Liverpool icon Jamie Carragher has explained why departing Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is the greatest manager of all time, ahead of legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

Pep Guardiola is set to leave Manchester City after a trophy-laden 10-year spell, having accumulated 20 trophies during his decade-long stint with the club. Sir Alex Ferguson left Manchester United in 2013, after a 27-year stint, where he won 38 trophies with the club.

Writing in his column on The Telegraph, Carragher explained why Guardiola has overtaken Ferguson as the greatest manager. He claimed that Guardiola’s achievements at Man City have set him apart from Sir Alex, he said:

“No Premier League champion collected more points than Guardiola at City, who set new standards breaking the 100-point barrier in 2017-18. No other manager won four consecutive English league titles. And, in this country, only Bob Paisley won so much in such little time.

“Guardiola arrived in England with Manchester City far behind United and Liverpool on the honours board, having won 18 trophies before 2016. By adding a further 20, Guardiola has changed English football forever, cementing City as giants, synonymous with a beautiful brand of football that each of his successors will be judged against.”

He then added that Guardiola’s teams’ performances over Ferguson’s in the recent past give him the edge over the Scotsman. He took the example of Barcelona‘s UEFA Champions League triumphs over Manchester United in 2009 and 2011.

“Ferguson’s greatest United team was well beaten 2-0 by Guardiola’s Barcelona in the 2009 Champions League final. Two years later, the La Liga champions delivered the masterclass which changed how football has been played across every level for the past 15 years, outclassing a fine United team 3-1.”

Carragher praises Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola for rebuilding his squad amid Sir Alex Ferguson comparisons

Carragher also admitted Pep Guardiola has done a stellar job in rebuilding multiple Manchester City squads amid arguments from naysayers claiming Sir Alex Ferguson built multiple PL title-winning sides. He said:

“Another argument used to back Ferguson is that he built several teams to claim his many Premier League titles.

It is an overlooked aspect of Guardiola’s reign how often he seamlessly replaced some of the greatest footballers to play in England and keep the winning machine going; Yaya Touré, Vincent Kompany, David Silva and Sergio Agüero departed, and still the titles came. He leaves a City team who have recovered from the loss of arguably the greatest of all Guardiola’s City players, Kevin De Bruyne.”