Bayern Munich CEO, Karl Heinz-Rummenigge, has claimed that he once had to stop Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, from playing goalkeeper Manuel Neuer in midfield while in charge of the German club.
Guardiola spent three years in Bavaria between 2013-16 and dominated the Bundesliga throughout his stint, winning the title at a canter every season.
“After securing the league title, Pep Guardiola seriously came up with the idea of starting Manuel Neuer in midfield for a game,” Rummenigge told Bayern magazine ’51’.
“Only after a big effort, I could stop Pep from doing it, because it might have been interpreted as arrogance. However, I am convinced that Manu would have done well in midfield too. It would have been an interesting experiment.”
The peculiar claim jars with Guardiola’s attitude at the Etihad.Ederson has described how the City manager was ‘p***** off’ when he talked up the idea of taking a penalty after the fans had sung his name during a match with Swansea in May 2018 – after the league title had already been wrapped up.
“That’s not going to happen. There are other players to hit them,” the coach said at the time.
“There is respect for the opponent, respect for competitions. In friendlies maybe he can do it but in a league game, no.”
Guardiola has also criticised his players for showboating on a number of occasions; for instance, he ticked off Raheem Sterling for doing some step-overs late on in a Manchester derby in 2018 and he wasn’t impressed when Ederson wandered up the pitch and played some passes against Wolves last season.
