Guardiola is Ferguson of his generation - Rooney

Wayne Rooney compared Pep Guardiola to Sir Alex Ferguson, calling Ferguson the greatest of all time while saying Guardiola is the best in his generation. Guardiola is expected to leave Manchester City after 10 years in charge. During that period, he won 17 major trophies and 20 overall, including six Premier League titles, the Champions League, three FA Cups, and five EFL Cups. Rooney also contrasted their longevity, noting Ferguson’s 26 years at Manchester United versus Guardiola’s 10 years at City. Rooney said maintaining hunger and mentality is difficult for long-serving managers. He added that Ferguson had to rebuild Manchester United, while Guardiola achieved complete and utter dominance without needing the same foundation work.

""I have seen a lot of comparisons to Alex Ferguson," Rooney said. "I can say Ferguson is the greatest of all time but Pep, in his generation, is certainly the best by a long way." Guardiola is expected to leave Manchester City at the end of the season after 10 years in charge. Rooney made the comparison while speaking on the BBC's Wayne Rooney Show, drawing parallels with Ferguson, for whom he played between 2004 and 2013."

"Guardiola has won 17 major trophies - and 20 in all - including six Premier League titles, the Champions League, three FA Cups and five EFL Cups during his 10 years at City. Ferguson holds the record for the most Premier League titles by some distance, with 13. "I've been looking at people saying how loyal he's [Guardiola] been for 10 years, which is incredible. But Alex Ferguson has done 26 years," Rooney added."

""When you actually think of that amount of time, 26 years at one football club, it's absolutely astonishing." Rooney spoke about how difficult it is for a manager as long-serving as Ferguson - who led United from November 1986 to May 2013 - "to maintain hunger and mentality for the game". "When Sir Alex took over United, it was a completely different situation," Rooney said."

""He almost had to build the club up from the ground to get them to become a successful force in English football again - whereas I think Pep didn't necessarily have to do that. "But what he has done in terms of complete and utter dominance... it's nothing to sniff at." Ferguson became Manchester United manager after leaving Scottish Premier League side Aberdeen. He is the most successful manager in British football history, winning 49 trophies - with 38 of those at Old Trafford."

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