Pep Guardiola’s lessons for Ted Lasso and Manchester’s rich booze history

For those not clued into Ted Lasso, the fictional soccer manager from the USA! USA!! USA!!! and star of his self-titled show on the tellybox, you may have missed a deeply earnest cameo in said show this week from Pep Guardiola. As AFC Richmond took on Manchester City, Pep was gracious enough to tell the show’s protagonist: “Don’t worry about the wins or losses. Just help these guys be the best version of themselves on and off the pitch. This, at the end, is the most important thing.”

A lovely sentiment, Football Daily is sure you will agree, and an easy one to preach when, back in the real world, your own team is steamrolling every team in sight on the way to a historic treble. And despite spending a few seasons deeply worrying about the wins and losses, Guardiola did follow through on his promise after City clinched the Premier League title at the weekend. Yes, Pep gave his players the night off to be the best version of themselves hit the Tin before Wednesday night’s match at Brighton.

Manchester has a long and rich history with booze, from champagne supernovas in the sky to this Tin-soaked 4am Renaissance painting on Well Street. It turns out Bernardo Silva and co did Guardiola proud – “drinking all the alcohol in Manchester” – before gathering themselves to muster a 1-1 draw at the Amex, a result that confirmed Brighton’s qualification for the Europa League after a thoroughly entertaining game. Chapeau to all concerned.

“I was a little bit worried about how much we drop [from] what we had done over the last four, five, six months … 40 hours ago we drank all the alcohol in Manchester,” beamed Guardiola after the result on the south coast. “But the team was there [at Brighton] and that’s why I am very pleased. Because