
Pep Guardiola launches new side hustle as Man City boss admits ‘people are waiting for me to fail'
The legendary boss has channelled his
energy
into positive vibes and wellness after missing out on silverware for only the second time in his incredible 17-year career last season.
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Pep Guardiola has launched a new side hustle away from the football pitch
Credit: Getty
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Guardiola claimed he is feeling 75 years old
Credit: GQ HYPE
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Guardiola, 54, has gone into
business
with a
DOCTOR
and a therapist in
Barcelona
, his home base where he spends time with family during rare stints of time off.
The Etihad gaffer has put his cash and image behind high-performance recovery facility called the Monarka Clinic, which opened its doors last month.
The clinic is located at a prime address in
Barcelona
, right on the historic Passeig de Gràcia, an avenue that hosts some of Spain's most pricey real estate.
Days after a shock exit from the Club World Cup last-16 to Al-Hilal in June,
READ MORE FOOTBALL NEWS
The Premier League manager got lapped into the
He had been treated by one of the creators Dr Mireia Illueca after suffering from a slipped disc in his back a few years ago.
Guardiola explained: 'I had a back problem and she fixed it, and since then we've gotten to known each other and become very close.
'She told me about the clinic and her project, about the things she wants to do. As I've always believed that sport,
health
and wellness are all fundamental, she asked me: 'Why don't we work together?'
Most read in Football
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The City boss appeared on the cover of GQ Spain with the headline 'In Body and Soul'
Credit: GQ HYPE
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'And I replied, 'Why not?' And here we are. I'm not going to cure anyone, but I'll keep her company while she does. I've already been doing that for a while.'
Dr Illueca is a neurosurgeon and expert in regenerative medicine and pain management, while co-owner Montse Escobar is a psychologist who specialises in identifying the emotional root causes of physical ailments.
Pep Guardiola and stunning daughter Maria belt out Oasis classic as Man City boss parties with Gallagher family at gig
Meanwhile, Guardiola debuted
Guardiola thinks the clinic can help both the general public and professional athletes in dealing with physical pain through mental methods.
So people are waiting for me to fail? Yes, yes, I'm sure that's true.
Guardiola
GQ
He
even half-joked that being City boss has taken years off his life when he said: 'Quite a few, especially if things are going badly.
'As I am now I'm 75 years old! I'm a wreck, everything hurts right now.
'So, if it's my biological age… maybe if I take the test, I'll come out younger. I hope to be better than I am now in a while.
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Guardiola has ditched his beard for a moustache
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Pep with his new business partners Dr Mireia Illueca and Montse Escobar
'A friend of mine, who I think defined me very well, once told me that I have three states as a person: euphoric, depressed, and absent. Those are my three states.
"So the point is to try to stay in the middle of these three.'
The Spaniard is
desperate to restore City back to the top when the
Prem
kicks off this month, after a record spell of four league titles in a row ended in failure last season.
While speaking to GQ, he later agreed with the notion that people are "waiting for him to fail" after years of domination.
When quizzed, Guardiola said: "So they're waiting for me to fail? Yes, yes, I'm sure that's true. And I'm delighted to see them too. Delighted.
"That gives you energy. In competition, you need people to say to you: 'Really? We'll see about that.'
"They were the ones who said: 'He won't be able to do it in Germany, he was at Barcelona because of who he knew,' and 'In England, you'll see, English football is different.'
"Well, no. We did it. And then we did it again and again. Do things sometimes go wrong? Of course they do."
City open their Premier League campaign against Wolves at the Etihad on August 16.
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Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
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'The problems we had in the last month, I felt now was not the right time to leave,' he said. The problems got much worse. To which there can be two reactions. On the one hand, it is rare and admirable that a manager should feel such a sense of responsibility to his club. While many are sacked before they have a chance to resolve problems, there are also plenty happy enough to walk away with a pay-off and pass the crisis on to somebody else. But on the other hand, it probably is not a great sign if a manager with two years left on his contract is already looking forward to the extended holiday he is going to have when it is all over. But management is exhausting. It was striking in the interview that the element Guardiola picked out as most debilitating was having opposing fans chanting he was going to be sacked in the morning, the sort of mundane banter that it is easy to assume just washes off managers as experienced and successful as Guardiola. Beyond that, though, it is useful to be reminded just how tough a job management is and it may be getting even tougher. READ MORE Over the course of his two autobiographies, it becomes clear how relentless Brian Clough found the grind of management: there was no time to enjoy a victory on Saturday, he said, before he was having to start thinking about the game on Wednesday. That was before the calendar was as packed as it is now and Clough was somebody quite happy to pop over to Mallorca for a holiday during the season, somebody who was noted even at the time for the infrequency of his appearances on the training pitch. Managers today have far more help than they used to. They have specialist coaches and analysts, and their job, at least at the top level, is focused largely on preparing the team. With one or two exceptions, transfers and long-term strategy is the responsibility of a sporting director. Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola reacts with Phil Foden. 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Every game Guardiola has taken charge of since he was appointed at Barcelona in 2008 has been dissected. For 17 years – less his year off in New York – opponents have been looking for ways to stymie his attacking plans and defensive vulnerabilities. Match footage has been pored over, data crunched. Part of Guardiola's genius has been to keep evolving, to remain ahead of his pursuers. That has always happened, but never to the same extent as today. Teams have never been worked out so quickly; what might have taken a season 50 years ago now happens in a couple of weeks. To stay ahead is to adapt constantly and that is exhausting. There comes a point when the energy almost visibly leaves a manager, as it did with Mourinho, as it did with Arsène Wenger, and, unable to stay in front of the pack any longer, they lapse into self-parody. Guardiola is not there yet. Managerial arcs rarely end in a cliff edge; it is not that they are suddenly finished. But no career can go on forever upwards. After 17 years at the top, as he begins to feel the toll, it may be that the descent has begun. Which may still be enough to win City another league title, but nothing lasts for ever. – Guardian


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