Remember when Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho exchanged blows via the press every time their teams prepared to face each other? Well, those days seem to be gone.
According to Pep Guardiola, those pundits and experts that slam Jose Mourinho for his recent woes should be ashamed of themselves, since the Portuguese ace's career should be considered as one of the most successful for a coach.
Speaking prior to the game between his Citizens and Mou's Spurs, Guardiola admitted that Mourinho's career should be praised for being in the game for so long, rather than having people judge it by his last stints as boss.
"The value of Jose, a manager with a lot of experience with a lot of success, is not to be judged on one season, or one-and-a-half seasons. For 15 or 20 years, Jose has been there all the time and that must be respected, because it's the most difficult thing - to be there all the time," Guardiola said about his colleague.
The heated exchanges between these coaches began when Mourinho coached Real Madrid and Guardiola was in charge of Barcelona's fates. Now, Guardiola has urged Mou's critics to look at his accomplishments rather than slamming him for what has turned out to be a bittersweet return to coaching at Tottenham.
"The guys who judge his career, not on 15 or 20 years, it's because people don't understand anything. I know we get judged for the last game, the ideas we have or something we do. But as a professional I try to judge my colleagues not for one season, but 10 or 15 years, a long career. That, for me, gives more value," the Spanish boss added.
Guardiola and Man City will try to pick up points to secure their current second place in the Premier League, while Tottenham battles to enter the top five with a much needed win.
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