Guardiola assistant defends his City record

Criticism of Pep Guardiola is jealousy according to his personal assistant Manel Estiarte, after Manchester City finished the season without silverware.

Guardiola arrived at the Etihad Stadium to great fanfare last summer, making a flying start winning his first ten games in charge.

However City were not able to maintain that pace, and eventually finished third in the Premier League behind Chelsea and Tottenham.

Their Champions League campaign was ended in the last 16 by Monaco but despite that disappointment, Estiarte believes Guardiola has done a good job in Manchester.

(Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images)

He said of the critics: “They can say what they want.

“Maybe they say that out of jealousy because they don’t understand, or because they have a blindfold over their eyes.

“There have been very good moments in games that you can compare to the teams that we all think about – the best Barca and the best Bayern.

“There have been many factors, like the injuries, bans, the refereeing, bad luck when it comes to finishing chances,” he said.

“We have created double the chances to score than the second-placed team and we are the ones who have missed most.

“It’s the same as always: there will be people pro-Guardiola and people anti-Guardiola and they will interpret it as they like.

“But I talk about football: we have played attacking football, with possession, creating chances and controlling the game, which is very Pep and very Johan [Cruyff].”