da roleta： The Catalan has made English football history and there is now no question he is the greatest manager in the game's history

da bet7： Just before Pep Guardiola took charge of Manchester City for the first time in August 2016, Sir Alex Ferguson sat down with to give his thoughts on how the Catalan would fare in England. Ferguson knew all too well how good a coach Guardiola was as his Barcelona side had destroyed United in two Champions League finals, but he still had some cautionary words for the man, who he mistakenly called 'Pepe'.

"Pepe without question has got a fantastic work ethic about him, he's got a great coaching ability, there's no doubt about that, but it'll be difficult to replicate what he did at Barcelona," Ferguson warned. "Man City have done a real coup in getting him because he's an outstanding coach, but Pepe won't find it as easy. English football is not easy, every foreign coach who comes to England will tell you that.

"He will be a success but I don't think he'll ever replicate what he did at Barcelona. Because Pep's gone there it's not a guarantee they can win the league without question, that's the beauty of our league."

Ferguson was right about Guardiola's debut season in England, when City finished third and failed to win any trophies. But since then he has been proven emphatically wrong, as Guardiola has made English football look rather easy indeed.

And after winning his sixth Premier League title in seven years and a historic fourth consecutive crown, it's time to ask whether Guardiola is a better coach than Ferguson himself. The truth might make uncomfortable reading for the legendary Scot and Manchester United fans…

Getty Eyeing history

After equalling Ferguson's greatest ever feat by winning the treble with City last year, some suggested that Guardiola had achieved everything with the club. But a coach as driven as the Catalan is not easily satisfied and he soon set his eyes on his next target: becoming the first team in English football history to win four consecutive league titles.

It was a feat Ferguson attempted twice with United, in the 2001-02 and 2009-10 seasons, while Huddersfield Town, Liverpool and Arsenal had also tried but failed. According to a former City player with strong ties to the current dressing room, Guardiola had set winning that elusive fourth title as the primary target for the season and the whole squad got on board with it.

It was ranked above retaining the Champions League and FA Cup, precisely because it was something no team had done before. Guardiola remained wedded to the target even when City's title bid began to falter following the three consecutive draws against Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham, in which his side shipped a total of eight goals.

AdvertisementGettyUnbeaten since December

Before the visit to Aston Villa in December, Guardiola took the unorthodox move of predicting his side would go on to win the league. “My feeling today is we will win the Premier League. People don’t believe it after three draws but we are going to do it again," he said. "If you ask me today, if we play at the level of Liverpool or Tottenham, we’ll do it again, knowing it’s not easy.

"No team has done it [four in a row] yet. That’s the difficulty, but if you ask me today how we’re feeling, we’ll do it again. If you ask me today. If we play at the level of Liverpool or Tottenham we’ll do it again, knowing it’s not easy."

His pledge was slightly ill-timed as City ended up losing at Villa Park, but it proved to be their last defeat of the season in all competitions, discounting the penalty shootout loss to Real Madrid after drawing 4-4 on aggregate. Since falling 1-0 to Unai Emery's side, City have dropped points in just four of their 23 games.

GettyNo twists

If one thing has defined Guardiola's City, it is their ability to go on winning streaks when it matters most. They won this title by winning all nine matches after their 0-0 draw with Arsenal in late March. The previous season they won 12 matches in a row to successfully chase down the Gunners.

In the 2021-22 season, they won 14 out of 15 games between November and mid-February while remaining unbeaten. After then losing at home to Tottenham, they won nine out of the subsequent 12 games while not losing once. In the 2020-21 season, they dropped points in seven of their opening 13 games, but responded by winning their next 15.

The 2019-20 season may have been a write-off, when City lost nine matches and surrendered the title to a rampant Liverpool, but the previous campaign, when Liverpool had snuck ahead of them in the title race in February, City won their final 14 games to finish on 98 points and lift the title. And in the 2017-18 campaign they won 18 matches in a row, making the title race a foregone conclusion in December. As Gary Neville put it earlier this season: "City don't give you twists."

Getty Throwing titles away

And that is where Guardiola differs from Ferguson. Once a title is in the Catalan's grasp, he almost never lets it go. The former United manager, despite his incredible haul of 13 titles in 21 seasons, presided over his share of bottle jobs.

Worst of all was in his penultimate season in 2011-12, when United raced eight points clear of City in April with six games to go, but then lost at Wigan Athletic, drew 4-4 at home to Everton while conceding two late goals in the space of three minutes and then lost 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium after playing for a draw.

City may have won the title by the skin of their teeth thanks to Sergio Aguero's 94th-minute strike against QPR, but United only had themselves to blame. Ferguson later admitted: "You have to say we did throw the league away. Hands up, we all know we're responsible for throwing the league away, but nonetheless, we lost it and you have to deal with that."

Back in the 1997-98 season, meanwhile, United held a 13-point lead over Arsenal on Christmas Day, but dropped points in nine of their last 18 games as the relentless Gunners reeled them in. United also messed up the 1994-95 title on the last day of the season, drawing 1-1 at West Ham, meaning Blackburn won the league even though they lost at Liverpool. United also narrowly missed out on the title in 2009-10 to Chelsea, losing to Carlo Ancelotti's side at home and failing to beat Blackburn in the run-in.