'I'm a Man Utd fan facing Pep Guardiola's genius - but Man City are vulnerable'

Pep Guardiola has caused Manchester United superfan Richie Wellens more pain than he can recall. But the Leyton Orient manager, still a season ticket holder at Old Trafford, could not help himself from asking for a picture with “pioneer” Pep at a recent LMA event. And Wellens, who is looking to shock Man City in Saturday’s Cup tie, says Guardiola’s impact on the game is so profound that managers up and down the land have tried to replicate his approach.

“Pep’s caused me and my sons a lot of pain in the past but he’s the best of the best, a genius,” Wellens said. “A lot of managers look up to him. I remember watching him playing as a kid, he’s someone I looked up to as a player and as a coach he’s changed a lot of coaches’ thinking. “I’ve already met him a couple of times but he probably won’t remember it, he’s a bit more famous than me. I went to an LMA Q&A at the Etihad and got a picture with him. I’m not that type of person but he’s one I had a picture with. I don’t like comparing eras but Pep is at the top without question.”.

Wellens has been directly influenced by Guardiola’s ploy to bring his full backs into midfield but admits it is vital to never lose sight of whether the players available can adapt to those demands. “We’ve never had centre backs as good as John Stones to play as a holding midfielder,” he adds. Orient’s analysts have been “in their element” and are showing the squad clips of City’s defeats to PSG, Arsenal and Liverpool to explore “vulnerabilities” in Guardiola’s injury-hit side.

“If you want to press them, I think that was best practice,” Wellens adds. “But PSG, Liverpool players make better decisions than our players. That’s why they are at that level. They’re quicker, stronger, sharper. “But we’ve also shown them clips of Salford (whom City defeated 8-0 in the previous round), where if you take touches in the wrong areas, don’t make good decisions in the middle of the pitch and are open, they can get to your goal very quickly and expose you.

“It’s about us putting on a show, staying in the game as long as possible. City are a brilliant team but they have a few vulnerabilities about them. Can we expose them as best we can? It’s going to be a difficult game, we need to be right on it.”. But beyond the match Wellens knows how big the occasion will be for a club that faced financial ruin in 2017 before being taken over by Dunkin’ Donuts chief Nigel Travis.

“This club nearly went out of business six or seven years ago, to be where we are in the league and hosting the best team the Premier League has ever seen is a huge testament to how far it has come.”. Richie Wellens tried to phone Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou to apologise directly for his “stupid comment” last weekend in which he said after losing to Stockport: "I'm not going to make excuses, I'm not Ange Postecoglou.".

The O’s manager said: “I tried to call him on the Saturday night via someone at Spurs but they had an important game on Sunday. “I’ve apologised, I think that's the matter closed now. Tottenham ’s a brilliant football club.”. Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.