Germany’s Julian Nagelsmann issues extraordinary praise for Manchester City over handling of difficult season | OneFootball

The head coach of the German national team, Julian Nagelsmann has issued strong praise for the way in which Manchester City have handled their difficult season.

The reigning Premier League champions are heading towards their worst campaign under Pep Guardiola since the Catalan’s arrival at the Etihad Stadium in the summer of 2016, and may even miss out on UEFA Champions League football entirely.

Manchester City currently find themselves outside of the division’s top-four places and level on points with Newcastle United in sixth, while their next outing comes against Brighton & Hove Albion at home – who sit one point below them in the table.

That position in the league standings comes after the latest round of Premier League results that saw City succumb to a late Callum Hudson-Odoi strike at the City Ground and a 1-0 scoreline in favour of Nottingham Forest – who are now four points clear of Guardiola’s squad.

But despite the hugely challenging events on the field and the threat of a worst-case scenario in regards to City’s position in the Champions League, their complete support of Pep Guardiola has received enormous praise from within the game.

Speaking in a new interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine, as translated and relayed by iMiaSanMia on X, Julian Nagelsmann has handed Manchester City remarkable praise over the way in which they have handled their challenging season across competitions.

“I think what’s happening there is outstanding; not from a sporting perspective, but how calm this club remains,” Nagelsmann admitted. “For me, that’s the perfect example of perfect work.”

“There is not – at least that is what I have noticed – a single interview by a City official who has expressed a negative opinion about the situation.”

Nagelsmann continued, “I would like to see this kind of behaviour from other clubs that cause far too much unrest and act far too quickly when it comes to the question of who the right coach is.

“If you always say the coach is most important person at the club, then the selection process for a coach must also be the most complex. If companies take two weeks to go through an employee, but sometimes a coach is hired after just one phone call, that’s the wrong approach.”

The 37-year-old went on to say, “City are doing that to perfection; ‘A’ – honouring someone for being very successful. But ‘B’ – also accepting the fact that there’s a phase in which things obviously and inexplicably don’t work.”

Manchester City themselves are understood to be keen admirers of Julian Nagelsmann’s philosophy and results within the game, and could yet turn to the highly-rated German coach when the time comes to replace Pep Guardiola.

As for the Catalan boss, he has been outspoken with praise for his coaching counterpart on various occasions, with Nagelsmann understood to have been placed on a shortlist of potential solutions if Guardiola had opted not to extend his contract in recent seasons.