Pep Guardiola has recently said that it is an ambition of his to manage his country. He also stated, in the same interview that the country in question is Spain, not Catalonia, which may not have gained it’s independence by the time Pep is either shown the door at Manchester City or saunters through it voluntarily.
The thing is, it could be a short term ambition and it could also be a reasonably long term ambition such is the insecurity surrounding the career of a top football manager.
The impression is that Pep will stay at City for as long as it takes him to make them consistently successful both in Europe and in the Premier League. To do this, as he has already stated, will take years which would probably see him achieving his Spain ambitions quite a way into the future.
The only way he would leave in the short term is if he was sacked and, for that to happen, there would have to be a dramatic downturn in form which led to City being knocked out of the Champion’s League and finishing outside of the top two in the title race. This is an extremely unlikely scenario. However, it could happen next season or the season afterwards, we just never know.
So, all things being equal, we expect Pep to fulfill his ambition to manage the Spanish national team, but not for a number of years yet.
José Mourinho has also said, in the past, that he would like to manage his country.
In a situation very, very similar to that of Guardiola at City, a downturn in form of almost seismic proportions would be required over the next season or two for Mourinho to be released early from his contract, (get fired, for those who prefer it), and again, it seems extremely unlikely but, in football, you just never know.
Neither of the two has stayed in charge of any of their previous clubs for any significant amount of time. Their stays have certainly been notable for trophies added to the collection but have always been, in general, short and sweet.
There is a brief resumé of their managerial careers at the bottom of this article.
The difference between the two in age is eight years but this may not make any difference to the two becoming national managers at around the same time.
Indeed national manager is often a job taken on by successful club managers who have reached an age where they want some freedom and privacy whilst remaining involved with football at the highest level possible.
Barring catastrophic results in the near future it is not beyond the realms of possibility that both Guardiola and Mourinho could stay in their current jobs for ten years or more.
Given their past records though, this does appear unlikely.
Conversely, they have also both stated that they need years to get their clubs to where they belong. For City and Guardiola that is the aforementioned level whereby they are consistently challenging for, and occasionally winning, the Premier League and the Champion’s League.
For Mourinho and Manchester United that is back to the level they were already at under Sir Alex Ferguson but maybe with more consistency in the Champion’s League.
Bear in mind, it is also true to say that they have both reached the pinnacle of their club management careers. They are coaching in the best league in the world, they are coaching the two biggest clubs with the most money in that league so, realistically, where do they go from here?
International management seems to be the logical progression assuming that, at some stage, they want to leave their current employers.
Guardiola managerial career:
| 2007–2008 | Barcelona B | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008–2012 | Barcelona | ||
| 2013–2016 | Bayern Munich | ||
Mourinho managerial career:
| 2001–2002 | União de Leiria | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002–2004 | Porto | ||
| 2004–2007 | Chelsea | ||
| 2008–2010 | Internazionale | ||
| 2010–2013 | Real Madrid | ||
| 2013–2015 | Chelsea | ||
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 