed them and managed to nick a league title off them and the Champions League was big, and made bigger by how good they were. But he is a top manager.”
Milner’s respect for Guardiola makes sense. Jurgen Klopp also holds the Manchester City boss in the highest regard. No matter the rivalry on the pitch, it’s obvious there is mutual respect between the two sides.
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
