Sam Allardyce made the audacious boast that he is just as good as Manchester City manager, and Pep Guardiola concurs.
With only four games left in the season, Allardyce has been called back to the Premier League and given the job of keeping Leeds United from being relegated.
The 68-year-old announced his comeback to the game at his press conference on Wednesday, saying he is on par with Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, and Mikel Arteta. He has been out of the game since 2021 when he failed to keep West Brom in the first division.
The statement on Wednesday that “far too many people think I am old and out of date” is completely false. “I may be 68 and appear old, but nobody in football, not Pep (Guardiola), not Jurgen Klopp, not Mikel Arteta, is ahead of me, so it’s all there with me,” he said.
“I do what I do and share what they do, but in terms of knowledge and depth, I’m up there with them; I’m not saying I’m better than them, but I’m definitely as good as they are.”
Guardiola claims that managers like himself have been made possible by someone like Allardyce, along with fellow veterans Neil Warnock and Roy Hodgson, who will face off against him on Saturday at the Etihad.
Regarding Allardyce’s remarks, Guardiola remarked, “He is right.” I’d like to be sincere. Now consider what transpired in Huddersfield, for instance, with Neil Warnock.
It appears that youthful managers with strategies or anything are suddenly present. They help us to be who we are, so they are great.
“Look at the managers—Roy Hodgson for Crystal Palace, for example—and what they have accomplished.” He feels that way because of how excellent they are, how much experience they have, and how well they understand the game.
“He (Allardyce) has the charisma, he will apply pressure to the players, and he knows exactly what to do in this kind of circumstance in a relegation battle,” the source said.
“It appears that these older managers are… Because of my honesty, what they have done for the club is brushed aside as “they are old, whatever.”
Now, those of us who are 35, 40, or 45 years old, did we invent football or did it create itself? No, football already exists, and these guys play in that league and assisted us in creating it, which is why.
So, according to Neil Warnock, Huddersfield was in the final position and has since left the dangerous areas. What Harry Redknapp accomplished in this nation was not something I could witness.
There are a lot of English managers that have done incredibly well. Being a competent boss doesn’t require you to be youthful. Despite your experience, you are competent.