Despite lauding the former England manager, currently in charge of Crystal Palace, Guardiola clarified that he will not be coaching at Hodgson's age: 'Definitely not, I promise you. I love golf!', the Spaniard said when asked about the prospect of coaching into his 70s.
'But I admire (Hodgson). He’s had a long career and I respect that. I respect Gareth Barry for playing 600 games in the Premier League, I congratulate him. That is amazing, I love that'.
'I love the people who stay there for a long time. They have ups and downs, success and not success, and they keep going because of their passion'.
Guardiola praised the Crystal Palace boss, who has managed Inter, Liverpool, Fulham and West Brom, among others, as well as taking charge of the national teams of Finland, the United Arab Emirates and England. 'I admire him at 70 to have the energy to put in front of the players, to prepare for the games, have the adrenaline to know what’s going to happen', Guardiola said.
'He’s been with England, Switzerland… For a long time he was the England team’s national coach, so that’s good', he concluded.