{"id":128923,"date":"2023-12-08T15:17:28","date_gmt":"2023-12-08T15:17:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/12\/08\/pep-guardiola-reveals-shock-retirement-plans-amid-man-city-struggles\/"},"modified":"2023-12-08T15:17:28","modified_gmt":"2023-12-08T15:17:28","slug":"pep-guardiola-reveals-shock-retirement-plans-amid-man-city-struggles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/12\/08\/pep-guardiola-reveals-shock-retirement-plans-amid-man-city-struggles\/","title":{"rendered":"Pep Guardiola reveals shock retirement plans amid Man City struggles \u2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has claimed he will retire in a matter of months if his team successfully defends last season\u2019s Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League treble.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Guardiola has a contract at the Etihad Stadium until 2025 but surprisingly declared ahead of Wednesday night\u2019s Premier League defeat to Aston Villa that he will walk away completely at the end of this campaign if City have won the treble for a second successive season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we win the treble this season, I\u2019ll retire. That\u2019s for sure,\u201d the Spaniard told\u00a0Prime Video<\/em>, perhaps serious, perhaps not. \u201cI know it is extremely difficult, how many incredible teams have been in England and just one with Sir\u00a0Alex Ferguson\u00a0has done it and ourselves last season.\u201d<\/p>\n

After several years of Premier League dominance, City finally went all the way in the Champions League for the first time last season, sandwiching only Guardiola\u2019s second FA Cup triumph in between their other successes for good measure.<\/p>\n

City\u00a0were just the second English club to complete the feat, matching Manchester United\u2019s 1998\/99 team. Guardiola had previously won the treble with Barcelona back in his very first season as a head coach at senior level, while Inter, Celtic, Ajax and Bayern Munich have done it over the decades.<\/p>\n

But with sustained success in English football particularly difficult \u2013 City are currently chasing a fourth straight league title that has never been achieved in 135 years \u2013 it would arguably be an even greater achievement for\u00a0Guardiola\u00a0and his team to do the treble again in 2023\/24.<\/p>\n

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\"The<\/figure>\n

The Premier League wheels are coming off for Man City this season \/ Visionhaus\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

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No team, in England or abroad, has ever won the treble in consecutive seasons. Of those that have at least managed it twice, the second treble hasn\u2019t even been within five years of the first.<\/p>\n

Given that City are already struggling to match their previous\u00a0Premier League\u00a0dominance \u2013 the defending champions have won only three of their last nine games and are currently four without a win in the wake of this week\u2019s defeat to Aston Villa \u2013 Guardiola may realise the chances of actually having to follow through on his retirement promise are slim and fading.<\/p>\n

City are yet to start their defence of the FA Cup but will face Championship strugglers Huddersfield Town in the third round early next month.<\/p>\n

As for the\u00a0Champions League, they are one of only two sides in the competition along with Real Madrid to have won all of their opening five group games and are assured of a seeded place in the upcoming last 16 draw later this month before the final fixture next week has been played.<\/p>\n

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Every club that has won the treble<\/h2>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Season<\/strong><\/th>\nClub<\/strong><\/th>\nManager<\/strong><\/th>\nTrophies<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
1966\/67<\/td>\nCeltic<\/td>\nJock Stein<\/td>\nScottish Division One, Scottish Cup, European Cup<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1971\/72<\/td>\nAjax<\/td>\nStefan Kovacs<\/td>\nEredivisie, KNVB Cup, European Cup<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1987\/88<\/td>\nPSV Eindhoven<\/td>\nGuus Hiddink<\/td>\nEredivisie, KNVB Cup, European Cup<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1998\/99<\/td>\nManchester United<\/td>\nSir Alex Ferguson<\/td>\nPremier League, FA Cup, Champions League<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2008\/09<\/td>\nBarcelona<\/td>\nPep Guardiola<\/td>\nLa Liga, Copa del Rey, Champions League<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2009\/10<\/td>\nInter<\/td>\nJose Mourinho<\/td>\nSerie A, Coppa Italia, Champions League<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2012\/13<\/td>\nBayern Munich<\/td>\nJupp Heynckes<\/td>\nBundesliga, DFB-Pokal, Champions League<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2014\/15<\/td>\nBarcelona<\/td>\nLuis Enrique<\/td>\nLa Liga, Copa del Rey, Champions League<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2019\/20<\/td>\nBayern Munich<\/td>\nHansi Flick<\/td>\nBundesliga, DFB-Pokal, Champions League<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2022\/23<\/td>\nManchester City<\/td>\nPep Guardiola<\/td>\nPremier League, FA Cup, Champions League<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n
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