Pep Guardiola used the phrase “that Harry Kane team” as a means to describe Tottenham Hotspur, and it has many in the Spurs community quite aggrieved. Was it truly throwing shade by the Manchester City manager?
Or just yet another example of the age that we currently live in- where some people are just always looking for something to get angry about, and then go out of their way to get exceedingly angry about whatever it is they find.
Guardiola maintained today that he meant no disrespect by it, and that he would never, ever, disrespect an opponent.
Here again is what he said on the final day of last month, when assessing the Premier League title race.
“It’s September, Chelsea won (many) games in a row last season. They were unbeatable and won the league.”
“Of course this season they have a new problem because they play every three days. It’s more complicated for all the teams. We have United. We saw again the Harry Kane team, every game he scores two or three goals. Jose with United will always be tough.
“When you see United you say: ‘That is a Jose Mourinho team’. They are aggressive, they win duels, they are so quick in the counter-attack.”
Remember that was the day Kane put in yet another outstanding performance to cap his ridiculously astounding September, so you can see why Pep Guardiola thought of Kane first and foremost when referencing Tottenham. Of course, it’s also understandable why some would interpret that as a slight; especially to the rest of the Tottenham side.
Tottenham Manager Mauricio Pochettino said the comment was “ungentlemanly,” and Guardiola admits now that it was a mistake.
“Maybe my memory is not so well, but I was never disrespectful to my colleague,” Pep Guardiola said at his weekly news conference today.
“I was never disrespectful in a press conference. Never. When I talked about Harry Kane’s team, it was because Harry Kane was scoring a lot of goals, and I know perfectly that Tottenham are not Harry Kane alone.”
“I think that last season, the person who spoke most about appreciating the way Tottenham play was me. I said Tottenham are one of the best teams playing. So I’m really disappointed if he said that. I don’t know what he said, but I was never disrespectful about my colleagues.”
Pep Guardiola and his side host Stoke City today, and they welcome Tottenham to Manchester on December 16.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now and Minute Media. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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