Pep Guardiola will want to leave Manchester City in "good health", according to Jamie Carragher, just like Jurgen Klopp did at Liverpool.
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Guardiola signs two-year extensionCity on a run of six winless gamesHead to league leaders Liverpool nextFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
Guardiola has committed his short-term future to City by penning a two-year extension at the Etihad, a move seemingly fuelled by a desire to leave the club in a healthier position than it's currently in. The 53-year-old is coming off a fourth-straight Premier League title triumph but an ageing squad and injuries to key players have left this current City side adrift at the top of the pile following a run of three-straight defeats in the league, while their Champions League campaign has been hit by poor results against Sporting CP and Feyenoord.
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Guardiola doesn't need to look far to see how a succession plan should be handled. Liverpool are flying high at the top of the league under Arne Slot, who replaced Klopp in the summer, and ex-Reds defender Carragher believes the City boss can learn a thing or two from his former rival.
WHAT CARRAGHER SAID
"Klopp left one final challenge for his old adversary to match: How to leave the perfect legacy for a successor to continue your work," Carragher told the .
"Klopp will be the notable absentee when the clubs meet on Sunday, but his influence lives on with Liverpool top of the Premier League and Champions League.
"When Guardiola signed his two-year contract extension, one phrase stood out. 'I felt I could not leave now, simple as that,' he said. 'Maybe the four defeats were the reason why and I felt I cannot leave.'
"Guardiola could have quit at the end of this season with his legend secure, stepping aside for the next coach to reshape the next era of City success. Instead, he sounded like a man who was already thinking about what he will leave behind, his conscience telling him that if a rebuild is necessary it is his duty to lead it.
"There are echoes of what Klopp did ahead of his final Anfield season. Many suspect he stayed longer than intended to reverse an alarming dip in 2022-23. Arne Slot is the first to admit he has been in a position to fine tune rather than start afresh, his one signing to date, Federico Chiesa, yet to start a Premier League match.
"Guardiola wants to leave City on the same terms and the poor run preceding his deal convinced him it was not the right time to walk into the Manchester sunset.
"The Klopp revival did not lead to another Premier League title, but he must be as proud of leaving the club in such good health as of any of the trophies he lifted.
"Guardiola will feel the same way about guiding City back to the top if – or more likely when – he reduces the past few weeks to nothing more than a bad memory. If Guardiola were to claim another league title from this point, from a coaching perspective it will be his most satisfying yet."
AFPWHAT NEXT FOR MAN CITY?
The significance of Sunday's game at Anfield can't be overstated. City, desperate for something to go their way after failing to win in six games in all competitions, will fall 11 points behind Liverpool should they lose to Anfield, effectively ending any hopes of bringing the title back to Manchester.