West Ham vs. Manchester City: Pep Guardiola's FA Cup 3rd-Round Presser Comments

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has clarified recent comments in which he seemed to hint at imminent retirement.

Having only been in the top job at the Etihad Stadium since the summer, the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss told an NBC reporter that the "process of my goodbye has already started" (via Samuel Lovett of The Independent).

However, speaking ahead of City's Friday FA Cup third-round clash at West Ham United, Guardiola admitted his comments were inadvisable, and he reiterated his commitment to the Manchester club, per Lovett:

"

You can ask whatever you want about the NBC interview. I will answer. 

I said in the interview that I will not train at 60—but guys I am 45. I’m not going to retire in two or three years. 

I love my job, I'm in a perfect place to do my job, especially here in England. 

I am not going to train for 60 years, I want to do something else with my life. I started playing young and I want to do something else... But now, I am not thinking about retiring, no.

Maybe it was inappropriate to say I am starting to say goodbye.

"

Guardiola also attempted to clarify his recent assertion that City do not share the same history as the likes of Barcelona, Juventus, Bayern or city rivals Manchester United, per the Mirror's David Maddock.

The Spanish manager said he merely meant that City do not have the number of titles as Europe's more historically successful clubs, per the Press Association's Andy Hampson:

Compared to many of the Premier League's other top clubs, City have been dealt a tough draw for their first outing of the season in the FA Cup.

It will be Guardiola's first experience of the storied competition as a manager, and he revealed he will likely put out a strong team to face the Hammers—though captain Vincent Kompany remains unavailable, per Hampson:

West Ham have returned to some decent form after an awful start to the season but most recently have lost to Manchester United and Leicester City following three wins in a row.

They will be desperate to claim a major scalp by knocking out City at London Stadium.

But Guardiola has much more quality to call upon than Hammers boss Slaven Bilic, which should tell on Friday evening in east London.