Sergio Agüero – Involved with the crowd
Judging by the scenes at the end of the FA Cup game between Wigan and Manchester City at the DW Stadium, Pep Guardiola, some of his team and some of the City fans don’t appear to be very gentlemanly in defeat.
Supporters threw seats and anything else they could get their hands on, the players stomped and sulked and Guardiola wandered round like a child whose favourite toy had been taken from him.
At the end of the day they had lost a football match, nothing more. They had been beaten because they failed to take any of their numerous chances whereas Wigan, who had two, scored from one of them.
The dream of the quadruple is now officially over and maybe it is this aspect of the defeat which really hurts. Certainly the fans thought it was a realistic dream.
The Carabao Cup – Now even more important for City
City should be good enough to beat Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final and, barring a major disaster, they are through to the quarter-finals of the Champion’s League. They have virtually wrapped up the Premier League, so losing to Wigan in the FA Cup was a shock and would have been considered one of the easier games.
Pep Guardiola, in fairness, is an “in the moment” bad loser. In other words he hates to lose but the feeling soon passes and he is quick to return to reality. As he said, a short while after the game, they will learn and move on. He was never one of the ones who thought his team were going to win four trophies this season and continually warned against such high expectations.
When a manager such as Guardiola has won so much it is almost like a kick in the teeth when his team is beaten, particularly when it results in being knocked out of a tournament. In truth, he does well to get over it so quickly!
Not so José Mourinho who appears to have found a new quieter and serene side to his personality. Yet when his team loses he can sulk for days.
Mourinho having a chat with Pogba
As has been witnessed at Chelsea and Real Madrid, if he thinks certain players aren’t performing as he expects then he has been known to marginalise them. This has, on occasion, led to problems with groups of players when others have backed their team mate.
He will brood about a result for days and it is always easy to tell whether or not he is over it, just watch his next press conference!
One of Mourinho’s predecessors at Old Trafford was also quite well known for hating to lose. Sir Alex Ferguson, reportedly, threw teacups around, kicked football boots at David Beckham and banned certain members of the media from his press conferences. All of these things occurred after a loss or two.
What do the three have in common? They were/are winners. When most of a manager’s professional life has been spent collecting accolades, trophies, medals and a lot of money, then on the odd occasion defeat rears it’s ugly head it can have a very detrimental affect on his immediate mood and mentality.
Alan Pardew – Nice guy who has won nothing
There is nothing wrong with being a sore loser. In fact, nice losers are only so because they lose more often than they win. Look at Alan Pardew, Slaven Bilic, Sam Allardyce and Tony Pulis for example. All, apparently, very nice guys but what have they won?
Their post-match interviews after a defeat would usually congratulate the opposition, blame their own players or both. There never appeared to be much passion about the result.
The difference when listening to a manager who is used to winning is that the passion is there whether or not he openly displays it. It can be seen and heard by all who are watching and listening to him.
The two Manchester managers can now forget the FA Cup for a while for different reasons. Pep Guardiola needs to prepare his team for the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal, which is now even more important than before because he needs to get his players back to winning ways.
José Mourinho, having played Sevilla in midweek, will be preparing for the visit of Chelsea on Sunday.
Two different games, two different competitions, but both managers know the importance of a win not only for their respective teams but also for their own peace of mind and short-term sanity!
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 
Who cares about either of them? Both of them are ego maniacs but Pep isn’t as much of an arsehole as Jose is, that counts for a lot in football these days. It doesn’t make you look very professional if you sulk like a 2 year old every time your team loses.
LikeLike
Everyone has an ego. The question is, what sort of ego? Pep and Jose are both serial winners who hate to lose. Jose has a particularly dark side to him which, at times is not very pleasant and can be divisive. Pep, on the other hand has a much healthier ego, more pleasant and not so, if at all, divisive. All part of the challenge of being human. As for us plebs, we can just sit back and enjoy the show, dispassionately, or not.
LikeLike