The source of the incident started from the match where Man City lost to Liverpool in the Premier League. With Liverpool down to 2-0 and everything seemingly settled at Anfield, Pep Guardiola was teased by the home side's fans with the song: " Tomorrow, you will be sacked".
After that, Pep raised 6 fingers towards the Anfield stands as if to urge The Kop fans not to forget that he has won the Premier League 6 times in just the last 7 seasons, an absolute dominating force.
Pep Guardiola's move reminded fans of the time when Jose Mourinho was still leading Man United. In Man United's 0-2 loss to Tottenham in August 2018, when being teased by Spurs fans, Mourinho raised 3 fingers towards the stands, implying that he had won 3 Premier League titles while Tottenham had yet to win any.
Then, in an interview with the Spanish media after the loss to Liverpool, Pep recalled Mourinho's action. The Man City captain said that he would not have to suffer the same fate as his colleague (which included being fired). Not long after, Pep's statement reached Mourinho's ears.
The Fenerbahce captain said that although Pep has won 6 Premier League titles, those are "unfair" titles. The Portuguese tactician hinted that Pep's Man City had won the championship through fraud and now had to face more than 100 accusations of financial violations. Mourinho also did not forget to say that although he may have lost to Pep in terms of the number of Premier League titles, all of those titles were clean.
Before the draw with Crystal Palace, Pep took the initiative to calm the situation by correcting his statement about Mourinho being sacked by Man United as just a joke. The Spanish strategist also said that this incident was blown up into a scandal by those who wanted to see Man City relegated.
"I think both of us, me and Mourinho, could sit at the same table as Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger. We have all won many titles.
If that statement is understood as insulting Mourinho, I would like to apologize. The truth is he has 3 titles, I have 6, that's all" - Pep Guardiola shared.
Pep's statement about Mourinho was the second time in just one week that he had to proactively negotiate in matches with his colleagues. Previously, Arne Slot also mentioned that Man City is facing countless legal troubles. However, Pep did not respond to the Liverpool captain.
After the match against Crystal Palace, Man City witnessed the worst streak of matches since Pep Guardiola took charge. They have only won 1/8 recent matches, including 6 losses in all competitions. At this time, Man City has dropped to 4th place in the Premier League rankings after round 15, they are 8 points behind leaders Liverpool.
