PITCH PERFECT: Pep Guardiola, Mohamed Salah redefined greatness in the Premier League era

The duo’s massive contributions to the league differ greatly but are equally influential.

Pep Guardiola and Mohamed Salah: two names that revolutionised the English Premier League. One a tactical genius, the other a goal-scoring machine. But they both left an indelible mark on the league and reshaped what people thought was possible.

Records tumbled at every turn when they were involved, and matches featuring Guardiola’s Manchester City side and a Salah-led Liverpool under the guidance of Jürgen Klopp were usually titanic battles. Now both Salah and Guardiola have bid farewell to the Premier League, after a decade and nine years respectively.

Manchester City appointed Guardiola at the start of the 2016/17 season, replacing Manuel Pellegrini. That season they finished second to Chelsea, but then claimed back-to-back titles over the next two seasons and hit the mythical 100-point mark in the 2017/18 campaign. They finished a distant second to Liverpool in 2019/20.

However, Guardiola must have taken that league loss to his friendly rival, Klopp, personally, with City going on to dominate the domestic league for the next four seasons after Liverpool’s maiden league win in the Premier League era.

Under Guardiola, the Cityzens are the sole English side to win four Premier Leagues in succession. Additionally, the former Spain midfielder is the only manager to clinch a domestic treble in England’s top flight after leading City to the league, FA Cup and Carabao Cup in 2019.

The Spanish tactician, who has been labelled a “mad genius” by both his allies and soccer foes, went on to secure the most coveted treble in the sport by masterminding success in the Premier League, the European Champions League and FA Cup.

With those historic trophy victories in the 2022/23 campaign, City joined neighbours Manchester United as the only other team from England to win such a treble.

An example of Guardiola’s genius that season was the former Barcelona midfielder’s deployment of traditional central defender John Stones as a midfield pivot-cum-centre back in the second half of that memorable treble campaign.

“At two different clubs, Guardiola has created a side which has produced the most perfect football I have ever seen live – first with his Barcelona Champions League winners of 2011, and now City in 2023,” former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher said in 2023.

“The argument about whether City’s treble winners are better than Ferguson’s of 1999 should be over too. This City team is on a different level.”

In addition to winning all the major trophies on offer during