'At Man Utd, pressure is double' - Guardiola compares his experiences at Man City and Barcelona with Solskjaer's at Old Trafford

Jonathan Smith

'At Man Utd, pressure is double' - Guardiola compares his experiences at Man City and Barcelona with Solskjaer's at Old Trafford image

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola says he has sympathy for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and says Manchester United managers come under twice as much pressure.

The under-fire Norwegian is facing increased speculation over his future after the 5-0 defeat to Liverpool and with United struggling in seventh in the Premier League.

Guardiola, who took a year out after leaving Barcelona, knows about the intensity surrounding coaching top clubs.

What's been said?

"At United, everything that happens is doubled," he told a news conference ahead of City's game with Crystal Palace on Saturday. "The influence of them, like Liverpool, they are the greatest teams in England for many years. When it happens, their victories are double, defeats are double, of course, it’s not a surprise.

"If I don’t have good results, I’ll be treated the same. Every manager. Nobody can survive bad results, no one. So expectations are so high at United, you have to win.

"For a long time the team didn't win the Premier League, they do and they work to get results in terms of titles because their history demands it. When I took over Barcelona, I knew it, I had to win otherwise another manager will be in this position.

"I’m saying the most obvious things that everyone knows. And in that moment that it happened I’m pretty sure Ole is surrounded by people, family, the staff to be close to them and try to win the next game. There are no more secrets than that."

The bigger picture

United's board has been consistently strong in their backing of Solskjaer and club sources maintain that while the situation hasn’t changed for now there is an acceptance that there is ‘a lot to do’ to turn the season around.

Guardiola's side travel to Old Trafford just before the international break and a win for City would increase the pressure on Solskjaer even further.

However, he has one of the best records of any manager against Guardiola, having won four and drawn one of their eight encounters.

Ahead of that though, United have difficult trips to Tottenham in the Premier League and Atalanta with their Champions League group stage qualification far from certain.

A win for City at home to Club Brugge would leave them on the verge of reaching the last-16 for a ninth successive season.

Further reading

Jonathan Smith

Jonathan Smith Photo

Jonathan Smith is Goal's Manchester City correspondent, covering the club home, away and abroad. He joined Goal in August 2019 after three years in the same role for ESPN and having previously spent more than four years on the sports desk at the Manchester Evening News. Jonathan has become a trusted and respected journalist on the club - regularly appearing on media outlets such as Love Sport radio, beIN Sports, Esporte Interativo, Premier League Productions as well as the club's own media site and City podcasts such as Blue Moon.