Gerard Pique Talks Sir Alex Ferguson, Pep Guardiola in Rio Ferdinand Interview

Barcelona star Gerard Pique has compared former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson to The Godfather and praised Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola for his incredible intensity.  

Pique sat down with former Red Devils team-mate Rio Ferdinand during a recent interview for BT Sport (h/t Sport), and he compared the coaching styles of the two, having worked under Ferguson at United and Guardiola at Barcelona. 

He believes the length of their tenures may have had something to do with their respective coaching styles:

"

When I was at Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson was already 20 years as the coach of Manchester United, so he took the position of the coach in a different style than Guardiola.

Guardiola was really young, it was his first year as a first-team coach, and he was really intense every training, you cannot imagine.

Sir Alex Ferguson, when I was there, I remember (Carlos) Queiroz was the guy who took training; he [Ferguson] was like more outside, controlling everything, taking a different position.

"

When Ferdinand asked “like The Godfather,” Pique replied in the affirmative before praising them both: "Exactly. And Guardiola was like every day, he was there, but both of them you can see their careers. They are both fantastic."

Pique moved to Manchester from Barcelona in 2004 and spent a couple of seasons with the Red Devils' senior squad, but he never made a major impact at Old Trafford. He returned to Catalonia in 2008 and has since become one of the world's top defenders, winning silverware with the Blaugrana and Spain's national team.

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Guardiola managed the Catalans between 2008 and 2012 and guided the team to three La Liga titles, two UEFA Champions League trophies and the club's first treble, winning all major trophies during the 2008-09 campaign. He has continued his success with Bayern Munich and is set to become the next Manchester City manager this summer.

Per AS, Pique backed his former coach to find success in England in the interview, and he warned the Citizens they better get ready for his work rate:

"

Pep will be a success in the Premier [League], but he won't repeat what he did at Barca. That's unrepeatable.

[…] Anyone who thinks that Pep isn't going to work hard at City won't last very long. He's a big worker, City have done well signing him, but it won't be easy. Any foreign manager who has worked in the Premier League will tell you that. British football isn't easy.

"

Ferguson's coaching style was reportedly quite different, but it's hard to question his methods when looking at his results. The Scotsman won no less than 13 Premier League titles, as well as two Champions League trophies.

According to the Daily Star (h/t BBC Radio 4's Nick Sutton), he, too, has warned Guardiola things won't come easy in the Premier League:

Pique also weighed in on the debate surrounding Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, and he has some unique insights, as he currently plays with the former and was a team-mate of the latter at Old Trafford.

As shared by Ferdinand, he described Ronaldo as the “best of the humans,” while Messi is superhuman:

He, Messi and the rest of his Barcelona team-mates will return to the pitch on Tuesday, as they'll try and put the 2-1 Clasico loss against Real Madrid behind them when they host Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.

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