Few games in the first half of the Premier League season will bring more excitement than the first Manchester Derby of 2016-17.
Despite the deluge of big-name arrivals on both team sheets in the offseason, it will be the two generals standing on the sidelines that will generate the most intrigue.
The Mourinho-Guardiola rivalry is one of the most fascinating in all of football, and possibly world sports. Here are two men at the top of their game, in what is one of the toughest and more stressful work environments in global sport, who could not go about things in more different ways.
If you are a neutral, what you think about each man is probably determined by what you think about football, or life in general.
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To get the oversimplifications out of the way, the view that Mourinho represents ‘defensive’ or conservative football and Guardiola is in favour of all-out attack is simply false. Mourinho’s title-winning Real Madrid team in 2011-12 scored an incredible 121 goals in 38 league games that season. To put that in context, last season’s leading scorers in the Premier League, Manchester City, managed 71 goals. It is one of the most impressive displays of attacking football ever seen.
The view of Guardiola as an all-out attacker is also over-exaggerated. His Bayern Munich side last season scored an impressive 80 goals in the Bundesliga and conceded a miserly 17. However, the 80 goals scored was actually two less than the free-flowing Borussia Dortmund, who managed 82. His teams are very good and score a lot of goals, but are far from the irrepressible juggernaut that many depict them as.
Unsurprisingly, the differences between the two men are deeper than simple preference for attack over defence or vice versa. They are philosophical in a real, rather than Louis van Gaal, sense. It is about differences in personality and motivation, not how many passes are needed to score a good goal.
So what drives a man like Mourinho? After his Inter Milan side overcame Pep’s Barcelona in the 2010 Champions League semi-final, Mourinho described the second leg result, a 1-0 loss which resulted in a 3-2 aggregate win, as “the most beautiful defeat of my life. It is a style of blood not skill. We were a team of heroes. It is a pity I could not play because I have got the same blood. I have already won a Champions League but today was even better. We made huge sacrifices.”
This is often pointed to as evidence showing the Portuguese as a pragmatic or conservative coach. The coach who will take the loss if it means progression. But that is unfair. This showcases Mourinho’s personality at its best. Here is a coach willing to double down on his own players. A leader willing to trust his men and back them unquestionably against more talented and fancied opponents. Mourinho values “blood” and sacrifices over skill. He identifies with players who give their all and will leave behind their individual pride for the greater cause. This is why he wins. You either buy into this ‘everything for the team’ message or you are shown the exit door.
Guardiola is also rightly renowned as a team-first coach but almost in an entirely opposite sense. Later in 2010, after Mourinho was appointed Real Madrid manager, Guardiola extracted his revenge and showed his ‘team-first’ approach. Barcelona thrashed Mourinho’s hapless Madrid 5-0 in their first Clasico meeting as managers.
Barca were ruthless. Time and time again, they cut through Madrid’s hopelessly high line. As anyone who watched the game can attest, it was a truly thorough lesson in terms of both tactics and skill.
A gleeful Guardiola described after the game his feeling of pride for allowing “the whole world to see how we play”. This is what motivates Pep. He knows the world will be watching his teams. How can you not tune into a Barcelona, Bayern or Manchester City team coached by Guardiola?
Football matches are not a fight to be won but a performance to show to the world your art and skill. The more perfect the performance, the more pride you can take. His 5-0 demolition of Mourinho’s Madrid in November 2010 was perfection. It was his highlight. It showed to the world everything Guardiola values in a performance.
Mourinho, on the other hand, cherishes the 1-0 loss at Nou Camp. Down to 10 men early in the first half and facing the other-worldly attacking talents of Lionel Messi, Xavi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Mourinho’s men held on through blood, not skill; through sacrifice, not talent. The team on that night showcased all of his values.
The two men have met and clashed on many occasions since. Both have had their fair share of victories and defeats. But no result so clearly demonstrates the difference between them as Inter’s 1-0 loss at Nou Camp and Barca’s 5-0 thumping over Madrid.
Premier League titles are never decided in September so it is unlikely this clash will have any decisive ramifications come May. For the neutrals sitting at home watching the teams line up on Saturday afternoon, ask yourself: do I value hard work more than supreme talent? Do I want to see blood and sweat or a sublime piece of skill decide the game? Is football a fight to the finish or a performance to be perfected?
Answer those and you will know who you will be supporting.
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