Pep Guardiola has declared in Mexico that he will return to coaching as and when he feels like it.
The former Barcelona boss was attending a forum organised by Fundacion Telmex, owned by business magnate Carlos Slim, and spoke for around an hour in front of 10,000 people in Mexico City’s National Auditorium at an event entitled Mexico XXI Centure: Capturing the Future.
“I don’t know when I’ll be back as I said that I wouldn’t coach this year but if I felt like it I would do. At the moment I don’t feel like it,” said Guardiola when asked if he was itching to get back into football after taking his family to live in New York.
He also commented on the possibility of him one day taking over the Spanish national side, refusing to rule it out.
“You never know. I’m okay in New York and I’ll be here a year.”
Guardiola, who played in Mexican football for six months with Dorados in 2006, insisted he had enjoyed his time in the dugout at Barcelona but admitted he lacked motivation towards the end.
“I never thought when I arrived at Barcelona that I would be there a lifetime but it was an era when things went well for me.
“However, the times when I was sad when we lost and happy when we won were over. I lost that and that was why I stopped coaching.”
Having won 13 titles with the Catalans, Guardiola spoke of the secrets of Barca’s success and reflected that sport had helped him understand life.
“Everyone likes to play football, that’s the secret at Barcelona. When you do something you like then all else is left to one side. The players came to training and put that into practice.
“That was what we put over and is what we got. It was good to make the fans happy. “They enjoyed watching our football and I simply carried on a Barcelona tradition that started with Johan Cruyff. I also had a great group of players.”
The 41-year-old was then asked about Lionel Messi.
“Whatever I say about Messi will not be enough,” replied Guardiola. “Beyond his talent he is also competitive and is an example of how to overcome things day to day. He likes to play but he likes to win.”
Guardiola closed a day on which former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Brazilian President Luiz Ignacio Lula Da Silva also took part.
