Guardiola voices ‘huge respect’ for Man Utd’s Ten Hag on eve of FA Cup final

Manchester City’s Spanish manager Pep Guardiola reacts during the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and West Ham United at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on May 19, 2024. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)

Pep Guardiola says he has “huge respect” for Erik ten Hag after a terrible season for Manchester United as the Manchester City boss eyes more history in Saturday’s FA Cup final.

City are celebrating an unprecedented fourth straight English top-flight crown and will become the first team to win the league and FA Cup in successive seasons if they beat United at Wembley.

Guardiola’s men will start as hot favourites against United, who have lost six out of their past seven meetings in all competitions against their fierce rivals and finished a lowly eighth in the Premier League.

Ten Hag is fighting to avoid the sack after United’s woeful campaign, with England coach Gareth Southgate and Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna among a host of managers linked with the Old Trafford job in recent weeks.

But Guardiola has sympathy for Ten Hag after his second season in charge was marred by injuries to a host of key players.

“In the big clubs like United and City, when you don’t win you are always in trouble. That’s not a secret,” Guardiola said at his pre-match press conference on Friday.

“I have a huge respect for his job in the past, and now in United. I completely agree when I listen to him say they have not had a full squad — lots of injuries.

“They have a lot of problems and when that happens the manager suffers a lot because the squad is really good. The problem when you are injured you cannot use them and this a big, big disadvantage.”

Guardiola said despite his team’s recent impressive record