COMMENT: It wasn't Barcelona. Nor Bayern Munich. Not even at his beloved La Masia. Nowhere has Pep Guardiola found himself in a better place than Manchester City.
Four years as Barca coach. Three with Bayern. But it's with City. In rainy old Manchester. This is where the Catalan will spend his most time as manager. If he fulfills his current deal it'll mark five years with the Sky Blues. Barca may have the emotional ties, but it's City that has allowed Guardiola to stretch his abilities like no other.
Remember those first months? He was going to revolutionise the English game. It would be Pep's way. Not by his decree. He wanted none of it. But by those behind the glass. Or sitting on sofas. In the pressbox. The TV studios. They were so sure. So certain. Tiki-taka would sweep the nation.
Cycle forward to today and, well, that hasn't happened. Managers. Teams. They've gone their separate routes. Stuck to their own playing principles. And among those pleased is Guardiola. "I hate tiki-taka", he's been quick to respond when the phrase is mentioned. The City manager, who insists his game is "forever evolving", is the first to break down his style of play. Crediting Johan Cruyff - even Sir Bobby Robson - for influencing his approach.
But there is a blueprint that hasn't changed. From his first team at Barca, right through to the one now leading the Premier League table as defending champions. The flowing football. The outrageous goals. That's a result. A result of Guardiola being allowed to stick to the blueprint he had drawn up - even before taking charge of Barca over a decade ago.
The strength of this City team. The one that Guardiola is now quietly building. It's individuals' character. Their personality. For Xavi, Leo Messi and Andres Iniesta... read Kevin de Bruyne, David Silva and Fernandinho. Ability-wise, you could argue the Barca trio are a step above. But in terms of persona. There's next to no difference.
Indeed, run your eye across Guardiola's Barca teams and what he has now at City and the traits and temperament inside the two locker rooms are very, very similar. They're not clones. But there is a certain manner in how each of Guardiola's players handle themselves. Self-confident. Assured. But also possessing humility. Such traits run right through this City squad - just as it did that great team of his at the Nou Camp.
Many in England complained about the City manager berating Raheem Sterling for his showboating against Manchester United on Sunday. But you never saw Xavi nor Iniesta do the same in a Barca shirt. Nor Messi. We all can recall that nutmeg against City and James Milner three years ago. The one that had Guardiola jumping in his seat at the Nou Camp. But that wasn't about humiliation. That isn't Barca. Not Guardiola's Barca anyway. Not pre-Neymar...
And it won't be just Guardiola who pulls Sterling up. Silva will do the same. As will Vincent Kompany. For a team culture. For what Guardiola wants to achieve. These things matter. If you step out of line, the knuckles will be rapped - and in public. Just ask Benjamin Mendy about his social media use - which has since been dialled back after a word from his manager. Both Sterling and Mendy may've stepped outside Pep's boundaries, but their characters are the type to accept the manager's demands.
This is the real secret to his success. With the backing of his old managers at Barca, Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain, Guardiola has been allowed to bring players in who he believes will respond to his approach. No player has been imposed on him. No-one signed to sell shirts or lift a sponsor's profile. City have given their manager full control of who arrives - and who leaves. And the concern for the rest of Europe is that he's actually getting better at it...
Yes, as Jose Mourinho, his great nemesis at United, has stated, Guardiola has been afforded the luxury of buying - then selling - players who don't work out. But again, that's been City's approach. To allow their manager to make mistakes - and rectify them. For Keirrison, Henrique and Dmytro Chygrynskiy at Barca, we can name Claudio Bravo, Nolito and Danilo as City blowouts. But where at Barca he leaned on the aforementioned La Masia graduates of Messi, Iniesta and Xavi, today's City is benefitting from signings made by Guardiola. Bernardo Silva, Ederson, even Riyad Mahrez and Aymeric Laporte, they're all his players.
Pep's Barca was built on the bedrock of their academy. But this City is genuinely his team, constructed on his transfer recommendations. The one major doubt about Guardiola - including from this column - was his past work in the market. And his scant record of actually building a winning team. But that's being put to bed this season as Laporte, Bernardo and Kyle Walker emerge as players of genuine world class talent.
None of this could've been achieved without the board's backing. Without Txiki and Soriano sticking to their word and being strictly 'hands off'. There's been no Zlatan Ibrahimovic forced upon him as the Swede was at Barca. He was supported in his row with Yaya Toure, unlike the doubts raised at Bayern over his approach to Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben. Guardiola has been allowed to get on with it. To bring in the players to fit his blueprint. To mesh with the locker room he wanted established.
Yes, the football makes a difference. But it's the players that have this City team top of the pile. A team built to reflect their manager's personality. Something Guardiola could only achieve with this City board.
