Pep Guardiola: My thoughts on Man United and Liverpool managers

Pep Guardiola believes that coming up against the likes of Jose Mourinho and Jurgen Klopp in the Premier League next season will help to bring the best out of him and his teams.

The Spanish coach has been appointed as Manchester City’s new manager and is currently gearing up for his first taste of management in England.

Guardiola came up against Mourinho many times during his spell in charge of Barcelona in Spain and also faced off with Liverpool boss Klopp during his time at Bayern Munich.

And although Guardiola played down talk of a rivalry between himself and the Premier League’s top coaches, the newly-appointed Manchester City boss is looking forward to coming up against his talented counterparts next season.

Speaking at his first official Manchester City news conference on Friday, Guardiola said: “I think Jose said pretty well in his press conference, that it is not about him or me.

“We are not focused on each other. The other one is going to win some. It is so tough to win the games here.

“But we played many times against each other. I can only say, as a coach, big coaches help me to reach another level and Jose is one of them.

“My experience against him and, for example, against Jurgen Klopp at Dortmund, and a lot of coaches in Spain and Germany, they made me better.

“(Antonio) Conte is a master tactician, a great signing for Chelsea. It is going to be very interesting competing with him and Klopp, (Claudio) Ranieri and (Ronald) Koeman also, loads of coaches come to mind.”

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Mourinho has been appointed as United’s new manager on a three-year contract after his sacking by Chelsea back in December.