Pep Guardiola’s former right-hand man backing Manchester City boss to secure Premier League hat-trick
PEP GUARDIOLA is due back at his desk at Manchester City next week, ready to tackle Mission: Impossible.
Having won successive Premier League titles with a combined total of 198 points, he must keep his players hungry to make it a hat-trick of crowns.
And if there is one man who can convince this City squad to do it all again, it is Guardiola.
That is the view of his close pal and former assistant, Domenec Torrent, who spent some days with the Etihad chief in New York earlier this month.
Pep has been enjoying a well-earned break for the last five weeks but preparations for the new season are set to crank up at Manchester City next week.
A new kit deal with Puma kicks in this weekend, while new faces are expected to start arriving soon.
USA keeper Zack Steffen will officially arrive on Monday.
He is likely to be followed by left-back Angelino, who is returning from PSV Eindhoven, while Atletico Madrid’s defensive midfielder Rodri should become City’s record signing in the days that follow.
Then Pep’s players will begin to report back for pre-season a week on Monday.
According to his trusted former righthand man Torrent, the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss will be ready and desperate to make it three in a row.
And that spells bad news for Liverpool and any other pretenders to the top-flight throne.
Torrent, 56, said: “You know how difficult it is to win two in a row, so people may say it’s almost impossible to win the next Premier League.
“But if it’s possible for one person to keep that energy, rhythm and focus and keep working in the same way, then it’s Pep.
“Remember in Barcelona he was able to keep the focus in every single game and he kept on winning.”
DOMESTIC DOMINATION
City won an unprecedented domestic Treble last season and Torrent believes there will be no danger of easing up at the Etihad.
He said: “It doesn’t matter for him if he is playing Championship or playing Liverpool in a top of the league game. For Pep, it’s the same.
“Pep conveys all the time to the players how important it is in every single game like they are playing Barcelona, Real Madrid or Liverpool in the Champions League. I know this coach, I know he’s able to win many trophies. He was able to win in Spain and Germany and now in England.
“He works very hard every single game, he’s amazing. It’s not a surprise he’s done so well.”
Torrent worked with Guardiola for 11 years before leaving City last summer to become boss at their sister club New York City.
He was delighted to welcome his old pal to the Big Apple earlier this month and the pair spent hours catching up in their favourite restaurants.
HAPPY IN MANCHESTER
The close season was full of rumours linking 48-year-old Pep with the vacant job at Juventus but, according to Torrent, he never had any plans to leave. His relationships with chairman Khaldoon al Mubarak, chief executive Ferran Soriano and director of football Txiki Begiristain are particularly important.
Torrent added: “I know how happy he is Manchester. When he came to New York, he told me his family are settled and he’s very happy at the club.
“The most important thing for a coach is to work together with the sporting director, the chairman, the chief exec.
“He has Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, so he’s very content. That’s important for Pep. They work closely every single day and they work hard to keep City at the top. You never know in the future but right now he’s fine there.”
Having won five major domestic trophies in the past two seasons, the assumption is Guardiola is now desperate to add the Champions League to his haul.
But Torrent is not so sure and said: “Everyone says they have to win the Champions League but, for me, it’s not about that.
“They played amazing the whole season. I watched the game against Liverpool at the Etihad with my son and, for me, they are two of the best teams around.”
THE ‘Pep Effect’ helped New York City kick-start their MLS season earlier this month.
Domenec Torrent’s men had a patchy start to the campaign until the Manchester City boss came to take in a match.
Guardiola, 48, was in the stands and later met the players in the locker room as NYC thumped Cincinnati 5-2 at home.
Torrent said: “He watched the game against Cincinatti and we scored five goals. I said to the players maybe the reason why is because this guy is here. He’s the best coach ever in my opinion.
“We played much better than the last three or four games. He came in the locker room after the game and they were very happy to meet him. Everybody knows how important he is for soccer in Europe.
“All of them love this guy. It was a great day. Everything was perfect.”
NEW YORK, NEW FORTUNES
NYC are also going well in the US Open Cup, having knocked out Wayne Rooney’s DC United 2-1 in Washington in the last 16.
Torrent, 56, who took over in 2018, believes a first trophy is in sight for a club only formed in 2013.
He said: “Right now we are in the play-offs zone and we are in the quarterfinals of the Open Cup for the first time.
“I’m very happy for the club, when they have confidence with me I want to try to win trophies if it’s possible.
“My feeling right now is that it’s our best moment at the club and we are able to win something and we are playing much better than a month ago.”
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Torrent, who worked with Guardiola for 11 years at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City, was delighted to welcome his old pal to New York.
He said: “Pep told me he needed to see me and speak to me, usually we speak four or five times a month.
“We were close and for me he’s like family. So when he decides to come to New York to watch the team and see the players, it is very important.”
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