Gerard Pique reveals what Sir Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola have in common

Sir Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola are two of the greatest managers to ever grace the beautiful game, collecting dozens of trophies and leaving a lasting legacy on the sport. To have had the honour to play for one of these managerial greats would be the highlight for many a player in their career. Playing for both is a rare, remarkable achievement.

But that’s exactly what former centre-back Gerard Pique achieved during a decorated and distinguished career. The Spanish international first played under Ferguson at Manchester United, winning the Premier League and Champions League before moving to Barcelona to play under Guardiola, lifting 10 major honours. The pair may have had contrasting styles of play but that hasn’t stopped Pique picking one key thing Guardiola and Ferguson shared.

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Pique’s individual success under the two managers isn’t comparable; after all, the Spaniard was fresh out of Barcelona’s U19 team when he joined Man Utd, but had become a seasoned, world-class pro by the time he worked with Guardiola. Yet Pique, who won 37 trophies across his illustrious career, saw similarities between the two managers. The 2010 FIFA World Cup winning centre-back told talkSPORT:

The ability to motivate has probably been a skill more closely associated with Ferguson, though you’d be naive to believe Guardiola, who has 12 league titles in 16 seasons of management in three of Europe’s best leagues, doesn’t possess similar traits. Meanwhile, a supreme, almost obsessive tactical understanding of the game is generally attributed to Guardiola, rather than Ferguson, but Pique learned a lot from managers. He recalled:

Nonetheless, perhaps as a result of Pique receiving the same footballing education as Guardiola did in Barcelona’s La Masia youth system, the now 37-year-old former centre-back found adapting to Guardiola’s style of play a more seamless transition than Ferguson’s. Pique revealed he found it ‘very easy’ to play for Guardiola, who he played 183 games under, including two Champions League-winning finals.

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Premier League greats have won a host of trophies

Distinguishing a better manager between the two is challenging. Guardiola’s expansive ‘tika-taka’ style of play evolved an already good Barcelona team into, perhaps, the greatest the world has ever seen, before dominating the Bundesliga and Premier League in such a clinically, ruthless manner.

Meanwhile, Ferguson’s unlikely European triumph with Scottish side, Aberdeen, and then the longevity of his Premier League success is not something Guardiola is going to be able to compete with when the great 53-year-old coach decides to conclude his time in England.

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Once Guardiola finally descends from the elite European footballing landscape, it’ll mark the first period since 1986 that neither Guardiola nor Ferguson have ruled one of the continent’s biggest clubs and will leave a vacant space for the next era-dominating to try to fill.

All statistics from Transfermarkt. Correct as of 20.06.24